1-15 of 15 results for subject:Contamination
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To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the risks of (a) water contamination and (b) air pollution arising from fracking for shale gas.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the risks of (a) water contamination and (b) air pollution arising from fracking for shale gas.
The Government's previous Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir John Beddington FRS, asked the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering to review the scientific and engineering evidence concerning the risks associated with hydraulic fracturing as a means to extract shale gas. The review's key finding was that the health, safety and environmental risks from fracking for shale gas can be managed effectively in the UK.
The Environment Agency must make an assessment of the risk of pollution to groundwater on a case by case (site by site) basis. The Environment Agency would require an operator to apply for an environmental permit for groundwater activity before hydraulic fracturing could commence, if it determined that there could be a risk of pollution of groundwater at a site. This permit would put conditions on the operation that would control the risks of pollution in order to safeguard groundwater and water quality.
Similarly, the Environment Agency would require an environmental permit application if waste gases resulting from the activity were to be burnt in a flare, potentially causing air pollution.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the risk of contamination of water sources in the vicinity of the Appspond Lane Recycling Centre following a recent fire on that site.
[153912]
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the risk of contamination of water sources in the vicinity of the Appspond Lane Recycling Centre following a recent fire on that site.
[153912]
In response to the fire, the Environment Agency carried out an assessment to identify possible
polluting matter present and examined the potential for it to have an adverse impact elsewhere.
The Environment Agency sampled nearby groundwater bodies in areas potentially at risk. The nearest public water supply to Appspond Lane is approximately five km from the site.
Based on its sample results, the Environment Agency has not expressed any current concerns. During the incident it liaised with the local water supplier, Affinity Water. It provided the local authority, St Albans city and district council, with the sampling data.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department has taken to (a) prevent and (b) deal with contamination of the water table and water supply by fracking and (c) ensure clean water is available to people in the event of such contamination.
[143650]
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department has taken to (a) prevent and (b) deal with contamination of the water table and water supply by fracking and (c) ensure clean water is available to people in the event of such contamination.
[143650]
Under the Water Resources Act 1991 all shale gas operators in England and Wales must notify the Environment Agency of their intention to drill a borehole and operators must provide details of how they intend to protect water resources, including groundwater, in the construction and use of the borehole. If the Environment Agency is not satisfied, it may serve a notice on the operator to take appropriate measures to conserve water quantity and quality.
If hydraulic fracturing could result in entry of pollutants into groundwater, the Environment Agency would regard the fracturing as a groundwater activity. A permit under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010 will then be required to ensure that groundwater is protected. This is in addition to the controls applied by the local Mineral Planning Authority, the Health and Safety Executive and through a notice to drill under the Water Resources Act 1991.
Under the environmental permitting regulations, operators also require permits from the Environment Agency approving their plans for the management and disposal of extractive wastes from drilling and hydraulic fracturing, including waste fracking fluids.
Should pollution of groundwater occur, the Environment Agency can take enforcement action for an offence under regulation 38 of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010 and has powers under both regulation 57 of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010 and section 161 and 161A of the Water Resources Act 1991 to prevent or remedy pollution of groundwater caused by the actions of operators.
For public water supplies, the water companies have the responsibility for ensuring that drinking water supplied to the tap is of the appropriate quality. In the case of private drinking water supplies, these must be registered with and tested regularly by the local authority environmental health departments. If groundwater resources used for private supply are polluted by shale gas activities, in addition to the powers outlined above, the Environment Agency would also inform the local authority so that they can consider any action they might need to take.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he will take to prevent fracking operations in the Mendip Hills contaminating groundwater in that area.
[136781]
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he will take to prevent fracking operations in the Mendip Hills contaminating groundwater in that area.
[136781]
The Environment Agency has not received any applications for environmental permits for unconventional gas developments or fracking in and around the Mendip Hills. However if it were to receive such applications, the agency would make an assessment on the risk of pollution to groundwater on a case by case (site by site) basis.
If the Environment Agency determines that there could be a risk of pollution of groundwater at a site, it would require an operator to apply for an environmental permit for a groundwater activity before hydraulic fracturing could commence. This permit would put conditions on their operation, which would control the risks of pollution in order to safeguard the groundwater and water quality.
Agreed on question.
Agreed on question.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with (a) her European counterparts and (b) the EU Commission on the decision to ban desinewed meat in the European Union.
[108112]
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with (a) her European counterparts and (b) the EU Commission on the decision to ban desinewed meat in the European Union.
[108112]
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Foreign and Commonwealth Office have played the lead role on behalf of the UK Government in explaining to the Commission the full impact of their decision to
introduce a moratorium on desinewed meat and presenting the scientific case for UK practices. This has resulted in Commission agreement to a staged introduction of the moratorium in the UK rather than an immediate change.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding her Department provides to local authorities to assist with the costs of cleaning up contaminated brownfield sites.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding her Department provides to local authorities to assist with the costs of cleaning up contaminated brownfield sites.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the light of constraints on public funds available to support the remediation of contaminated land where the 'appropriate persons' have inadequate resources to cover their liability, for what reason her Department's revised Statutory Guidance omits reference to...
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the light of constraints on public funds available to support the remediation of contaminated land where the 'appropriate persons' have inadequate resources to cover their liability, for what reason her Department's revised Statutory Guidance omits reference to...
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to publish the statutory guidance following the consultation on changes to the contaminated land regime under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to publish the statutory guidance following the consultation on changes to the contaminated land regime under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to publish the responses to the consultation on changes to the contaminated land regime under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to publish the responses to the consultation on changes to the contaminated land regime under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had on the possible effect on the property market of her planned introduction of four categories of land quality resulting from investigations into contamination.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had on the possible effect on the property market of her planned introduction of four categories of land quality resulting from investigations into contamination.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the compatibility of her Department's public consultation on its revised contaminated land statutory guidance with her obligations under section 78YA of the Environment Protection Act 1990.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the compatibility of her Department's public consultation on its revised contaminated land statutory guidance with her obligations under section 78YA of the Environment Protection Act 1990.
To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the effect of the new principles in his Department's proposed contaminated land statutory guidance on individual sites has been tested in a pilot; and whether any land assessed as presenting an unacceptable risk to human health is likely to be reclassified...
To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the effect of the new principles in his Department's proposed contaminated land statutory guidance on individual sites has been tested in a pilot; and whether any land assessed as presenting an unacceptable risk to human health is likely to be reclassified...
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to complete the review of contaminated land regime.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to complete the review of contaminated land regime.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received from bodies representing local authority regulators on her Department's recently proposed revision of the statutory guidance in respect of the contaminated land regime.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received from bodies representing local authority regulators on her Department's recently proposed revision of the statutory guidance in respect of the contaminated land regime.