We must ban fracking in the UK

Do you want your tap water to be contaminated with methane gas and toxic chemicals? This could happen under an amendment to the Infrastructure Bill, according to which fracking companies will be allowed to "put any substance" under people's homes and property without their consent, and leave it there.

Tell the UK government to protect peoples' rights to block fracking below their homes and property.

The amendment to the Infrastructure Bill will take away landowners' right to block fracking below their property. It will allow the passing of "any substance through, or [the] putting [of] any substance into, deep-level land” and give “the right to leave deep-level land in a different condition from [that before] including by leaving any infrastructure or substance in the land.”

The amendment is so loosely worded that it could have the unintended consequence of allowing the burial of nuclear waste. Companies could dispose of fracking fluid (which often contains toxic metals and radioactive elements) under people's homes and businesses.

As Simon Clydesdale of Greenpeace UK points out, these changes make it very clear that ministers are "trying to absolve fracking firms from responsibility for whatever mess they’ll end up leaving underground" and are "bending over backwards to put the interests of shale drillers before the safety of our environment and our climate."

Fracking, which involves mixing dangerous chemicals with water and sand and injecting them into wells at extremely high pressure, poses huge dangers to people's health and to the environment. In the US, fracking has been linked to polluted drinking water in a number of states including Colorado, Pennsylvania and Texas, when residents reported changes in their water quality after fracking operations.

The UK government says its shale gas regulation is the best in the world and claims that "shale and geothermal have the potential to bolster our energy security, create jobs and growth and provide a bridge to a greener future." The House of Lords discussed the Infrastructure Bill on October 14 and will examine it again on November 3.

The fact is, the amendment makes a mockery of the government's claims about its "world-class fracking regulations." We have had enough and must act before it is too late and we have no choice but to live with the results of fracking. Demand the UK government preserve landowners' rights to block fracking below their homes and property and stop the amendment to trespass laws.