The UK’s energy minister has suggested the government could weaken seismic activity standards at fracking sites, according to documents obtained by Unearthed. The revelation comes as Cuadrilla starts fracking in Lancashire.

In a letter sent to pro-fracking Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake in July, Claire Perry said the traffic lights system (TLS) the government currently uses to issue alerts of seismic activity is “set at an explicitly cautious level.”

She added: “[A]s we gain experience in applying these measures, the trigger levels can be adjusted upwards without compromising the effectiveness of the controls.” 

Premature

Fracking began just a week after the UN’s scientific body on climate change delivered a special report that warned that global carbon emissions need to be halved by 2030 in order to meet the ambition set by the landmark Paris deal.  

In order to achieve this, it suggested natural gas use would have to fall sharply without the rapid and widespread deployment of untested carbon capture technology. Government advisers have previously warned that new onshore oil and gas extraction could jeopardise the country’s legally-binding climate targets.

The traffic light system came into effect in 2014 following a series of earthquakes linked to early fracking efforts.  

The policy is widely-regarded as stringent, with drillers required to ‘proceed with caution at reduced rates’ in the event of any seismic activity, no matter how small, and to stop fracking immediately if activity exceeds 0.5 on the richter scale. Activity at this level would be imperceptible to households.

Hollinrake, MP of Thirsk and Malton constituency in North Yorkshire, who has supported fracking if well regulated, declined to back the government’s proposal, claiming it was premature.

Local communities

“At this point in time I think we need to know a lot more before I’d support that position. The Traffic Light System is there for a reason,” he told Unearthed,

“To be fair to this government and the responsible approach I think we do take to oil and gas exploration, we haven’t fracked for seven years as a result so clearly we do take this seriously.”

Earthquakes have been linked to fracking in the United States, particularly in Ohio. Much of this has been thought to relate to wastewater re-injection, an activity that is not expected to take place in the UK. However it is also believed there is some link to the fracking process itself.

The seismic activity experienced so far in the UK from fracking were sufficiently small to cause no recorded surface damage, but the Royal Academy of Engineering and Royal Society analysed risks from fracking and concluded that damage to well integrity was a hazard.

Claire Stephenson from Frack Free Lancashire said: “This move can only be beneficial to the fracking industry and not to local communities who are being forced to endure this technology.

“The fact that they are already deciding to change the safety levels to the industry’s favour, suggests fracking will likely cause seismic events.”

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This article first appeared at Unearthed, from Greenpeace.