Fracking will begin for the first time in seven years
Fracking can restart in Lancashire after an application for an injunction was turned down by the High Court today – and campaigners have reacted with anger.
Fracking has not taken place in the UK for seven years, but today campaigners lost a legal challenge to block the shale gas company Cuadrilla from fracking the area.
Robert Dennett, a Lancashire resident, won an interim injunction last Friday against the county council, which put a temporary halt to the start of fracking.
However today a high court judge rejected the request for an injunction. The grounds upon which it was rejected was that the council had not failed in its duties regarding civil contingency planning.
Jamie Peters, Friends of the Earth fracking campaigner, who was at the court, said:
“Today’s court ruling is sad news for local residents who’ve long fought against this dirty industry and the risks it poses to their environment and the climate.
“In a week in which the scale of action needed to stop climate chaos has dominated the headlines, it is simply wrong to be heralding the start of a new fossil-fuel industry.
“You can have fracking or you can deal with climate change –you can’t do both.”
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