Flooding fears for Kincardine

Hamish Hutchinson • Published 25 Jun 2012 09:30 1 Comment

A KINCARDINE councillor fears the village could suffer flooding and even earth tremors if a global energy company's mining application gets the go-ahead.

Dart Energy is set to submit an application this summer to extract coalbed methane commercially near Airth - but Councillor Willie Ferguson is concerned this could pose dangers to Kincardine, particularly if 'fracking' is used.

Fracking is a technique used to extract natural gas, oil and other substances and involves drilling a hole into rock and injecting millions of litres of fluid at high pressure, causing the rock to split and release the gas into a well.

It's been called "a very controversial technology" by Friends of the Earth Scotland and was blamed for two small earth tremors near Blackpool last year, where energy company Cuadrilla Resources has shale gas operations.

And this week Councillor Ferguson warned, "Down in Blackpool there were concerns that fracking caused minor earthquakes and I would be extremely concerned if it was used in my area.

"The ground that we have around West Fife is full of old mining works and if there was a disturbance to the rock formation, would that cause flooding? We're seeing water coming to the surface in the playpark and the council are putting additional drainage in.

"The general belief is that it's due to a change in the water table and old mining works and the last thing we need is somebody blasting away.

"If there was any disturbance to the rock formation who knows what the impact of that would be."

Friends of the Earth Scotland have also warned of the risks and the possibility the application "could be the first of many in the area".

Campaigner Hannah Kitchen said, "Dart Energy has a licence to explore for gas across a large area, taking in much of the Forth Valley, Stirling, Clackmannanshire, Fife and West Lothian. But relatively little is known about the technologies used.

"We've been doing a lot of research about the extraction processes and would like to share this with people who might be affected.

"Dart Energy told me it can't guarantee that fracking, a very controversial process, won't be used in the area in the future.

"This means that more applications for wells in the area are likely and it could become a big issue.

"The company stands to make millions from extracting the gas, so it's local people's right to ask tough questions about the process and decide if they want it to happen at all."

A spokesman for Dart Energy said, "We are currently in discussions with council representatives to seek guidance on the most appropriate way of progressing this development."

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This article appeared in Alloa & Hillfoots Advertiser 20 Jun 12

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• 

  midge
  Unregistered User
  Jun 28, 21:08
  Report comment

  if Kincardine ever came under flood alert ,its to be hoped they dont use the village clock bell as a warning the hands have been stuck at 12 and chimes out between 20/26 every hour for the past 8days
  
  Recommend?   Yes 1     No 0

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