Deadline end November - Cuadrilla has reapplied for planning permission to test the well they drilled in summer 2013. Their old planning permission ran out this May - they failed to get on with the job in time. Now we have until the end of November to send our comments to the planning consultation at West Sussex County Council. Petitions are (unfortunately) generally ignored, so please don't consider signing this as your objection, the planning committee and political leaders will only be interested in actual formal submissions to the planning team. A production well at Lower Stumble This time Cuadrilla say they will immediately apply to turn Lower Stumble into an oil production site if their initial two-week test proves a success. Full-scale production will mean drilling more wells. Indeed their licence obliges them to drill another well by 2021. Remember, Cuadrilla have leased the Lower Stumble site for 30 years, until 2043! Yet our village voted “no” to oil exploration and production. If they wish to go into production, based on the experience of flow-testing and subsequent planning application at Horse Hill, we could be looking at many more wells being drilled on the same pad (possibly up to 12) with associated flaring and heavy industry traffic. At Horse Hill local residents also complained of nasty smells in the air, which is a very bad sign for our health https://drillordrop.com/2016/02/16/horse-hill-neighbours-complain-about-smell-as-oil-company-celebrates-significant-test-result/. Acidising At Lower Stumble On the southern end of our village, Cuadrilla have drilled horizontally for a third of a mile into an oily limestone-rich sliver within the thick bed of oil-bearing shale beneath our feet. They intend to use hydrochloric acid, along with other chemicals, to dissolve passageways through the limestone. By targeting (for now) only the limestone, Cuadrilla can avoid using the F word. In our comments, we must do likewise, as West Sussex County Council is allowed to consider only the application in hand, and may disregard objections mentioning the F word! Why should I care about acidising? Acidising brings the same risks as fracking – risks to our health and environment, wildlife and farm animals, the clean country air we breathe, potentially the water we all drink. Acidising brings noise, flares, heavy traffic on our country road, a range of chemicals whose toxicity in some cases is unknown and untested. It brings unwanted heavy industry to our peaceful village - and as we know, it brings social stress. See the following article for a detailed study on acidisation: https://drillordrop.com/2017/01/10/guest-post-by-kathryn-mcwhirter-everything-you-always-wanted-to-know-about-acidising/ There could be hundreds of wells. So far, oil companies are prospecting in a few scattered places across the South East. But oil companies are thinking big. One oil CEO in the Weald has referred to wells ‘back to back’ across the landscape. See our previous update 'Oil in the Weald' for the full details of the potential oil production in the South and the health risks involved in living in oil/gas fields. ‘But Sussex has had oil wells for decades!’ Oil companies today can drill horizontally over long distances into different kinds of rocks, through which oil cannot flow without acidising or fracking. Until recently, no one was talking about wells every couple of miles, under our homes, communities and fields. What is proposed now is much more intrusive and intensive. And regulation is lagging behind new technology. "No long-term study has been done anywhere in the world on the health effects of chronic exposure of human populations to the emissions from gas/oil extraction. Hence, the long-term risk is not known. However, it is known that extended exposure to the radioactive and chemical emissions typically associated with gas/oil operations poses a serious mortality and morbidity risk. The risk to residents living within a few hundred metres of a well pad may be very significant." Professor Lawrence Dunne (an expert in chemical physics.) How do I respond to the consultation? You can respond, by letter, postcard, email, or on West Sussex County Council’s website. The story so far: In 2013, Cuadrilla Resources (Balcombe) Ltd drilled a well at Lower Stumble. As a village, we voted in February 2014 to keep oil companies out of Balcombe. However, West Sussex County Council gave Cuadrilla planning permission to return. We contested this through a Judicial Review in the High Court, but lost. Cuadrilla never showed up in Balcombe to do their flow testing, and their planning permission expired in May 2017. Most recent development: On 27th October, Cuadrilla submitted a new planning application to flow test the well drilled in the summer of 2013. They want planning permission again, and have explicitly stated that if they find oil in recoverable quantities, they will immediately apply for further planning permission, to start producing oil. We do not want them in Balcombe again, and must do everything legal in our power to stop them. The first thing is to object to this planning application. Anyone can object, but your objection has to be in your own words. You can be a resident of Balcombe or not. It can be as short or long as you want. You can be an adult or a child. Everyone has the right to say why they don’t want Cuadrilla back in Balcombe. Spread the word among friends. On a wider note, if Cuadrilla find oil here, they won’t be content with just this one Balcombe well. It is likely to mean many more wells, all over our countryside, with new roads to service them, and pipelines built to carry the oil away. As one oil company CEO says about oil in the Weald: 'this type of deposit depends on being able to drill our wells almost back to back so it becomes very much like an industrialised process’. He mentions that these extend over 55 square miles of the Weald. Watch the industry talk on the link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zBAD-EJHyk So, if you share our worries about the effect on our village and on Sussex, please make time to object to this application. Do not feel you can leave this to everyone else! Send in a written objection, by letter, email or online. How to submit your objection: Make sure you mention reference number WSCC/040/17/BA. Include your name and address. Object: 1) In writing, to: County Planning, W Sussex County Council, Chichester, PO19 1RH 2) By email, to: planning.applications@westsussex.gov.uk, including your postal address 3) Online, on West Sussex County Council’s website: http://buildings.westsussex.gov.uk/ePlanningOPS/loadRepresentation.do?pprAplId=2178: Give your name, address and email, then your comment. Don’t forget to select ‘Object' in the final drop-down box before you submit your objection - and note the reference number of the application, (Cuadrilla flow-testing at Lower Stumble Balcombe) Otherwise your objection will not count. Objections must be in by Thursday 30th November, so please don't delay! Reasons for objection to this planning application: Air pollution -The prevailing wind blows from the site towards the village. It will bring toxic compounds from the flare, and emissions from diesel generators on site and HGVs. The height of the flare is BELOW the height of the village so will blow toxic emissions straight into residents. Risk of water pollution - There may be leaks and spills, onto surrounding land and streams beside the site. These streams eventually end up in our drinking water. Noise - In 2013, Cuadrilla ignored limits on noise until we brought this to the attention of West Sussex County Council, who should have policed noise. Can we trust them? Toxic waste disposal - The waste fluid from the well could be contaminated with heavy metals and Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORMS). It will be extremely salty, perhaps five times as salty as seawater. Some will inevitably be left underground. Some will be transported by tanker, through the village, for disposal elsewhere. Traffic volume and accident risk - There will be more traffic, particularly HGVs, driving past our village school and emitting particulates. Should there be an accident with an HGV carrying hazardous liquid, (and this DOES happen) the consequences could be grave. The school outside teaching and play areas are only a pavement's width from the road. Traffic also tends to back- up and idle here to wait for bottle necks further down the road to clear. Trains on the main London to Brighton railway line, right beside and just above the site, are potentially at risk from fugitive toxic and combustible gases. Wildlife and environment - There will probably be disturbances to the birds and bats in the ancient woodland near the site. The application says: ‘There is the potential for some minor, direct and indirect adverse effects to be experienced at sensitive receptors.’ That means birds, bats, other animals - and us, the residents! What if something goes wrong? - Cuadrilla is a limited company, and could declare bankruptcy and walk away if a serious accident occurred. Village life - Cuadrilla’s return would mean more disruption and division in our community, and the beginning of the industrialisation of our countryside. Cuadrilla has no social licence to be in Balcombe - we voted ‘no’ in 2014, and we don’t want Cuadrilla back. Do not use the word ‘fracking’ (or hydraulic fracturing) in your objection. For now, Cuadrilla will be ‘acidising’, and anyway, West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is not allowed to consider anything that happens underground (that is the domain of the Environment Agency). WSCC can consider all the issues listed above. If you mention ‘fracking’, your objection may not be counted. Do not refer to the potential fall in house prices if Cuadrilla returns. Again, this cannot be taken into account in this planning objection. (But it is a worry…as Balcombe will already be under planning blight) Remember, objections must be in by Thursday 30th November The application can be viewed here: http://buildings.westsussex.gov.uk/ePlanningOPS/loadFullDetails.do?aplId=2178