MOSCOW, October 6 (RIA Novosti) – British farmers fear that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, that is occurring beneath their land could bring them financial loss, as land values could fall and stores could stop buying produce grown above fracking sites, The Telegraph reported Monday.
British farmers, who initially saw fracking as an opportunity to make money, are now "broadly concerned," Dr. Jonathan Scurlock, National Farmers Union (NFU) chief renewable energy and climate change adviser, said Monday, The Telegraph reported.
"Some of that is a consequence of the appearance that government and industry are trying to brush rural economy concerns under the carpet," Scurlock noted, saying that NFU farmers fear that supermarkets might cease to buy produce grown above fracking sites, the newspaper reported.
The NFU is also concerned that the value of farmland above fracking sites could be reduced because of the current negative perceptions toward fracking, even if the actual shale gas extraction does not cause any harm.
"If the approach chosen by government and the shale gas industry is only to negotiate with some nebulous community body, which certainly doesn't guarantee landowners will get any kind of payment for giving up access under their land, that does just look like landowner interests being brushed aside," Scurlock was quoted by The Telegraph as saying.
The British government is currently working on new laws that would not allow people to block fracking beneath their property or land. British authorities say no compensation will be paid to individual landowners, because they should not be affected by the gas or oil extraction.
Fracking is a technique to recover gas and oil from shale rock by drilling down into the ground and injecting water, sand and chemicals into the rock at high pressures, releasing gas to the head of the well.
Fracking is reported to be the cause of hazardous air and water pollution and earthquakes, resulting from the process of injecting fracking solutions into the ground.
A number of anti-fracking protests were held across the United Kingdom in August, highlighting the British authorities' disregard for the environment. The protesters were especially concerned by the appointment of pro-fracking lobbyist Sir Phillip Dilley as head of the British Environment Agency. Dilley, appointed by British Prime Minister David Cameron, is the ex-chairman of Arup, a partner of Cuadrilla, one of the largest shale exploration companies in the United Kingdom.
