Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what processes hydraulic fracturing operators have to follow to dispose of waste; and what the final resting location is for hydraulic fracturing waste.

All oil and gas exploratory sites need to hold permits under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. Any company managing extractive waste is required to draw up a Waste Management Plan that has to be approved by the Environment Agency.

The Waste Management Plan describes the processes and the types of extractive waste that will be generated at the site and sets out how the operator will monitor, manage, minimise, reuse, recycle and safely dispose of the extractive waste at an appropriately licenced facility.

All environmental and waste permits in relation to Preston New Road can be found on the Environment Agency site: https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/onshore-oil-and-gas/information-on-cuadrillas-preston-new-road-site/.