Cuadrilla Bowland Ltd has applied to the Environment Agency for three relevant permits for their Preston New Road exploratory shale gas site at Little Plumpton, Lancashire.

As part of the exploration the company plans to carry out hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in 2015 to investigate the potential for shale gas.

Cuadrilla Bowland Ltd has applied to the Environment Agency for relevant permits for their Preston New Road exploratory shale gas site at Little Plumpton, Lancashire. As part of the exploration the company plans to carry out hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in 2015 to investigate the potential for shale gas.

One of the applications is for a groundwater activity which specifically covers an environmental permit “for the discharge, from oil and gas exploratory operations, of pollutants that might lead to an indirect input of those pollutants to groundwater.”

The other two permits are for onshore oil and gas exploratory operations and for  radioactive substances activity respectively.

The Environment Agency has launched a public consultation and is now seeking views from the local community and interested groups on the applications. Deadline for responses is  Tuesday 8 July 2014.

Steve Molyneux, Environment Manager at the Environment Agency, said:

“Our regulatory controls for onshore oil and gas are in place to protect people and the environment. We will assess the company’s proposals to ensure they meet our strict requirements. As part of our assessment, we welcome comments from the public and interested groups on local environmental factors that may be important.”

Click here to access the consultation.