The Environment Agency (EA) has granted an environmental permit to energy company Cuadrilla that enables it to manage wastes that ‘may contain low levels of naturally occurring radioactive substances’ (NORMs).

These NORMs are present in many types of rock, and are arising from Cuadrilla’s exploratory borehole to test for oil and gas reserves at Balcombe, West Sussex.

Under environmental regulations, Cuadrilla was required to apply for a further permit to manage and ‘safely’ dispose of any wastewater or solid waste generated during well testing at the site.

The EA reviewed concerns raised by local people before reaching its decision to grant the permit, during a six-week consultation with communities, interest groups and other organisations.

Cuadrilla did not need this permit to drill the borehole initially, but will need it if it returns to the site to carry out further well testing in the future. The company has said that it is not proposing to carry out any hydraulic fracturing (fracking) from this activity, but has confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons at the site.

Speaking of the decision, Environment Manager at the EA, Chris Wick, said: “We would like to thank all those people who responded to this consultation. If the well testing goes ahead we will monitor Cuadrilla’s operations and work with other regulators to ensure that the activity does not cause harm to people and the environment.”

EA officers will attend a question and answer session in Balcombe on 9 October to answer any questions local residents may have regarding this.

Balcombe site controversy

Cuadrilla’s Balcombe site has been the scene of ongoing demonstrations recently, with many, including former Green Party Leader, Caroline Lucas, staging protests at Cuadrilla’s presence in the area. Concerns largely center on fears that the test drilling could lead to fracking at the site.

Opponents of the controversial process – in which water and chemicals are used to blast open rocks and release natural shale gas – argue that the process can contaminate drinking supplies with methane and NORMs, and trigger earthquakes.

However, Lee Petts, Managing Director of waste and environmental management company Remsol (working with Cuadrilla resources in shale gas exploration) has previously told Resource that wastewater from the hydraulic fracturing process would be safely treated in this country.

Petts said: “I’ve seen it said that the waste [from fracking], which is predominantly water containing dissolved metals, salts, and very low concentrations of NORMs will be ‘dumped’ into canals, injected into disposal wells, or simply ‘diluted and dispersed’ somewhere. None of these are true in Cuadrilla’s case.

“Our early research led us to a former United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) site that has been successfully treating effluent containing very low levels of artificially produced radionuclides for over 40 years, using a very simple method.

“We are confident that this method of treatment – proven to be safe over many decades and conducted for us at a carefully selected range of treatment sites that are appropriately permitted to receive and handle the wastewaters in question – will provide an operationally sustainable means of dealing with Cuadrilla’s exploration wastewaters that people can trust.”

Balcombe site future

Cuadrilla’s Balcombe site is currently closed, and the drilling rig and associated equipment has been removed from site while the company seeks new planning permission to cover the flow testing of the horizontal oil exploration well. The new application will include revised planning boundary lines showing the extent of the horizontal well being tested.

The company has said that the decision to make a new application for the well-testing activity, rather than an extension of previously approved activity, was made to resolve any 'potential legal ambiguity around how the planning boundary should be drawn for a subsurface horizontal well'. The planning application is not ‘planned to include additional drilling or any hydraulic fracturing’.

Drilling equipment will not be mobilised on-site until planning consent has been granted, Cuadrilla has said.

Francis Egan, Cuadrilla CEO, added: “The well is now closed off for the coming months as Cuadrilla applies for planning permission to come back and test flow rates. We appreciate that the Balcombe community has had to bear the strain of protest, as have our on-site and support team and contractors. We commend West Sussex County Council and the Police for both facilitating peaceful protest and preserving order.”

Campaigners say they will vacate the site by 8 October but have pledged to come back if Cuadrilla returns.

Read the EA’s environmental permits and decision documents, or find out more about fracking.