“Fracking threat” to local water supply

Following revelations in the Sentinel that a Canadian owned company were surveying the Roe Valley area for energy resources, and refusing to rule out the use of ‘fracking’, Sinn Féin have now voiced their concern.

‘Fracking’ is a term used to describe a method of extracting natural gas from deep underground, by an industrial process known as hydraulic fracturing.

Environmental concerns have been raised on numerous occasions over the use of fracking, which has caused earthquakes in England, has poisoned water supplies in the USA and is banned outright in France.

Fracking involves drilling deep into the ground before causing cracks or ‘fractures’ in the earth, often by explosives, chemicals and large volumes of water in order to allow natural gas to come to the surface. The process to date has always involved the use of chemicals along with water to force cracks in the earth wider apart, leading local Sinn Féin spokesperson on agriculture Brenda Chivers to conclude the water supply may be contaminated.

She also said that if waterways and rivers in the Roe Valley were allowed to be drained to facilitate fracking, the impact on fish stocks would be “inconceivable”.

The Canadian owned company ‘Rathlin Energy’ are currently surveying an area known as the Rathlin Basin, which stretches from Limavady to Ballycastle, for natural resources. Under questioning from the Sentinel, the company have consistently refused to rule out the use of ‘fracking’.

Rathlin Energy is wholly owned by Connaught Oil and Gas, a company based in Canada who have a well established track record of using fracking to extract natural gas elsewhere.

Sinn Féin have added their voice to those opposing the use of fracking in the Roe Valley, a number of weeks after the Green Party leader Steven Agnew aid that fracking was a “genuine concern and a realistic possibility” for Roe Valley citizens.

Sinn Féin’s local spokesperson on Agriculture and former Mayor of Limavady, Brenda Chivers has raised the issue of fracking for gas in the Roe Valley with her party colleague - Carál Ní Chuilín. Ní Chuilín is Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, the Department responsible responsible for in-land waterways.

Chivers is concerned about the potential damage that fracking could have on fish stocks and fisheries, not just in Limavady but also in Fermanagh and North Antrim.

She said: “The threat of fracking in the Roe Valley has been highlighted in the Roe Valley Sentinel over recent weeks. The potential impact that fracking would have on our fish stocks along the river Roe, Lough Foyle, Owenbeg and Owenreagh is just inconceivable.

“If we were to simply allow the draining of our lakes rivers and streams to facilitate fracking, then we would be without question doing serious damage to our fish stocks and fisheries and this is without even considering the risk for potential contamination to our water supply from chemicals. It is now crucial that these warnings are heeded before it is too late and the irreparable damage is done.”