Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the number of water treatment facilities in the UK capable of processing waste water from shale gas extraction; and what the (a) name, (b) location and (c) capacity is of each such site.

There are a large number of waste treatment facilities across the UK that could potentially treat flow-back fluid, including water produced from shale exploration and hydraulic fracturing, subject to holding the relevant permits.

Currently, in England there are three facilities with permits that would allow for the treatment of such waste water:

- Castle Environmental in Stoke-on-Trent;

- FCC Environment at Knostrop in Leeds; and

- Bran Sands in Middlesbrough (owned by Northumbrian Water).

Core Defra does not hold information on the treatment capacity of these facilities.