Fracking in Cavan

garth-marenghi

Hi all,

As some of you may be aware there is an onging controversy with regards to the process known as Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking, the technique used to extract gas from underneath the surface), that is apparently on its way to the Lough Allen Basin (leitrim, cavan, fermanagh, sligo etc). Ive attached a few links on fracking, its potential consequences, and the experiences of other communities that have been subjected to it.

Im posting specifically here as I saw the articles/interviews in relation to Fracking and Richard Moorman in the Anglo-Celt paper this week. Moorman is the CEO of Tamboran, an Australian company and one of those seeking to carry ouf Fracking in the region.

Im just wondering is there anything going on in Cavan in relation to opposing this or what are peoples views on it?

The whole situation seems to be moving very rapidly and any basic study of the potential consequences of Fracking in my opinion is quite frightening and devastating for both our peoples and environments well-been. And all for what? A few percent (moormans estimate) of the profit in exchange for potentially irreversible damage to our health, water supply, and health. No thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEB_Wwe-uBM 20 minute Documentary on Fracking made in conjunction with the British Ecologist

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/0611/1224298716471.html

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2070533,00.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/05/24/nb-southwestern-lawsuit-hydro-fracking-551.html (Moormans former employers the subject of lawsuits)

DB10

If its worth billions of pounds the corrupt powers in politics locally and nationally, and the international companies involved, will get their way.

The Shell to Sea campaigners deserve respect. I hope this doesnt happen.

flanum

never heard of it! when is it coming to cavan? i dont understand it, you shoulod mention it to the mangllo celt and northern sound if ye think its important and we might die!

garth-marenghi

flanum wrote: »

never heard of it! when is it coming to cavan? i dont understand it, you shoulod mention it to the mangllo celt and northern sound if ye think its important and we might die!

There are plenty of links in my previous post to find out more about it:),
It already is getting fairly good coverage in local papers like the Leitrim Observer and Anglo-Celt. http://www.anglocelt.ie/news/roundup/articles/2011/07/14/4005504-cavan-urged-to-make-stand-against-gas-drilling-plans/

Its a really vital issue in relation to personal and enviromental health, France have already banned fracking. The companies have already been given exploration licenses. Tamboran (drilling company) expect to have wells up and runing in next year and a half to two years I think.

_Kaiser_

(Totally O/T but am I the only one who thought something completely different when they read the title - no more Battlestar Galactica for me! )

First I've heard of this too though... by the sounds of it the deal is already done so (this being Ireland) I'm sure they'll proceed regardless

garth-marenghi

To the best of my knowledge they have only been granted exploration licenses and if they decide that its profitable they then will have to apply for a license to extract the gas and submit an environmental impact statement/public consultation. So hopefully if enough information can be got out there as quickly as possible then hopefully drilling wont be a foregone conclusion. However time is of the essence. These companies are already trying to do a pr job in the local press and are meeting local councils. People need to get active.

frackingishell

Hi folks, doing a bit of research on this lately, and has anyone wondered why the Fracking issue has stalled and seems to be idling? Well, from what i can gather the price of GAS has to be over 5 dollars per unit to make Fracking profitable, which it isn't now. Currently The August natural gas contract was unchanged at $4.55/MMbtu on NYMEX.

This is why these things are just ticking over at the moment. It is NOT because the planning process etc. is being adhered to, so don't think it is. It is unfortunately a fact that economic factors are going to define how hard we'll all have to work to fight this poison.

Currently in the M&A (mergers and acquisitions) market, a possible bad omen is that BHP Billiton, (the Australian mining giant and world's seventh largest company) is still persisting with it's diversification strategy into Shale Gas. They are trying to buy PetroHawk, which has in or around 25% of the interest in the US Fracking market- if my figures are correct. Despite the fact that their analysts and shareholders don't want to invest in it, as it won't be profitable and will be at best a break-even strategy (unfortunately it's nothing to do with the fact that fracking simply f*cks over the environment...). So for us here in Ireland i see this merger as being a big indicator as to what industry sees as the long term future for Fracking. It also points out to me that we all need to organise better, and meet this problem now, and attempt to nip it in the bud by getting legislation introduced BEFORE the price is above the profitable level. I can only imagine how much harder this struggle will be when our wonderful politicians have big green readies in their eyes,and private swiss bank accounts, and the IMF pressuring them to destroy much of this nation even more like they've destroyed so many before.

Right now we are only being reactionary- turning up in Cavan when they are having a meeting. But we need get professional with out ****, and start making the first moves. We need to get out of our submissive Irish mindsets, and meet up, and formulate a plan to take the initiative here. Let me summarise- Price right now being low means it might be easier for us to win this thing, provided we attack early. I don't know where to start with this, but we need to meet soon.

tuppence

Do you want to learn more about how fracking could effect you?

Mr Helmut Fehr German politician and respected authority on fracking is in the Mayflower Centre, Drumshanbo,
Co Leitrim at 3pm on Saturday the 20th August.

Come along, learn more about it.
Spread the word

cavan shooter

I see the NIMBY culture is alive and well and reading the posts it seems NIMBYANOTE exists to. We had it with Croagh Patrick, Mount leinster, and Rossport (Ongoing).

Exploration has been on going in this area since the 1990's and before. I respect everymans' views and even more when they live by their values and never use cars, fly, or heat their home with kerosene natural gas or wear products or eat products derived from the petrochemical or mining Industry or any other environmentally damaging methods. Eat fish harvested by factory trawlers, or eat intensively farmed food. If your one of these people now I will listen..:eek:

However can we consider the economic benefit that this might have to the Country and the region where 3 of my friend s are now in Australia, 1 in Canada, (Families left behind) and I would argue that my young lads will go next.

I will lay my cards on the table and will be 100% upfront I come from a mining/extractive industries background and believe with proper attention to the environment and oversight this can be done and it will benefit the economy. Look at Navan (Boliden) look at Aberdeen in Scotland.

If you want to do something start pushing now for greater over sight from the Government, a better take in the form of Taxes and push hard for the Companies to put something into the economy but by Golly welcome this opportunity for the Region.:)

Will you remember that everything used by you all was won from the environment from the clothes on your backs to the computer parts and the telecoms devices you'll use to organise rallies.

tuppence

We need to appreciate what we have and build on it and stop the search for the quick buck. We have sustainable industries in our farming and tourism. Lets not displace them with the promise from more speculators. It is good that people are been vigilant and not accepting the word of large private companies without question. Vaste industrialisation is not want tourists want to see, nor should we take our childrens health lightly and leave it in the hands of regulators. The European Union has admited there are not the regulations in place to police this. If this were to go ahead there would be far more emigration I fear or worse. Its not like we havent been warned. Lets get our priorities right this time.

Articles in todays Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0909/1224303759867.html

and
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0909/1224303759953.html

tuppence

Community Meeting: tonight Friday 9th Sept @ 8pm in Templeport Resource Centre (near Bawnboy), Co. Cavan. This meeting has been organised by 'For Loughs Conservation Alliance'

cavan shooter

tuppence wrote: »

We need to appreciate what we have and build on it and stop the search for the quick buck. We have sustainable industries in our farming and tourism. Lets not displace them with the promise from more speculators. It is good that people are been vigilant and not accepting the word of large private companies without question. Vaste industrialisation is not want tourists want to see, nor should we take our childrens health lightly and leave it in the hands of regulators. The European Union has admited there are not the regulations in place to police this. If this were to go ahead there would be far more emigration I fear or worse. Its not like we havent been warned. Lets get our priorities right this time.

Articles in todays Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0909/1224303759867.html

and
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0909/1224303759953.html

So its definitely No No No not well maybe, what can we do here? lets look at the opportunities, lets push hard for proper oversight. But we are happy that the oil you use is exploited from somewhere else along with everything else. There is a missed opportunity here guys. Don't be so quick to rule it out of hand so quickly.

tuppence

cavan shooter wrote: »

So its definitely No No No not well maybe, what can we do here? lets look at the opportunities, lets push hard for proper oversight. But we are happy that the oil you use is exploited from somewhere else along with everything else. There is a missed opportunity here guys. Don't be so quick to rule it out of hand so quickly.

Never said I was happy to source oil/gas elsewhere. That is another issue sadly our over reliance on fossil fuels to our detriment. We have targets for renewables we arent keeping and havent been for some time, its a pity we dont focus on meeting these. The companies are only after the more riskier forms of extraction such as inland fracking because there is smaller reserves of gas and oil out there and they are willing to take the risk. Are we?

There is a difference between conventional and unconventional drilling techniques, onshore and offshore as you will know. Offshore has been going on for some time with less risk in safety although when it happies badly it ruins areas and lets face it normally poorer communities that werent able to stand up for themselves or were persuaded it would make a difference to them. (rem BP in the gulf of Mexico and Shell in Nigeria) Fracking inland as a new technology has extremely poor track results so far. The regulations arent there to protect us as cited by the European Commission and that will take some time to get into place.

So whats the rush-are you willing to risk public and animal safety over minimal jobs? Where are your values in relation to that? I would like to think people are doing the best they can in relation to their carbon footprint whther its been part of a Transition Town Initiation whatever and thats a perosnal choice.

Are we willing to ruin an area of real beauty (with hundreds of wells) that has real potential in tourism. Are we willing to create an industrialised area that once was a rural area with resulting air, smog and fumes etc. And of course theres the noise pollution hardly mentioned with the drill engines similar to jet engines I understand. Are we willing to tamper round with potential leakages of methane into the water supply (a risk proven) and unsettling radon levels etc. And thats before one even goes into the arguement of what chemicals......

A moratorium ie a suspension at the very least (of further licences) until the bodies in Europe and Ireland that are supposed to oversee things get their act togther. A moratiorium also lets further ongoing studies like the Americain Environmental Agency who are currently trying to get up to speed after letting the industry regulate themselves with disastrous results , issue their results of research soon.
Somewhere along the line the country needs to put its priorities right. We put profit before people for too long. I have kids and want to live here with them not emigrate with them for the sake of a some more speculators who have come in and to keep a few (as nice as you may be !!) in a job.

Digitaljunkie

With out looking at any previous posts,I saw a doco lately on Current channel 183 on sky about fracking in the US bloody scary stuff an interviewer went into a guys house near where it was done and he lit a cig lighter while running his water tap and it lit up proving that gas had leaked into the domestic water system because of external cracks due to fracking......Scary stuff if their at it in Cavan.....

cavan shooter

tuppence wrote: »

Never said I was happy to source oil/gas elsewhere. That is another issue sadly our over reliance on fossil fuels to our detriment. We have targets for renewables we arent keeping and havent been for some time, its a pity we dont focus on meeting these. The companies are only after the more riskier forms of extraction such as inland fracking because there is smaller reserves of gas and oil out there and they are willing to take the risk. Are we?

There is a difference between conventional and unconventional drilling techniques, onshore and offshore as you will know. Offshore has been going on for some time with less risk in safety although when it happies badly it ruins areas and lets face it normally poorer communities that werent able to stand up for themselves or were persuaded it would make a difference to them. (rem BP in the gulf of Mexico and Shell in Nigeria) Fracking inland as a new technology has extremely poor track results so far. The regulations arent there to protect us as cited by the European Commission and that will take some time to get into place.

So whats the rush-are you willing to risk public and animal safety over minimal jobs? Where are your values in relation to that? I would like to think people are doing the best they can in relation to their carbon footprint whther its been part of a Transition Town Initiation whatever and thats a perosnal choice.

Are we willing to ruin an area of real beauty (with hundreds of wells) that has real potential in tourism. Are we willing to create an industrialised area that once was a rural area with resulting air, smog and fumes etc. And of course theres the noise pollution hardly mentioned with the drill engines similar to jet engines I understand. Are we willing to tamper round with potential leakages of methane into the water supply (a risk proven) and unsettling radon levels etc. And thats before one even goes into the arguement of what chemicals......

A moratorium ie a suspension at the very least (of further licences) until the bodies in Europe and Ireland that are supposed to oversee things get their act togther. A moratiorium also lets further ongoing studies like the Americain Environmental Agency who are currently trying to get up to speed after letting the industry regulate themselves with disastrous results , issue their results of research soon.
Somewhere along the line the country needs to put its priorities right. We put profit before people for too long. I have kids and want to live here with them not emigrate with them for the sake of a some more speculators who have come in and to keep a few (as nice as you may be !!) in a job.

Well said:).....but Id say listen to what they are going to say first....what you they will do in Nigeria wont be what you'll do in cavan. Thats one thing Rossport as thought the multinationals.

tuppence

cavan shooter wrote: »

Well said:).....but Id say listen to what they are going to say first....what you they will do in Nigeria wont be what you'll do in cavan. Thats one thing Rossport as thought the multinationals.

People need to feel like they are being respected as citizens and thats not happening, the only ones that are engaging with the community is the private companies and thats poor. So much for political reform.

So heres one opportinty to peacefully express concern in Sligo where Pat Rabbitte is in town.

There will be a peaceful protest Saturday, (today) 17TH SEPTEMBER. SLIGO PARK HOTEL car park, 8PM. Pat Rabbitte Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, will be attending a function at the Sligo Park Hotel on saturday evening 17th September. The hope is to make the Minister aware of the degree of local opposition to the awarding of licenses to gas companies and peoples concerns and opinions about hydraulic fracturing in Ireland. Please attend this peaceful protest. Numbers will speak.

Witchie

There is a public meeting tonight in Corlough.

spinzes

just look for this documentary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9XJfCYDoMU and watch it and then think about fracking in cavan or any where in ireland and the results it would have , think think think

tuppence

This public information meeting may be of interest to you. Regards.

Your Future is in your hands,

The people of the North West are invited to a public awareness meeting about the future of gas mining in their area, where they will be reminded they have the power to stop it.

Your Future is in Your hands-Don’t let Leitrim get Fracked is been hosted by the Love Leitrim Group in the Bee Park Centre, Manorhamilton, Leitrim, on Tuesday 12th June 8.30pm.

It is organised to respond to the recently published Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA) desktop study from Aberdeen University. The report looked at aspects of the process of hydraulic fracturing using peer-reviewed data available.


The objectives of the night are to draw on that report and review the latest research at the meeting. The wider aspects not covered by the study of the procedure will also be investigated. These include health aspects, economic reverberations, the visual impact, as well as looking at the specific geology of the area proposed.

A panel of experts will be in attendance on the night, including local GP, Dr. Carroll O Dolan, Vet Rob Doyle, (MVB) and the Sligo based Hydro geologist David Galazzi. The Chair on the night will be Mary Daly.

Eddie Mitchell PRO Love Leitrim says

People should come along and engage with the information and help develop all of our knowledge about the proposed development. We are committed to a scientific and evidence based argument and making our decisions based on it. We will be presenting this information to the wider community so that they make their own minds up, or deepen their awareness of the issue.

The running theme of the night will be that people have the power to change the licence.

Eddie explains

The people of North West are the biggest stakeholders and have the most to lose in this issue. We need to stand together for the sake of our children’s future. We all have a role to play.

For more information on the event please contact proloveleitrim@hotmail.com
Or Love Leitrim on 085 1053319