Infrastructure bill amendments on ground water pollution and ‘well-by-well disclosure’ accepted, but Labour maintains regulation is still flawed
Fracking companies will be legally bound to reveal the chemicals used to blast gas out of every well they drill and to better monitor for groundwater pollution, under concessions made by the government in parliament. But the Labour party, which proposed the changes, said many flaws remained and ministers remain “zealously opposed” to the necessary regulation.
The Labour party proposed over a dozen amendments to the infrastructure bill currently passing through parliament, including baseline measurements of methane gas in groundwater, well-by-well disclosure of chemicals in the fracking fluid used and a legal duty to consult the water industry during the planning process. The government has now accepted the first two and is consulting on the third.