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Civil society groups call on member states to suspend existing ‘fracking’ projects and ban new ones

Brussels, April 24, 2012 – A coalition of environmental and health NGOs warned the European Parliament today that hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) of shale gas, shale oil, and coal bed methane represent an dangerous experiment on the environment and human health.

The warning comes following a draft report on shale gas published on the 11th of April by MEP Boguslaw Sonik for the parliamentary committee working on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. The draft, which promotes the expansion of shale gas developments in Europe, will be presented in front of the ENVI Committee tomorrow. It will influence Europe’s position on shale gas, potentially steering Europe’s energy policy in completely the wrong direction. The report ignores the risks and negative impacts of fracking, while presenting overly optimistic industry interests.

Antoine Simon, shale gas campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe said: “Europe must not fall into the shale gas trap – it threatens the health of local communities, the environment, locks Europe into fossil fuel dependency, and undermines renewable energy developments.”

“European politicians must resist industry rhetoric and take account of the very real dangers of shale gas. Member states must suspend ongoing activities, and ban new projects – we must put a stop to this socially and environmentally damaging technology before it spreads across Europe.”

Exploiting shale gas, shale oil and coal bed methane in Europe will increase greenhouse gas emissions and ensure fossil fuel dependency at the expense of renewable energy or cheaper and safer policies to save energy. Additionally, loopholes in European legislation allow companies to remain secretive about chemicals used during fracking, making it impossible to assess the environmental and health risks.

Lisette van Vliet, Senior policy officer for Health and Environment Alliance said: “Getting natural gas from shale is a mark of desperate addiction to fossil fuels and threatens our public health by polluting the environment. Toxic chemicals used in fracking can contaminate groundwater, and subsequently drinking water, and fracking worsens our air quality. We call on Parliament to take a strong stand, and not to feed this addiction!”

Geert De Cock, policy officer for Food and Water Europe said: “Detailed analysis of how European water legislation covers, or fails to cover, the impacts of fracking on the water quality, is dangerously absent.”

“Fracking for shale gas has led to thousands of water contamination cases in the US – leaks, spills, blowouts, and improper treatment of wastewater – yet Europe is turning a blind eye. We must take heed, and suspend all ongoing shale gas developments in Europe”.Civil society calls on member states to suspend ongoing activities, to abrogate permits, and to place a ban on any new projects, and urges the European Parliament not to promote further development of shale gas.

For more information, please contact:

Antoine Simon, shale gas campaigner for Friends of the Earth Europe, Tel: +32 (0) 2 893 10 18, Mob: +32 (0) 486 685 664, email: [email protected]

Lisette van Vliet, Senior policy officer for Health and Environment Alliance, Tel: +32 (0) 2 234 3645 Mob: +32 (0) 484 614 528, email: [email protected]

Geert De Cock, policy officer for Food and Water Europe, Tel: +32 (0) 2 893 10 45, Mob: +32 (0) 484 629 491, email: [email protected]

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Statement of Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter

Washington, D.C.—“On this day when millions of Americans pay their dues to Uncle Sam, it is especially ironic to hear that the oil and gas industry, already a major beneficiary of federal tax breaks, has been granted another gift at taxpayers expense. Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave final approval for plans to export liquefied natural gas, which will allow the industry to fetch higher prices for American gas in European and Asian markets. This move promises to raise natural gas prices for American consumers and to accelerate the pace of drilling and fracking for natural gas.

“Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass natural gas liquefaction plant is a poster child for the misleading nature of the oil and gas industry’s promise that shale gas fracking will help U.S. energy independence. How does sending American gas overseas deliver energy independence here at home? The only thing it does is ensure future profits for the oil and gas industry and its financial underwriters.

“Analysis by Food & Water Watch finds that while U.S. natural gas consumption is actually expected to decline through 2015, it is expected to increase overseas—as much as 44 percent by 2035, with China and India leading that demand.

“While the oil & gas industry profits from extracting and selling natural gas as rapidly as possible to thirsty foreign markets, Americans will be the ones left with the public health and environmental consequences of widespread drilling and fracking and the higher costs to heat their homes next winter.”

Contact: Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch, (202) 683-2500, kfried(at)fwwatch(dot)org.

Statement by Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Europe

Brussels – “Food & Water Europe is deeply alarmed by MEP Boguslaw Sonik’s draft report on the environmental impacts of shale gas and shale oil extraction. Mr. Sonik papers over the genuine risks that fracking poses to our water, our climate and our quality of life. Doing so serves the corporate agenda of fossil fuel companies, not the general interest of European citizens. We urge MEPs to vote against this report in its current form.

“Apart from the contents, the defensive tone of the report is problematic. Mr. Sonik dismisses significant new peer-reviewed scientific research that exposes the environmental pollution that has accompanied shale gas and shale oil development in the United States as ‘ideologically-biased’. This pollution directly endangers human and animal health, creates significant waste treatment and disposal challenges, and will only accelerate global climate change.

“Mr. Sonik fundamentally misunderstands the precautionary principle: the notion that the onus of the burden of proof of technological safety is on the user of the technology, not those concerned about their safety. He claims it is essential to apply it ‘to any future development of resources in Europe’, yet he fails to acknowledge that there is no systematic public health study of the cumulative impacts of shale development. Fracking for shale gas in Europe would be an uncontrolled public health experiment”.

“Mr. Sonik’s report begins under the assumption that shale gas is a ‘very important new source of supply,’ conveniently dropping the key word “potential” from this direct quote out of the Commission’s 2050 Energy Roadmap. Yet, just as in the United States, the shale gas and shale oil resource potential in Europe is extremely uncertain. Poland’s own potential shale gas reserves were recently estimated to be just a tenth of what had been claimed just a few years ago.

“Food & Water Europe advocates for aggressive investment in the deployment of existing energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Under no circumstances should European taxpayer contributions instead be offered to the oil and gas industry to stimulate shale development. Yet, Mr. Sonik proposes to do just that. His report is out of touch with public opinion and the current political debates within the European Parliament.

“Finally, in his public statements to defend the environmental reputation of shale gas, Mr. Sonik has resorted to the use of Cold War rhetoric, accusing Russia’s Gazprom of spreading fears about shale gas. While Poland’s history with Russia has been problematic, Food & Water Europe emphasizes that, for an EU of 27 Member States with a focus on 2050, such rhetoric only complicates the challenge of developing 21^st century policies to ensure clean and renewable energy solutions.”

Contact: Geert De Cock tel. +32 (0)2 893 10 45, mobile +32 (0)484 629.491, gdecock(at)fweurope.org

Statement from Food & Water Europe Executive Director Wenonah Hauter

Brussels – “Two and a half months earlier than last year’s dry spell, as new areas of England are joining regions already suffering from drought issues this week, it is disappointing to see that once again the emphasis has been placed on household users and hosepipe bans instead of focusing on the role of water management in the country.

“One of the best ways to ensure that water is managed as a common resource, and that both farmers and householders get what they need in dry spells, is to look at water use holistically through public management. Water should not be commoditized for private gain, but stewarded for the long-term public good, in good times and bad.

“Private water companies cannot wait for droughts to happen before saying they will fix leaks. The idea that household consumers are largely responsible for water use is a myth. In fact, consumer use accounts for only 10 percent of our global water supply. In reality, the problem lies in aging infrastructure systems and unsustainable agricultural and industrial practices that squander precious water resources.

“Furthermore, the government should not allow industries to use and contaminate millions of litres of water through activities such as shale gas extraction, which will only lead to further abuses on already fragile groundwater resources.

“The solution to our collective water woes lies in adopting an integrated approach to the management of our watersheds, less water intensive agricultural practices and methods of renewable energy production that do not cause more environmental harm.

“While climate change is indeed a problem, we cannot simply use it as a catch all excuse for inaction, especially when modernizing and better maintaining the country’s water infrastructure systems could address many of the water scarcity issues from which England suffers. In failing to address the health of these water systems, the private companies that currently oversee these essential systems are doing their customers and the nation’s water resources a grave disservice.”

Contact: Gabriella Zanzanaini, gzanzanaini(at)fweurope.org, +32 488 409 662

Statement from Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter

Brussels – “Food & Water Europe welcomes the stated intention of politicians discussing revisions to EU fisheries policy to end the shameful practice of discards, but in many ways this was the easy part. Now they need to get on with the job and tackle the heart of the problems in European fishing.

“Discards are an obvious place to start, but they are a symptom of far bigger problems underlying fisheries policy. Fixing what’s wrong with EU fisheries means any reform of the Common Fisheries Policy must tackle much more difficult issues like privatising public resources through Individual Transferable Quotas (IFQ’s) and ensuring that limits on overall catch are based on reliable science instead of politics. Furthermore, without considerably improved enforcement, a notional end to discards, or any other revisions, would be little more than hot air.

“There is ample evidence in the U.S. and the EU showing privatised fishing quotas concentrates control into fewer, bigger hands, often the ‘slipper skippers’ who do not actually fish, while driving smaller, often community-based boats out of the water. This must be replaced with policies aimed at managing fish stocks as a public good to ensure fishing communities and the long-term jobs they support are healthy and strong rather than a resource for creating individual profit.

“The farcical routine of EU Member States negotiating their ‘share’ of the catch, far above scientific advice, must be stopped. As authors of the recent University of York study clearly say, ‘Competitive bargaining doesn’t work.’ We need to improve both the science behind stock assessments and respect for those assessments, but politicians cannot continue to talk sustainability and ignore it in negotiations if they expect to have any meaningful fishing industry in Europe in the medium to long term. Iconic species like cod and Bluefin tuna exemplify where this approach leads, and it’s a fair guess others will follow without fundamental change.

“Policies are of little use if limits are not enforced. Sanctions must be harsher for both fishers and Member States flouting agreements.

“These changes will be difficult and will require politicians to take on entrenched ways of thinking to work with vested interests in new ways, but it must be done. Ending discards is a good start, but without significant change in these other areas it will achieve little.”

Contact: Eve Mitchell – emitchell(at)fweurope.org, tel + 44 (0)1381 610 740)

Alternative Water Forum Gathering Steam with 3000 Expected

Marseille—Today Food & Water Watch and Food & Water Europe executive director Wenonah Hauter declined an invitation to debate World Water Forum participants on the merits of public versus private involvement in the water sector, encouraging them to involve a Philippine water activist who could testify to the disaster that privatization brought to her community in the Philippines. Council of Canadians Chair Maude Barlow had also previously declined the invitation. 

“Since this debate is closed to the public and is only open to Forum participants, who must pay prohibitive fees in travel and registration to attend, I feel rather than participate in the debate myself, you should hear from a citizen directly impacted by water privatization schemes,” wrote Hauteur to Benedito Braga, President of the International Forum Committee. 

“No company should profit from the endeavor to supply the world with clean water and sanitation,” wrote Hauter. “Anything less is unacceptable, and that is why I will not support the Forum with my participation in this debate.”

Hauter suggested that the Forum hear from Maria Theresa N. Lauron, IBON International Program Officer and Philippine activist. “The privatization of MWSS is one of the largest PPP projects ever implemented in the country. Almost 15 years ago, it was touted as the solution to inefficient water services amid exorbitant user fees. Today, the basic charge for water services in Metro Manilla has soared by almost 1,000 percent since privatization in 1997,” said Lauron.

Food & Water Watch is joining activists in Marseille protesting the Forum as an inappropriate venue for forging water policy at the Alternative Water Forum, which will be held March 14-17. Nearly 3000 people are expected to attend to the alternative forum to counter the corporate-led Forum.

The World Water Forum has been plagued by controversy and low attendance this year, with European media citing that the forum had only 6000 registrants in the days leading up to the event, falling dismally short of the 20,000 previously anticipated. President Nikolas Sarkozy, previously slated to attend, has bowed out amid the controversy, and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already stated that it will not be attending this year.

“Water and sanitation have been recognized as human rights,” says Maude Barlow, chairperson of the Council of Canadians and Food & Water Watch. “The challenge now is to have governments implement these rights as quickly as possible now. It’s a poor starting point for the World Water Forum to fail to recognize these fundamental rights.”