GRANGEMOUTH, SCOTLAND, November 20 (Sputnik), Mark Hirst — Major UK-based chemical manufacturing company Ineos plans to invest $1billion in shale production and exploration in the UK will face "serious opposition", the co-convenor of the Scottish Green Party told Sputnik Thursday.
"If Ineos think they can easily frack the Forth Valley, they've got another think coming. This is a highly populated area, and we've already seen serious opposition mobilized in local communities where coal bed methane drilling has been proposed. Anyone thinking of fracking in Scotland's central belt will face a similar wave of protest," Patrick Harvie who is also a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) said.
Harvie's comments came after Ineos, which owns the second largest oil refinery in the UK located at Grangemouth, announced Thursday it would be investing $1billion into shale gas exploration using a controversial technique known as fracking.
Ineos claim the Grangemouth plant is currently operating at a loss and that the new investment would allow the company to move back into profit, but Harvie told Sputnik the public was right to be concerned about the "risky new techniques" used to extract the shale gas.
"Climate science tells us we already have access to far more fossil fuel than we can safely burn, so the public is quite justified in opposing these risky new techniques for extracting more gas," Harvie said.
"We should be looking to use our existing hydrocarbon supplies carefully and within limits, rather than chasing after more, as well as investing in clean technology that delivers long-term jobs and a safe environment," he explained.
Fracking technique, or hydraulic fracturing is a way to extract shale gas by fracturing rocks by a hydraulically pressurized liquid. To create fracking fluid, the water is mixed with sand and chemicals, including known carcinogens and toxins such as uranium, radium, methanol, mercury and lead. During the fracking process, toxic chemicals often leak from the system and contaminate nearby groundwater.
