LONDON, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A British advocacy group said Wednesday it was frustrated with a local decision to agree to postpone a final decision on a shale natural gas drilling program.
Members of the Lancashire County Council agreed to hold off a final decision on planning applications for hydraulic fracturing submitted by shale gas pioneer Cuadrilla Resources. Cuadrilla asked for a delay after the council last week suggested it would deny the permit because of noise pollution concerns.
Helen Rimmer, a campaigner with the British Friends of the Earth, said the council should listen to the chorus of voices expressing opposition to fracking.
"Lancashire council must resist Cuadrilla's ploys to push fracking through and listen to the tens of thousands of voices of opposition and reject these plans," she said in a statement. "Failure to do so will leave Lancashire as the UK's guinea pig for this unnecessary and polluting technology."
Cuadrilla, which estimates the region may hold as much as 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, last year deposited 21 chapters of environmental studies with the Lancashire County Council associated with plans for up to four shale gas exploration wells.
Frustration with the emerging shale industry in the country has grown since Friends of the Earth published a letter that seemed to suggest the government was working to advance the industry's interest.
The Guardian newspaper added in an editorial this week that the government was "bullying and bribing" its way to a shale gas industry.
The government said it must act carefully in unlocking shale gas reserves, but expressed support for a fledgling sector it says will provide jobs, economic growth and a source of energy security.
