Fracking Is Not Permitted In…

The evidence that fracking is dangerous to health, the environment, climate change, and all the other risks, is now so strong that many places do not allow it.

The list of places banning, or refusing to permit, fracking is increasing all the time.  At the last check places that had done this either permanently or temporarily (e.g. issued a moratorium; references at the foot of the page) included:

Europe

  • Wales
  • Scotland
  • Northern Ireland – presumption against fracking “enshrined in [planning] policy”
  • Ireland – banned
  • France – banned
  • Netherlands
  • Germany
  • Bulgaria – banned
  • Spain – voted to ban & regional bans

 

U.S.

In the U.S., the country that has most experience of fracking:

  • New York State
  • the state of Vermont
  • the state of Maryland
  • Beverley Hills – the California Municipality built above the Beverly Hills Oil Field
  • the town of Denton, Texas, “the birthplace of fracking”.  This was later overturned by the governor of Texas.

 

Australia

  • The State of Victoria – banning unconventional gas; moratorium on conventional onshore gas

 

U.K.

Here in the U.K. the list of local councils passing motions that express concern about, or oppose fracking, is increasing all the time:

  • East Riding of Yorkshire Council – “concerned” (full details on the ERYC page here)
  • Hull City Council – “opposes” (full details on the Hull page here)
  • Ryedale District Council (North Yorkshire), where fracking has since been granted at Kirby Misperton by North Yorkshire County Council
  • the City of York has declared itself a Frack Free Zone

Motions on fracking have also been passed in:

Brighton and Hove, Calderdale (West Yorkshire), Ceredigion, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Cinderford Town Council (Forest of Dean), Bristol, Deal Town, Dover District, Eastbourne Borough Council, Forest of Dean District Council, Glastonbury, Gloucestershire, Kirklees (West Yorkshire), Leeds, London Assembly, Manchester, Newcastle, Preston, Sheffield, Torfaen County Borough Council, Trafford, Westhoughton Town, West Dean Parish Council (Forest of Dean), and Wirral.

 

 

 

References

 

Wales – moratorium on shale gas, Feb 2015; on UCG March 2016

The Town and Country Planning (Notification) (Unconventional Oil and Gas) (Wales) Direction – The Welsh Government
Minister extends moratorium to underground coal gasification – The Welsh Government

 

Scotland – moratorium on shale gas, Jan 2015; UCG banned Oct 2016

Moratorium called on fracking – The Scottish Government
Underground coal gasification blocked – The Scottish Government

 

Northern Ireland – presumption against fracking, Sep 2015

presumption against fracking “enshrined in [planning] policy”
Fracking banned in Northern Ireland for the first time – Belfast Telegraph

 

Ireland – Onshore hydraulic fracturing banned July 2017

PETROLEUM AND OTHER MINERALS DEVELOPMENT (PROHIBITION OF ONSHORE HYDRAULIC FRACTURING) ACT 2017 (pdf) – Houses of the Oireachtas

President Has Signed Onshore Fracking Ban In To Law – Leitrim Observer

 

France – outright ban, July 2011

Legislation:
LOI n° 2011-835 du 13 juillet 2011 visant à interdire l’exploration et l’exploitation des mines d’hydrocarbures liquides ou gazeux par fracturation hydraulique et à abroger les permis exclusifs de recherches comportant des projets ayant recours à cette technique – Legifrance

 

Netherlands – 5 year moratorium, July 2015

No extraction of shale gas during the next five years – Government of the Netherlands

 

Germany – prohibited ‘with exceptions’, June 2016

Unkonventionelles Fracking wird verboten – Deutscher Bundestag

 

Bulgaria – outright ban, Jan 2012

UPDATE 1-Bulgaria bans shale oil and gas drilling – Reuters

 

Spain – banned in Cantabria April 2013, later overturned; national resolution to ban, April 2016

Shale-rich Spanish region vote to ban fracking – Reuters, April 2013
Spain’s Constitutional Court throws out Cantabria fracking ban – Reuters, June 2014

“anti-fracking resolution agreed in the Spanish parliament”
“Spain had delivered institutional opposition to fracking at various local and regional levels in the form of more than 400 self-declared frack-free municipalities, or at a higher level, in the form of regional governments (up to six) having banned or established a moratorium on the activity.”
Are the Winds Changing on Fracking in Spain? – Desmog UK, April 2016

 

United States

Hydraulic fracturing in the United States – Wikipedia

Texas city bans fracking in its birthplace, court battles loom – Reuters

 

Victoria, Australia – introducing legislation to permanently ban unconventional gas; moratorium on conventional onshore gas

Victorian unconventional gas exploration ban to end fracking and CSG extraction – ABC News, Aug 2016

 

UK Councils

Frack free councils – Drill Or Drop