Fracking

Yes, time to mix it up a bit and help protect the Earth we live on.

It is currently being raped, pillaged and left for dead by a plague.

Mankind.

In an era where knowledge, food and entertainment are available at the push of a button, you would hope that an enlightened person may stop and ask "Why are we doing this when it damages the very thing which sustains us?"

Thankfully, some have.

In 2014 a crack protection unit was sent to court by the Greater Manchester Police for a crime they didn't commit, the protectors promptly escaped with no charges from Swinton Police Station to the Barton Moss underground. Today, still wanted by the GMP they survive as Anti Fracking Protectors, if you have a problem....if no-one else can help....and if you can find them...maybe you can hire the INVESTOR REMOVAL TEAM!

Whilst most of us sleep soundly in our beds, these heroes help keep us a little bit safer from things that go "BANG" in the night.... and here's why:

In terms of official information in the UK, the nearest the Salford Star could find was a174 page report by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, published in December, which was a `Strategic Environmental Assessment for Further Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing'…This document is full of uncertainties but it does give a colour coded chart for likely effects of fracking on twelve of its Environmental objectives. And nine out of the twelve objectives are on the negative spectrum, ie having either a `significantly negative' or `minor negative' effect on communities and the land. Only two objectives are on the positive spectrum, these being related to perceived economic benefits and new forms of gas supplies.The report states that there would be a "locally significant negative effect on the population and health", which ranges from "the generation of noise, dust and vibrations during construction, drilling and associated HGV movement" to effects on "biodiversity and habitats" and "greenhouse gas emissions", to the enormous volumes of waste water (flowback) which "will place a substantial burden on existing waste water treatment infrastructure capacity".It adds that "there is also a potential risk of release of fracturing fluids or flowback water to aquifer sources if, for example, the cementing of a well is inadequate or fails during high pressure under fracturing. This could have a negative effect on human health through the contamination of the water supply", although it adds that "no significant risk to human health from this issue is anticipated".The report explains that "potential impacts on water resource availability, aquatic habitats, eco systems and water quality is more uncertain" - but further on in the document it lists chemicals found in water emanating from the Preese Hall exploratory well in Lancashire which included "high levels of sodium chloride, bromide, iron, lead, magnesium, zinc and low levels of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM)".
Full article

That's just a brief breakdown of the damage these gas and oil Co's. want to inflict upon what little bit of green is left on this putrid Isle. 
It's not enough they have sink holes appearing randomly in the USA and Canada. Ohio banned fracking in 2012 after a panel of experts agreed the highly toxic gas-gathering process was liable to cause earthquakes.

 While fracking injects water and chemicals into the ground, deadly gases are released. There are 800,000 injection wells nationwide in the United States. Nearly 450 earthquakes magnitude 3.0 and larger occurred in four years from 2010-2013, over 100 per year on average, compared with an average rate of 20 earthquakes per year observed from 1970-2000.Source

Barton Moss Protection Camp, Barton Moss Road, Just off A57 next to Airport, Eccles M30 7RL 
Contact 07967369515 

Conservation Volunteers On The Mosslands (Click To Enlarge)

Barton Moss is part of a network of mosslands (peat bog) which includes Chat, Irlam, Barton, Little Woolden and Great Woolden Mosses, and often is collectively referred to as Chat Moss. The moss is a lowland raised bog, formed after the last ice age about 10,000 years ago on the site of a shallow glacial lake. Peat extraction and drainage for agriculture have reduced the unspoiled area of moss to a few remaining fragments, mostly nature reserves. Despite this, the area is home to an enormous variety of wildlife and provides a unique habitat for many plants and insects. In particular the moss is know for the wide variety of birds that it attracts, including some very rare species. Nearby Astley Moss is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

The local area has previously been host to a number of environmental struggles. A battle to halt the continued destruction of the moss by peat extraction which dubbed the moss Salford’s ‘rainforest’, was finally successful in 2012, after a long campaign which included direct action and court cases. Another campaign to stop the building of a waste incinerator nearby is still ongoing, after the government overturned the local council’s rejection of the planning application. This is in some ways part of a wider struggle to defend the greenbelt around Manchester from being gobbled up by relentless development.

In all these cases the ultimate bad guy is corporate giant Peel Holdings, who own a vast amount of the land in the area, as well as the Manchester Ship Canal and a number of ports and airports. Peel Holdings is the empire of tax-shy billionaire John Whittaker, who lives on the Isle of Man, backed up by the oil money of the powerful Saudi Olayan family. Unsurprisingly Peel also own the land which the fracking site is on, as well as another site just across the Manchester Ship Canal in Trafford for which IGas also has planning permission. In fact Peel appear to be trying to position themselves as the fracking landlords in the North West and are securing land for the exploration and exploitation of coal bed methane (CBM), and probably now shale gas.

At the end of the day, you have to ask, "How long will all this extra gas last?"
*cough*
30 years.

Shale gas has the potential to meet all UK gas needs for 30 years, David Cameron said as he accused some opponents of fracking of being irrational and "religious" in their opposition. Source

A live feed from the Barton Moss camp is available. The Salford Star has regular coverage of events. 
The Protectors are in Court tomorrow morning, to be evicted from a public footpath. I believe bodies are needed at the camp site to ensure safe and peaceful protest for those remaining in situ. All welcome.