Fracking 2017

Captain Qahn's picture

A swift update on wots going on in Frackland...

The North Wales police & crime commissioner withdrawing support to the Lancashire police : https://drillordrop.com/2017/07/24/north-wales-police-pulls-officers-out...

Cranes? https://drillordrop.com/2017/07/27/crane-operator-pulling-out-of-work-at...

Sadly the notorious Ian Crane is still at large.

How not to drive a Truck: https://drillordrop.com/2017/07/27/lorry-protest-outside-lancs-fracking-...

One wonders how they would deal with these people in the good old US of A. ... there are many videos on you tube courtesy of 'Kirby Misperton' anti-fracking activist of folk throwing themselves in the way of vehicles and lying in the road... and ya kinda wonder about their sanity & safety.   Having driven past the KM8  activist site several times (on the road to Flamingoland) and other Ryedale routes you kinda wonder if the activism site is in the wrong place.  Hey ho... that said it is generally quite peaceful .

Anyhoos enough drivel, here is the latest from the local Rake:

http://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/15427024.Concerns_over_fracking_poli...

"A RYEDALE MP has said he will call for a moratorium on fracking if protections are weakened.

Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Malton & Thirsk, made the comments after meeting with Greg Clark, secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy.

Planning permission was granted to Third Energy in May 2016 to frack at Kirby Misperton. The frack is due to start in the next few months.

Mr Hollinrake said: “My concerns had been raised following new proposals in our General Election manifesto to change the planning status and environmental oversight.

“In a discussion with Mr Clark about the government’s future plans for shale gas, I expressed my serious reservations about the proposed changes of policy to designate non-fracking drilling as permitted development and moving the decision making from local authorities to the National Planning Regime without some of the clear guidelines and restrictions on development detailed in the North Yorkshire County Council Draft Minerals and Waste Plan.

“I also raised similar concerns about the establishment of a new Shale Gas Environmental Regulator.

“After the decision to go ahead with fracking was made in Parliament in January 2015, I helped campaign to prohibit fracking from wells that are drilled in the surface of protected areas, such as National Parks.

“My position on this has not changed. Likewise, I will continue to ensure that applications immediately outside of specified protected areas will also be subject to the same restrictions and covered under our planning laws which protect the visual impact of protected areas.

“I remain supportive of shale gas extraction so long as regulations are in place to protect both our environment and our countryside. If this does not happen, then I will call for a moratorium.”

Ooh err.  Good job there is a Mineral & Waste Joint Plan in action eh.  

Meanwhile what does Third Energy have to hide?

Absolutely nothing.   'the Truth will Out'  ... https://www.third-energy.com/

Indeed, now we get to the exciting bit:-)  The Hydraulic Fracture Plan:   https://www.third-energy.com/sites/default/files/Hydraulic%20Fracture%20...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0WNbm1jz6A

btw would those inconsiderate barstewards low-flying Chinnocks at 4.00 am turn off their blasted lights. 

ps the conservation work at Flamingoland is outstanding.

ref: https://drillordrop.com/2017/07/23/whats-happening-this-week-24-30-july-...

Carnivals.

'it was a Ferrari'

Oh dear.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/15428792.Call_for_debate_on_lorry_...

Oh .. about those Chinnocks.

"The first commercial fracking well in the UK is set to be drilled within weeks in spite of strong opposition from protesters at the site near Blackpool. Lorries brought a drilling rig to the Lancashire site of shale gas explorer Cuadrilla during the early hours of Thursday under police escort, before anti-fracking activists could block the company’s main gate. But in an indication of how protesters are determined to try to disrupt Cuadrilla’s operations, later in the day four activists from environmental group Reclaim the Power locked themselves inside cars at the site entrance and placed their arms in concrete so they could not be moved without being injured. Cuadrilla has had to wait six years to frack again after causing a minor earthquake near Blackpool during a test in 2011. After securing planning permission from the government last year to frack at a different site in Lancashire, Cuadrilla now hopes to start a long-awaited shale gas revolution in the UK similar to that witnessed in the US. Britain has an estimated 1,300tn cubic feet of shale gas reserves, mainly in the north of England and the Midlands, according to the British Geological Survey. If 10 per cent could be extracted, it could satisfy the UK’s total gas needs for 50 years, based on current consumption levels, the government has calculated. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals underground at high pressure to crack rock and release gas. Drilling is done horizontally as well as vertically to expose a much greater area of resource-bearing rock. Opponents fear environmental damage, saying the liquid left below ground by fracking could seep into aquifers and enter domestic water supplies, among other things. Maya Watts, one of the protesters blocking the gate leading to Cuadrilla’s site, said: “Stop the fracking industry before it really gets started, as it will be hazardous to health, awful for agriculture and terrible for tourism.” While fracking has unleashed large-scale oil and gas supplies in the US during the past decade, it has proved controversial in Europe. France has banned the activity, while the devolved governments in Scotland and Wales have imposed moratoriums. Since the minor earthquake unleashed by Cuadrilla’s 2011 test, shale explorers have struggled to obtain planning permission in the UK. However, Third Energy secured permission last year and is poised to drill in North Yorkshire, while companies including Ineos, the chemicals group, and IGas, the oil and gas producer, have licences to explore. Cuadrilla hopes to start drilling the first of four horizontal shale gas exploration wells at its site on a farm near the village of Little Plumpton soon. A pilot well will be drilled to approximately 3,500 metres deep. Horizontal wells off it will follow at depths of between 2,000m and 3,500m. Francis Egan, Cuadrilla’s chief executive, said: “Developing an indigenous source of natural gas is critical for UK energy security, our economy, jobs and the environment.” Lancashire county council said the early morning delivery of Cuadrilla’s drilling rig by 30 lorries breached planning conditions and warned the company not to repeat the move. Cuadrilla said it acted on police advice. The latest round of protests against Cuadrilla began in January, when the company started preparing its site near Little Plumpton. Police forces beefed up their presence to around 100 officers this month, in response to increased protests by Reclaim the Power and other groups...

There have been more than 180 arrests at the site since January, said Lancashire police, most for obstructing the highway. Cuadrilla’s site is located off the main trunk road between Preston and Blackpool, which has been blocked regularly by protesters lying in the road or chaining themselves to lorries. Backing Fracking, a group representing local residents in favour of gas exploration, have praised the police. Supporter Paul Tattersall said: “Not everyone that lives nearby is against fracking, but we’re all being affected by the behaviour of the unruly activists from across the country that have descended on us and are constantly engaging in stunts that close the main road between Blackpool and Preston.”

https://www.ft.com/content/8c980c6c-72d9-11e7-93ff-99f383b09ff9

Not quite so blind...

Now about those lawnmowers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn5Odgkui7c

Tags: 

34 Comments

Captain Qahn's picture

NYMNP - Trust?

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/environment/value-of-north-york-moor...

"Boosting the economy of the North York Moors has been set as a priority for the coming years as the national park’s authority looks to build on its public profile.

Chief executive Andy Wilson, setting out the authority’s focus in its annual report, highlighted three key aims – raising the park’s profile, increasing wildlife corridors and involving more young people.

Faced with a 40 per cent loss in central government funding, the authority has in recent times been focused on diversifying sources of income, he said, but added that it had been a successful year despite a “rapidly changing policy framework” and 
concerns about securing the National Park’s protected environment.

“Our main aim is to allow people to enjoy the park in a good way, which doesn’t impact on residents and destroy the environment they come to visit,” said Mr Wilson.

“The moors, as a national park, is a park of refreshment. It’s a peaceful place.

“As the pressures in the rest of the country become greater, the North York Moors becomes more important as a place which is relatively free from that. It’s value to society grows as the rest of the country gets busier.”

The annual report sets out projects which are already under way and details the park authority’s priorities, top of which is to boost its profile, aiding the hundreds of small businesses in the area and the 25,000 people who live here.

“We’ve got three big priorities for the year ahead,” said Mr 
Wilson. “Continuing to increase the profile of the park, so that more people can enjoy it and encouraging more people to visit and to understand the park; increasing the wildlife corridors, and super-highways through the park and involving more young people in the park.”

Park n Hyde .. ;-0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUV00NSQT9E

https://www.yorkshirecoastradio.com/news/local-news/2340462/new-rules-co...

"6:02am 28th July 2017

New regulations to protect fish stocks could spell the end of the fishing industry in Filey.

There's currently seven licences in the town, but under the plans, they won't be renewed beyond 2022.

The idea of the restrictions is to safeguard the levels of salmon, but Filey's fishermen mainly catch sea trout.

Kevin Hollinrake, the MP for Filey, said:

"I think one of the comments we got back recently from the Environment Agency was that the salmon catch in Filey is minuscule. So, for a minuscule change to the current situation, what would happen in 2022 is the complete abolition of fishing in Filey, it's not a proportionate response to the problems.""

 

Are these people for real?

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/chris-grayling-i-want-to-rea...

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/the-yorkshire-post-says-chri...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzYzVMcgWhg

https://www.yorkshirecoastradio.com/news/local-news/2339622/hunmanby--be...

Captain Black's picture

Fracking Sparks

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/energy-firm-s-bid-to-drill-explorato...

"Ineos says it wants to drill at a site at Woodsetts, near Rotherham, after assessing 'existing geological data'.

The proposed site is west of the village and south of Dinnington Road.

An Ineos spokesman said: "The well site is situated in Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL) 304 on land to the south of Dinnington Road, located to the west of the settlement of Woodsetts, Rotherham.
 

"This location has been chosen because it is within an area of interest to us based on existing seismic data.

"We plan to submit a planning application to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council in the near future."

They added: "Site construction and rig assembly will take up to three months.

"Drilling, coring and testing will take up to five months. Once drilling, coring and testing operations have ceased, establishing the well as Listening Well and suspension will take up to one month with the suspended well in place until restoration .

"There will be periods when traffic activity is high such as site construction, rig and equipment deliveries and subsequent removal with fewer deliveries each day during drilling operations. All deliveries will be carefully planned and closely managed to minimise disruption to local residents.

"We have entered into pre-application discussions with Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council to discuss potential environmental impacts of the Proposed Development which will be subject to consultation with a number of external bodies. During this process we will undertake community consultation to take account of feedback from local residents before submitting a full planning application."

The company submitted planning applications for exploratory drilling at Common Road, Harthill, in Rotherham and Bramleymoor Lane in the village of Marsh Lane, Derbyshire, in March."

About that Joderell Bank ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40842017

"The old have comprehensively shafted the young," added Sir Vince. "And the old have had the last word about Brexit, imposing a world view coloured by nostalgia for an imperial past on a younger generation much more comfortable with modern Europe."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmeavGWVptw

(pwease ... just frack Filey...)

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/david-behrens-park-planners-...

Oh well, blooming marvellous:-)

https://www.scarborough.gov.uk/latest-news/top-green-flag-marks-boroughs...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AtyIvwHt1Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYqumNPfFDg

Madness:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC5k2GHSkMA

DYOW ;-0

Tick.

 

Captain Black's picture

Shale Rock - Hype

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40955249

"The gas reserves in shale rocks in the UK have been "hyped", an academic said.

Professor John Underhill from Heriot-Watt University said the UK's potential shale deposits were likely to have been disrupted by shifts in the earth 55 million years ago.

He said the government would be wise to formulate a Plan B to fracking for future gas supplies.

But the fracking firm Cuadrilla said it would determine how much gas was present from its test drilling...

"This is very different from the US, where big deposits of shale gas were created in the continental heart of America, far from the movement of tectonic plates.

Prof Underhill's comments are based on an unpublished paper on tectonics. He said he deduced the impact on shale formations by chance.

He said: "I'm neutral about fracking, so long as it doesn't cause environmental damage. But the debate is between those who think fracking is dangerous and those who think it will help the economy - and no-one's paying enough attention to the geology...

"Professor Underhill said the UK had been tilted strongly by tectonic movement caused by an upward surge of magma under Iceland.

This subsequently led the shale gas basins to buckle and lift, so areas that were once buried deep with high temperatures which generated oil and gas, were then lifted to levels where they were no longer likely to generate either.

The basins were also broken into compartments by folds which created pathways that have allowed some of the oil and gas to escape, he said.

A spokesman for the BGS said it could not comment formally on Prof Underhill's comments as it had not done the research...

"Professor Richard Davies, from Newcastle University, told BBC News: "It's correct to say geology could yet surprise the companies who are investing. But the bottle neck, I think, is how many wells one can drill economically in a small space in the UK.

"Shale gas wells in the USA produce very small volumes of gas (2-6 billion cubic feet of gas each), and therefore thousands would be needed to impact on our reliance on imports.

"The BGS estimated resources in Northern England of 1,327 trillion cubic feet (2012). I estimated it would require c. 52,000 wells to produce 10% of this."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESZXquW2jVs

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/yp-letters-fracking-would-br...

Oh. 'Tilly And The Time Machine by Adrian Edmondson is published by Puffin, priced £6.99'

not quite the Magic Dragon ;-)

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1957/01/26/page/10/article/elvis-barr...

Captain Qahn's picture

Shale Sale

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41008227

"... BHP said on Tuesday that it deemed the shale business "non-core" and was exploring options to offload the assets.

Chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said a number of parties are interested in acquiring its onshore US oil and gas operations, but would not name the price the company is seeking for the assets..."

"The Anglo-Australian firm, like other miners, has benefited from a rebound in industrial metals prices after a slump caused by supply gluts and economic slowdown in China.

China is the world's biggest buyer of commodities."

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/aug/21/total-solar-eclipse-acro...

"It's a time of renewal," said Baldwin, a Navajo woman from Fort Defiance, Arizona. "Kind of like pressing the alt, control, delete button on your computer, resetting everything."

Across the country, American Indian tribes are observing the eclipse in similar and not-so-similar ways. Some tribal members will ignore it, others might watch while praying for an anticipated renewal, and those in prime viewing spots are welcoming visitors with storytelling, food and celebration. For the Crow Tribe in Montana, the eclipse coincides with the Parade Dance at the annual Crow fair, marking the tribe's new year.

Many American Indian tribes revere the sun and moon as cultural deities, great sources of power and giver of life."

https://www.yorkshirecoastradio.com/news/local-news/2360560/u-boat-shipw...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzhro7twlAU

Ah, so ... Scorpio.

Captain Black's picture

Fracking Fantasia

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-41113689

"Fracking for shale gas will start before the end of the year at a North Yorkshire site, the firm behind plans has said.

Confirmation came as around 100 people protested outside a meeting organised by Third Energy to update residents.

It was granted planning permission for the site at Kirby Misperton, between Malton and Pickering in 2016.

The firm still requires final approval from government and protesters said they will continue to try to stop it...

"John Dewar, operations manager, said: "We have developed a hydraulic fracture plan and that has gone to the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) and the Environment Agency and we need their approval."

After that he said the company would need the government to sign off before moving forward.

When asked directly whether the company would begin hydraulic fracturing before the end of the year, Mr Dewar replied: "Definitely"..."

Indeed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-41094064

"A pop-up replica of two Shakespearean theatres with room for almost 1,000 spectators could be built in York's historic centre..."

The temporary structure modelled on the Globe and Rose theatres is planned for York's Castle car park, opposite the 13th Century Clifford's Tower.

http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/news/public-meeting-over-kirby-mispe...

"A public meeting will take place to let Kirby Misperton residents know how police activity will work ahead of planned fracking.

Subject to approval from the Government, company Third Energy intends to begin hydraulic fracturing operations for shale gas in the area by the end of the year.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 5 from 5.30pm in the Village Hall..."

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/08/21/is-there-any-point-to-prote...

DYOW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Et-px08aiU

Rrr ;-0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAuDDj4Erpk

Back to that Otto Magic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDkwAenYxfY

Ah, so

"The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said the possible causes for the chemical cloud include discharges from a vessel, previously unreported lost cargo, and emissions from known shipwrecks.

In a statement, it said: "We have identified approximately 180 vessels that passed through the English Channel off the coast of Eastbourne on Sunday 27 August.

"We are working with all relevant Environmental and Public Health regulators to conclude these investigations."

Initially, it was believed the haze may have been caused by chemicals drifting over the English Channel."

Oh.

Yo Ho ... Rio

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/09/01/rio-tintos-sale-australia...

Captain Black's picture

Shaling About

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/07/vivienne-westwoods-s...

"An environmental campaigner is challenging the legality of a wide-ranging injunction obtained against protesters by a multinational firm that he criticised as being “draconian, anti-democratic and oppressive”.

Joe Corré accused petrochemical giant Ineos of using “disgusting bully boy tactics” against campaigners who want to protest against the firm’s fracking operations.

He has submitted an application in the high court objecting to the injunction. A hearing is due to be held on Tuesday to dismiss the injunction.

The temporary injunction was granted by a high court judge in July after an unannounced hearing which gave protesters no opportunity to object at the time.

The injunction covers any campaigner who protests against Ineos’s fracking...

"The injunction prohibits campaigners from doing anything that amounts to harassing Ineos employees and contractors, or interfering with their lawful activities. ..

"Ineos secured the injunction after submitting evidence to the court that it says was “extensive and convincing” and showed that unlawful protests were “both imminent and real”.

Campaigners have said the injunction curbs their right to democratic, peaceful protest – an accusation denied by Ineos.

The injunction specifically forbids two tactics used by protesters. One of them is known as “slow walking” in which campaigners delay deliveries to sites by walking slowly in front of lorries. The other is attaching themselves to, for example, lorries with locks.

Protesters who unsuccessfully contest the injunction would be at risk of a sizeable legal bill as they may have pay for the cost of all the lawyers at any hearing.

But on Thursday Corré, the son of fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, announced that he would step forward and challenge what he called an unprecedented injunction."

Oh Dear ... 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-41212785

Pink Flamingos?

http://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/15524688.Fracking_company_rejects_ac...

"GAS company Third Energy has rejected criticism that its activities at its Kirby Misperton site constitute starting work before planning conditions have been fully discharged.

The accusations were made by anti-fracking group Frack-Free Ryedale after an incident yesterday, September 7, outside the KM8 well-site.

A delivery lorry was dropping off fencing supplies.

According to the county council planning portal, a few planning conditions - including the traffic management plan - have yet to be fully agreed by the authority.

Protestors accused the company of commencing work before these have been agreed.

A Third Energy spokesperson said: "These deliveries do not form part of the KM8 hydraulic fracturing planning application and therefore fall outside the Traffic Management Plan."

In another traffic-related issue, the protestors at the KM8 entrance said that they confronted the delivery driver and asked him not to deliver to the site, and that the lorry had instead then entered the site along a nearby bridleway and private road.

"The local police inspector had expressly asked them not to use this route," they said.

Councillor Karen Garrett, from Brawby, said: “Bridleways are for horse riders and pedestrians, they are not the public highway.

"It is unlikely the police would advise the use of a bridleway."

The Third Energy spokesperson said: "A group of protestors illegally blocked the normal entrance to the well-site so two lorries used a different access route.

"This route was a farm track, across private land and which Third Energy has the owner’s permission to use.

"North Yorkshire Police later facilitated a third lorry to enter the site by the normal route.

"Third Energy respects people’s right to lawful and peaceful protest. We trust that those who object to our plans will also respect our rights, and the rights of Ryedale residents, to go about our business lawfully and peacefully."

Meanwhile ;-)

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/07/scarborough-shrugs-off-l...

“I just don’t believe it... as he took the Guardian on a tour to show off his greatest hits"

Oh OK.

“why would I want to live anywhere else when I already live in the best place in the world?” – he is angry that his beloved town keeps being dragged down by negative headlines...."

Mind, there's always room for improvement ;-)

How, Now.... about those natural resources & heritage plants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC4rEWpMumw

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2017/sep/08/the-week-in-...

"Have two sets of banisters marking two imaginary staircases .... then let the fun begin"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nc45x2jghM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JhjAreMKfU

Oh, OK ;-?

"Ayckbourn describes Taking Steps as his only really classic farce. In a collapsing house, relationships are falling apart. Four selfish characters get their just deserts, two deserving characters get theirs. On the night I was there, the clockwork mechanism of the construction seemed to turn just a little too slowly to release the gales of laughter that famously accompanied the first production"

 

Benefitz Betty's picture

Can Openers

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/financial-services/australia-co...

"Australia has the opportunity to become the mining finance centre of the world, says Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques, as long as it continues to push for more economic reforms and avoids the protectionist trends of other nations.

Addressing the annual Minerals Week dinner in Canberra last night, Mr Jacques said stronger financial ties with Asia would help Australia position itself “as the financial centre for mining”.

“The opportunity is there for Australia to gain ground from London and Toronto as the place the industry wants to put its dollars and its best people,” he said.

“As an example, Australia could form alliances and financial partnerships with Singapore or Hong Kong.”

In a far-reaching address, in which he also slammed Australia’s rising energy costs as a “national own-goal”, Mr Jacques said the country must continue to pursue economic reforms such as cuts to the corporate tax rate if it was to continue to beat emerging mining nations like ­Brazil.

“On corporate tax, we should be in no doubt about the facts. Australia’s corporate tax rate has now been stuck at 30 per cent for roughly 15 years. Over that period, Australia has gone from having the 14th highest tax rate in the OECD, to the sixth highest,” he said.

“For a capital-dependent, medium-sized economy like Australia, falling off the pack on tax greatly impacts investment and growth. In a sector like mining, if you miss an investment window, aligned to growth cycles in Asia for example, you miss it — period. Scarce capital gets allocated. Once allocated, it doesn’t come back.”

He also called on the government not to give up on pursuing a new version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the original of which was scuttled by US President Donald Trump soon after he took office.

“As the world becomes more protectionist, countries look to shut their borders and turn inward. Australia could buck that trend,” he said.

“Australia is perfectly situated on the doorstep of Asia to show open and inclusive regional leadership and this is needed right now more than ever. And in that way, we’d like to see the Australian government — given its trade leadership — do all it can to advance the Trans-Pacific Partnership version two.”

Speaking in front of an audience that included deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, Mr Jacques also repeated the mining giant’s call for an overhaul of the way the goods and services tax is allocated between the states.

The existing system — which currently sees the mining-heavy state of Western Australia receive just 34c of every dollar of GST revenue it generates — was “unfair and counter-productive” and “penalises those states doing the heavy lifting”.

Instead, he said, state revenues from mining should be discounted when calculating GST distributions between the states.

The London-based Mr Jacques has been a frequent visitor to Australia since taking over the top job at Rio last year, spending more time in the country — which is home to the iron ore and aluminium operations that generate the bulk of Rio’s profit — than most of his predecessors."

Shell Shocked

"Do we look like boring people? I think we do," said Rio Tinto boss Jean-Sebastien Jacques in reply to an analyst who pointed out how his predecessor Sam Walsh took great pride in making the mining giant boring.

That was in August. But Jacques' job of delivering on that promise is proving to be much harder than first anticipated."

Hardly.

http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/4299288/boring-promise-is-hard-...

Blackrock ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs3Rvtk4_14

Benefitz Betty's picture

Rock Steady Eddie

http://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/15529592.Fracking_permission_fully_s...

"In addition, energy company Third Energy have filed a 'notice of commencement', indicating that 'pre-stimulation' work will start from Tuesday, September 19.

However, a Third Energy spokesperson said the fracking operation itself requires final signoff from the Environment Agency and the Secretary of State.

They said: "Third Energy is pleased that the final pre-commencement planning conditions have now been discharged.

"This includes the traffic management plan which was approved today by North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) ahead of operations at the existing Kirby Misperton wellsite.

"The consultation response from NYCC highways stated ‘there are no local highway authority objections to the proposed development.’

"We see this not as a victory but as a huge responsibility..."

"In response to the news, protestors are organising a candlit vigil outside the wellsite.

A spokesperson said that at 8pm tomorrow they will gather at the gates of KM8 well site to mark the beginning of the next phase in the campaign.

"All are welcome to join the vigil," they said, "which will include music, prayer and a short ceremony."

Local campaigner, Eddie Thornton added: "The candle lit vigil marks a shift in the focus of the communities’ campaign.

"Democracy has failed us. Now it’s time to take action against this poisonous industry, which will industrialise our countryside for the sake of corporate profit.

"We hope the vigil will set the tone for the coming campaign; peaceful, calm and prayerful."

Oh....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R70wgL5KzPc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10F9GK5-Fwc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D14Mxc1s584

Anyone got a Canary?

pmsl

http://www.ianrcrane.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07ECdIf1W8M

Oh, Ok :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSDFUAoKmxI

Captain Black's picture

Jack off all Trades

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-41239815

"Lorries are to begin moving equipment on to a shale gas fracking site after an access route was agreed by planners.

Third Energy was granted planning permission for the site at Kirby Misperton, between Malton and Pickering in North Yorkshire, in May 2016.

It is due to be the first UK site to carry out the technique since a ban was lifted in 2012, the BBC understands.

Protester Ian Conlan said: "We exist to stop fracking, we will be here every day."

Live updates and more on stories from Yorkshire

North Yorkshire County Council agreed planning conditions for work to start.

Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at rock to release the gas inside.

Opponents say it can cause water contamination, earthquakes and noise and traffic pollution.

Mr Conlan, of Frack-Free Ryedale, said: "I'm obviously very upset that we are now facing the prospect of HGVs bearing down on one of our beautiful villages."

North Yorkshire Police said several protesters were moved away from the front of the site earlier after a group caused an obstruction.

No arrests were made, the force confirmed."

May the farce be with you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL1rOQUVVHw

Oh dear ..

Mis-leading headlines?

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/crime/protesters-moved-from-kirby-mi...

"The force said in a statement: “Several protesters were moved away from the front of the site. There were no arrests.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fneTGPIU7xY

Hmmm ...

"Report in the Sunday Times that Third Energy have appointed Lazard to explore their future finance options including a stock market listing. They have also appointed Lord Gadhia of Blackstone & Keith Cochrane, ex-CEO of Weir to their board..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1YOD7T0x-k

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/12/anti-fracking-campai...

Never say the D word.

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/15497187.Fifth_time_lucky__Billionaire_w...

"...where customers can watch the world drift by."

Benefitz Betty's picture

KM8 - Updates

Benefitz Betty's picture

Inside Out

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41475579

"... leadership is about ensuring you have a team... of different voices around the table so you can discuss matters".

Wot like grown ups?

"We export a programme to Cambodia called Neak Neng Klay Chea Sethey, which means 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?'" Boris Johnson says.

"And it is thanks to the triumph of conservative values you are allowed to become a millionaire in Cambodia, without being despatched for re-education by some Asiatic John McDonnell,"

"We lead the world in bioscience and fintech and some branches of AI and cybernetics – and what is Labour’s first instinct on hearing the news? Tax robots and then make them join the union.

"Did Manchester become great by taxing the spinning jennny?"

"Well look at London today, storming ahead – even if the new mayor isn’t a patch on the last guy."
 

"We want a country with a government that works for everyone," Boris Johnson says.

"Corbyn wants a Britain where everyone works for the government."

"A society that does not judge you for where you come from or your background or how you live your life, provided you do no harm to others.

"That is the syncretic genius of our country."

Syncreticism is the blending of different belief systems into one system, or the reconciliation of different principles."

Ah.  is that the Boris or Doris state? Oh no... tis a Boris version of th EU. N'er mind ...

"Boris Johnson attacks those with negative views of Brexit - suggesting the Financial Times "manages to make Eeyore look positively exuberant" - before turning his fire on Jeremy Corbyn.

"The most pessimistic of them all is not the media or our friends in the EU commission or the excitable Mr Guy Verhofstadt - far from it - it’s Jeremy Corbyn.

"That Nato-bashing, Trident-scrapping, would-be abolisher of the British army whose first instinct in the event of almost any international outrage or disaster is to upend the analysis until he can find a way of blaming British foreign policy."

The foreign secretary says the Labour leader's response to "the grisly events in Venezuela is to side with the regime, simply because they are fellow lefties..."

Then the punchline arrives: "I say he’s Caracas!"

Oh ffs...

" ..due to demographics well over 2% of the leave vote will have croaked it by the time we crash out in 2019"

"If they don't deliver, we won't pay."

Sounds like a plan ...

How Now ... about those Irish Elks.

Back to the plotting shed.

Gardening is a temporary peace...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/magazine-41473964/the-gardener-of-kabul

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn7HXmzxqV8

Benefitz Betty's picture

Fracking & Caracas

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/oct/02/lancashire-fracking-the...

"Entering the fortified site, which the Guardian is the first national newspaper to access, the reality of this potential future energy source is mundane rather than revolutionary...

"Well-casings lie in rows near cement mixers and sealed skips. There are few staff – about 40 on a typical day. Behind two noise-insulating walls stands the 35-metre high drilling rig which breaching planning permission but defended by the company as a way of minimising disruption.

So far, one well has been vertically drilled 1,300m deep, and the other 1,200m out of a target of 3,500m down. Both are small, around the size of a manhole cover. Later in the month, if all goes to plan, the drilling will turn horizontally, with the wells heading westwards towards Blackpool.

Hydraulic fracturing kit – essentially, a lot of pumps – will then arrive, to pump water, sand and chemicals at high pressure underground to fracture shale and release gas..."

Mud slinging ... ooh is that an Olympian sport?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41394156

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/15573837.Green_Party_leader_visits___39_...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFTgkibl7DU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayzXWolP6js

"In an attack on Jeremy Corbyn, the foreign secretary mentioned a space programme that falls under the brief of his brother, the Tory science minister, Jo Johnson. “I have a candidate for the first man we gently blast into orbit and that is the superannuated space cadet from Islington,” he said."

Ah so ... a Donkey Derby

https://www.jo-johnson.com/

Benefitz Betty's picture

Donkey Derby

Be afraid .... be very afraid.

pure coincidence: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/04/raf-typhoon-fighters-escor...

Anyhoos, my anaology seems to have misfired. 

http://newsthump.com/2017/10/04/raf-jets-scrambled-to-intercept-suspicio...

I t'ink we have identified  May's successor for the '2022' election.... and possible explains Boris distracting the pack.

"Jo Johnson is the Member of Parliament for Orpington, having been re-elected for a third term on 8 June 2017. 

Jo was re-appointed Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation by the new Prime Minister Theresa May in June 2017. The role is split between the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and the Department for Education. 

Jo served under David Cameron from May 2015 to July 2016 as Minister of State for Universities and Science.

Jo was appointed Head of the Number 10 Policy Unit and Chair of the Prime Minister's Policy Board in April 2013. In July 2014, he was made Minister of State for the Cabinet Office.

Jo served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills between December 2011 and September 2012, and as a Government Whip.

He was an elected member of the Public Accounts Committee between 2010-11. PAC members are elected by other MPs to scrutinise public sector spending for value for money and effectiveness.

Prior to his election to Parliament, Jo spent thirteen years at the Financial Times, working in a variety of roles, including Associate Editor & Editor of The Lex Column (2008-2010), South Asia Bureau Chief (2005-2008) and Paris Correspondent (2001-2005).

Jo worked as an investment banker at Deutsche Bank before joining the FT in 1997.

His books include 'Reconnecting Britain and India: Ideas for an Enhanced Partnership' (Academic Foundation 2011, with Dr Rajiv Kumar), and Une faillite française (Albin Michel, 2002, with Martine Orange), which was published in the UK and US as 'The Man who Tried to Buy the World' (Penguin, 2003).

Jo was a scholar at Balliol College, Oxford, where he received a first class degree in Modern History in 1994.

He also has an MBA from INSEAD and a licence spéciale from the Institut d'Etudes Européennes of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, where he was a Wiener-Anspach Fellow.

A Londoner by birth, Jo is married with two children."

Boy George's best m8 to boot.... mind that is one heck of a 'savvy'.

Protective arn't they.

And the alternative to Jo Johnson?  

Hmmmm ... 

Hey, mebbe its a Class war ?

http://www.classwarparty.org.uk/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKtCoID0VRQ&feature=youtu.be

Ohhhh :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_xfhShXy5M

Best get him tidied up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmCIlAkeS4Y

Whilst the luantics run the assylum...

'Free Melania'?

Sugar lumps.

 

Captain Qahn's picture

KM8 & The Band Wagon

http://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/15578076.Labour_MP_visits_protest_si...

"I know there have been arrests in the past few weeks and I want to learn more about the policing of this fracking site.

"The world is paying a heavy price for irresponsible decisions over energy production and use as climate change continues to accelerate.

"If politicians do not heed this urgent message, then it is vital that citizens are allowed to use the power of protest to wake politicians up to this catastrophic reality..."

Erm, how about a degree of stooopidity?

http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/mining/what-happens-when-you-inv...

How Now ... please do not try this at home, cough.

http://www.whitbygazette.co.uk/news/wartime-weekend-on-track-to-be-a-suc...

Good Will Shunting?

Oh, OK:

“We cannot be held to either ransom or blackmail by media organisations that indulge into sensationalism without any basis and contrary to facts.”

http://newsthump.com/2017/10/06/come-on-then-fuckers-roars-drunken-may/

Meanwhile : 

http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/news/do-you-have-what-it-takes-to-ch...

About that suit.... erm I mean suite ;-0

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41519601

If only I could sew...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9SubidKrm0

Oh, OK ...

Have a good weekend :-?

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/05/smartphone-addiction-...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoRqWtoeYTU

Mebbe ...

"We need more facilities not fewer."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UQeSjvKXp8

Slightly pushing it ...

Captain Qahn's picture

The Fracking Out Post

ha ha  The Yorkshire Post seems to have their North Korea & fracking videos mixed & matched:

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/uk-s-first-frack-is-just-weeks-away-...

“Two were released with no further action, two accepted cautions and the other 22 have been charged to court for offences including obstructing the highway, assaulting a police officer and obstructing a police officer.”

Third Energy’s technical director Alan Linn said his message to the protesters was: “Allow us to do this and we will be able to demonstrate to you that you don’t have anything to worry about.”

Speaking at the site, Mr Linn said the final regulatory sign-off was “imminent”.

He said: “We’re beginning to prepare for the work-over phase of the well and that should 
commence shortly. It will probably take us about two weeks. Once we’ve completed that successfully then we would begin to move into the frack.

“We can’t do that until we’ve got our final regulatory approvals in place and we hope those will happen imminently. We expect to be finished and wrapped up with the actual fracking before the end of the year.

“If we’re successful, we should hopefully, by that stage, be producing some gas into the Knapton generating station and producing some electricity.”

Oh just a minute

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/while-north-korea-pushes-ahea...

Hmmm ...

Nope they don't use explosives ... tis all about the pressure.

https://www.ogauthority.co.uk/media/1718/about_shale_gas_and_hydraulic_f...

Mind.... those hairline fractures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfQZqV4CTQs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnY6xxzUjck

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/the-yorkshire-post-says-emba...

Ya know that wishing well in't Pod place. ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G7foe3IGwc

Captain Qahn's picture

KM8 Reasons to be Cheerful?

http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/news/kirby-misperton-fracking-firm-w...

'We have a moral responsibility to show this can work’

"John Dewar, Third Energy’s operations director, insists that despite the dozens of arrests so far and the daily presence of protesters at the gates, the impact has been minor. “They are not stopping us operating, they are hardly even slowing it down,” he says. “This is much less than I anticipated. It is 20 to 30 protesters in a population of 600,000 across North Yorkshire. It is the same people every day – I don’t see it as 99 per cent of the population against us.”

He said that he hopes the Scottish Government will change its mind on fracking – and believes Kirby Misperton may be pivotal in doing so. “Being Scottish myself, I find it very disappointing. Whenever a decision is made for the wrong reasons and ignores the science, it can’t be good for people. Once we have done this job and showed to the people we can do this successfully, I’m hoping and I’m even a tad confident that the Scottish Government will reverse its decision.”.."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpV-VKu45nM

Indeed.

https://drillordrop.com/2017/10/06/picture-post-cuadrilla-hosts-first-fr...

"Cuadrilla became the first UK operator this afternoon to broadcast a webcast tour and live question and answer session from a shale gas site.

The one-hour broadcast was hosted by Jim Hancock, a former political editor of BBC North West, and Eric 'Sexy Viking'  Vaughan, Cuadrilla’s well services director."

https://cuadrillaresources.com/our-sites/yorkshire/

"Current activity in these new exploration licence areas is centred on desktop studies. This will give us a very detailed understanding on the geology deep underneath the licence areas, helping to assess where exploration sites can subsequently be located. If you would like to contact us about our Yorkshire licence areas please see details under the Speak To Us button below and call the Yorkshire Community Hotline."

Ah, so ....  

http://www.lucas.com.au/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scR1qiAcKBo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWHYmNrAFlI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9zt4CfFp6A

Know your Norms ...

excellent report from the Snnoooze btw.

Zzzzzz...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSQjBs95ykQ

Captain Qahn's picture

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Must be living in the Third world :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nn4NUwwiU0

Mebbe they got a donut disturb sign up?

One for the record:

http://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/15579465.LETTERS__Action_is_needed_t...

"Speak up council

WE now have two protest camps trying to stop Third Energy go about its lawful business at the KM8 wells site at Kirby Misperton. Note: Peaceful protesters do not get arrested.

Local villagers have suffered untold disruption, they are unable to live a normal life coping with road closures, noisy protesters, an essential police presence and the media frenzy.

The local business community is now being affected with pop-up protests targeting supply chain companies to Third Energy.

One of the benefits of the shale gas industry will be its interaction and contracts with local businesses which creates jobs and tax revenue. What do the protesters offer?

Why are our local councillors not doing anything to defend the rights of all their ward residents and local business community? Why does Ryedale District Council appear to ignore the obvious, the protesters took a field, built a shanty town, and are disrupting and destroying the environment all without permission?

The gas company has to abide by many different planning regulations, yet why are protesters treated differently?

Some councillors seem to support the protesters’ rights above their local residents’ rights. Cllr Di Keal frequents and supports the camps, Cllr Paul Andrews publicly stated recently that “he has done my best to ensure the camp remains where it is” (rather than it be removed). The added twist is that Cllr Tim Thornton’s son, Eddie, is the leader and one of the locals living at the camp.

When will the council and councillors support the people who do not support the protest camps?

Lorraine Allanson, Allerston"

Is that a fact ...

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/09/north-yorkshire-face...

A Liberal & The Woodland Trust ...

Volumes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygEUgO-MUnI

Hmmm ...

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/07/feeding-grain-to-far...

Best not mention the five legged sheep, eh?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQEx83hUPkI

"The difference between Britain and America. On Fox Searchlight's US channel, there's almost unanimous praise for this trailer, and for the upcoming film itself. Meanwhile, the comments on this video range from 'this looks like someone's college project' to 'this is a racist film about Japan'. I expected better from my fellow Brits. Then again, we are known for our pessimism..."

http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/

Do we look like boring people? I think we do

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HocVToSFQS0

 

 

 

 

Captain Qahn's picture

KM8 & Talula

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/10/ineos-discloses-docu...

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/10/woman-supplying-tea-...

http://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/15587801.Gas_company_receives_Enviro...

""We will now be in a position to prepare and submit a formal application to the Secretary of State for Hydraulic Fracturing Consent (HFC).

“The Hydraulic Fracture Plan is a technical document that sets out how the company will meet a range of specific regulatory protections around hydraulic fracturing.

"These measures are in addition to the established regulatory environment which covers all onshore oil and gas development.” 

The company say that additional measures include setting out how systems to ensure that, "in the unlikely event that the fracturing were to trigger any small, induced seismic event, the risk of impacts at surface will be minimised and controlled."

It also covers how the deep sub-surface fractures will be measured."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BopuIzflc3Y

Oh, OK:

http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/lifestyle/view-from-the-zoo-meet-tal...

...

we all associate tarantulas with having a nasty bite and although Talulah does have fangs, she would prefer to scuttle away instead of biting. She would first give out a warning by rearing up and showing of her fangs. The hairs that cover her body are not like the ones on our head, she can flick them off and can be very irritating if inhaled. In the wild this is what she would do to scare away predators such as racoons, coatis, skunks and birds. They originate from the deserts of Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. This south American species has become very popular in the pet trade due to their docile nature – Talula is very much a chilled out tarantula.

Read more at: http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/lifestyle/view-from-the-zoo-meet-tal...

 

Captain Qahn's picture

Planet 'Janet'

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/22/fracking-protesters-...

"The invasion of the gas exploration site in Kirby Misperton came as campaigners said they had seen a letter sent on behalf of the energy company Third Energy stating that fracking would begin “on or after Thursday”.

"Campaigners said they planned to step up their direct action this week after seeing a letter to North Yorkshire county council, purportedly from Third Energy’s fracking contractor Zetland Group, stating that the firm would “commence the hydraulic fracture stimulation and testing, at the KMA wellsite, on or after 26 October 2017”.

Leigh Coghill, a campaigner at the site, said it was a “seminal moment” and that protesters were willing to go to extraordinary lengths to prevent the start of fracking this week.

She said: “People are willing to put their lives on the line. People’s lives are already on hold, their health is under threat, their livelihoods are under threat. When you look at it from that perspective, what is laying in the road or jumping on a lorry, or climbing a rig?...

Eddie Thornton, a Pickering resident whose family owns a tourism business, said the scaling of the rig was to send a message to the industry and government that “we’re not going to take this laying down and we’ll always respond with ingenuity and chaos whenever they try and bring fracking on our communities”.

Alan Linn, director of Third Energy, condemned the protest and said it had put both the demonstrators and workers on the site at risk. He added: “Setting off an emergency flare on a live gas site - essentially an open flame - was exceptionally reckless.

“However, I am pleased that we were able to ensure their safety overnight by providing them with proper harnesses and also hot drinks.”

Supt Mike Walker, of North Yorkshire police, said: “This incident has thankfully been brought to a safe conclusion. From the outset, the safety and welfare of the individuals who had climbed the rig was of paramount importance."

ffs.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/evb4zw/why-so-many-white-supremacists...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIY9WCRAVZE

Captain Qahn's picture

The 'IT' Girls

http://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/15608011.LETTERS__Protest_camp_is_in...

"The draft county joint minerals plan determines how fracking is to be permitted.

Paras 5.134 and 5.137 accept two hectares for each multi-borehole fracking pad and 10 multi-borehole fracking pads every 100 square kilometres. One hundred square kilometres equates to about 38 square miles, and this means that, if the pads are evenly spaced, approximately one multi-borehole drilling pad every one and a half miles in every direction.

Third Energy has stated that for their 19 planned fracking pads, there will be 960 separate bores. As each bore takes about 100 days to complete, this means continuous boring at each pad over a period of 15 to 20 years.

This will completely industrialise the Vale of Pickering. As this forms an integral part of the setting of the AONB and the National Park, it will destroy local amenities and wreck the local visitor economy. KM8 is already having an adverse impact on property values...

... only the owner of the land has the power to evict the campers.

The owner of the land is Flamingo Land, and the fact that they have taken no legal action against the camp for nine months speaks volumes... "

http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/news/crime/revealed-the-additional-c...

"Above and beyond our usual budgeting there are also reserves earmarked for any major incidents that arise during the course of the year."

 

Captain Qahn's picture

Out with the Olde

http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/lifestyle/nostalgia/scarborough-was-...

"Few elections were actually contested: usually there were only two nominees. Rarely was there a candidate of genuine independence. Through its Treasury powers and influence of the Customs and Ordnance offices, the London government played the tunes and picked the dancers."

Classic.

"Throughout their duopoly Phipps and Manners had worked amicably in tandem. For instance, in 1802, when Scarborians were in danger of dying of thirst, Lord Mulgrave offered the corporation £500 for a reservoir to conserve and store the town’s diminished water supply and promptly the Duke of Rutland doubled it. A committee was set up to build the reservoir in Workhouse Yard and lay pipes to and from it, but the reservoir did not materialise until 1828.

The story exemplifies the inertia of what was then a corrupt oligarchy in contrast to the admirable actions of the borough’s noble patrons."

'Dear Jack Binns ...

May I have that book back ... it was part of a collection'

A Binns n awl.

Flamborough.

 

Captain Qahn's picture

Meanie Mo's

"Both Scarborough Council and Robert Goodwill have championed the projects that will make the town more attractive to tourists, such as the North Bay development. While this is likely to attract more tourists and revenue to the town it will do nothing for the hidden deprivation of many residents. Scarborough has now hit the headlines as the “low wage capital of the UK” and followed that with “bankruptcy capital”. The big ticket items being pursued by the council are at the expense of the people they should be making a priority. Cllr Bastiman can bury his head in the North Bay sands, but the problems and headlines will not go away. People living in substandard properties, using food banks because wages are minimum or below is the reality of the Scarborough economy. New projects have to be linked to employers who pay the living wage (including Scarborough Council). This demands more intervention and regulation together with a change of political will, so that Scarborough works for the many not the few."

: http://www.thescarboroughnews.co.uk/news/letter-council-need-to-place-pe...

Erm, like well paid jobs ;-0

"Mindful of its core values, credibility, professionalism, pragmatism and ownership, the company sought to build a team of competent individuals to support its clients in ensuring they remain Regulatory compliant."

Captain Qahn's picture

Here, there.. be Dragons

CH4 covers :

https://drillordrop.com/2017/10/25/woodsett-villagers-to-send-ineos-prot...

Silence of the Lambs

https://www.ineos.com/businesses/ineos-shale/our-operations/woodsetts/

Neighours, eh?

"Purpose of well: Extract a core sample of shale rock for laboratory analysis of gas content and rock structure. No flow testing or hydraulic fracturing will be conducted on this well...."

"This vertical well has been designed to extract a “core” sample of the rock for laboratory analysis to identify the geological characteristics of the rock and its gas-producing properties.   A pressure transient test (PTT) will be undertaken following the drilling.  The purpose of the PTT is to establish the reservoir properties such as whether the target zone is over pressured (which is encouraging for shale gas extraction). The well will be retained for technical and safety reasons as a “listening well” which would be used only if a well elsewhere was hydraulically fractured.

Site construction and rig assembly will take up to three months. Drilling, coring and testing will take up to five months. Once drilling, coring and testing operations have ceased, establishing the well as Listening Well and suspension will take up to one month with the suspended well in place until restoration ."

Oh. 'Listening Well...'

Whistles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r0zoEBba1Y

"Probably the first  use of a plastic laundry bin as a prop.."

Ohm   Ohm  Oops

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zdeqBp2Njc

"The Scottish government has dashed Ineos’ plans to become Britain’s biggest shale gas player by effectively banning fracking due to the strong local opposition to the controversial extraction process.

Paul Wheelhouse, Scotland's energy minister, told the devolved parliament that the process of hydraulic fracturing "cannot and will not take place in Scotland" due to overwhelming opposition.

Scotland called for a moratorium on fracking almost two years ago, and Mr Wheelhouse said it would remain in place “indefinitely” after 99pc of 60,000 survey respondents opposed unconventional gas extraction."

http://www.medievalists.net/2014/12/pied-piper-hamelin-medieval-mass-abd...

Oh OK, wtf is 'a listening well' ?

I'll be back.

https://www.ineos.com/globalassets/ineos-group/businesses/ineos-shale/ou...

Nope ... none the wiser.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCPVLjrHDTs

Ah, so.

Captain Qahn's picture

Echolocation

http://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/15627337.Protesters_arrested_after_b...

"The occupant of one of the towers said: "It's a sad indictment of the world today that we have to go to these lengths to prevent the government from pushing fracking upon us."

http://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/15610669.Forest_survey_finds_healthy...

"At this time of year, with winter on the way, bats are finding mates and also building up fat reserves so they can survive the winter season - a time when fewer insects are in flight. They are also beginning periods of inactive ‘torpor’.

In November, according to the Bat Conservation Trust, the periods of torpor last longer, and by December, the Trust say that bats are hibernating.

They may roost on their own or in small groups, often in cool, quiet places like disused buildings, old trees or caves, where they hopefully won’t be disturbed."

http://www.bats.org.uk/pages/about_bats.html

Pipped.

Captain Qahn's picture

Frack In A Mac

"the NORTH Yorkshire Moors Railway, of which I have the honour to be President, is an attraction to rival Castle Howard, Flamingo Land, the natural beauty of the moors and vales, hills and dales and magnificent coast.

Yet this fragile Ryedale rural economy could be imperilled by fracking over the wishes of local people who fear for their health, the safety of the water and the value of their homes.

There is also concern of disruption to their everyday lives from increased lorry movements, bringing construction material in and removing waste substances out from the site.

A number of countries have banned fracking. These include France, Ireland and Germany, as well as Scotland and certain states and provinces in Australia, Canada and the United States.

Such bans were put in place following concerns expressed by the public regarding health issues, pollution and damage to the environment.

Will the Government accept that, while hydraulic fracturing may boost UK energy needs in the short term, that this technology has never been tested anywhere in the UK ever before and that the level of self regulation is inappropriate, given the potential long-term damage to the environment, people and property?

Britain prides itself on tough regulation for the offshore oil industry yet accidents do happen, as the Piper Alpha incident showed in July 1988 with 167 deaths from a catastrophic event: an explosion and resulting fires.

The Cullen Inquiry into the tragedy made 106 recommendations for changes to North Sea oil procedures, the most significant of which required the operators to present a safety case and moving responsibility for safety in the North Sea from the Department of Energy to the Health and Safety Executive, thereby ending the conflict of interest in having production and safety overseen by the same agency.

Of particular concern in this nascent, unconventional, onshore fracking industry in the UK, which must be closely monitored, will be the amount of flow-back fluid resulting from the process and precisely how the waste water will be treated and disposed of, with the regulatory and technical mechanisms for dealing with it being largely untried and untested.

Assurances have been sought but not yet given as to how the waste water from the fracking site at Kirby Misperton will be removed and disposed of. What is clear, however, is that dumping waste water – even after treatment – into main water courses, canals or the sea would be unacceptable.

Can the Government give an assurance that any proceeds from the fracking operations will be spent on the local community to make good any short or long-term damage and that the energy created will be primarily used in the immediate area to reduce fuel bills of those living locally, in what is after all, one of the coldest parts of the country?

Will the Government further ensure that any fugitive emissions of methane gas in future years, which may escape from the wells long after drilling has been completed, will be the responsibility of the fracking companies, not the landowner at that time?

As an alternative source of energy, will the Government explore the possibilities of energy from waste and combined heat and power that would both provide energy and dispose of the waste currently sent to landfill or exported abroad?

This Government was elected and given a democratic mandate on localism, letting local people have their say on major issues affecting them. It should now do so.

Anne McIntosh is the former MP for Thirsk and Malton. Lady McIntosh of Pickering is due to speak in a House of Lords debate today on the Opportunities and Challenges for Agriculture, Fisheries and the Rural Economy."

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/anne-mcintosh-local-people-m...

All out to protect the Land owners ...

Captain Black's picture

Unite & The Frack Attack

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-41870100

"About 200 people have taken part in a trade union anti-fracking march.

Marchers gathered outside Kirby Misperton village hall in North Yorkshire and headed to Third Energy's KM8 well.

Organisers from the Unite union said it was to show solidarity with the protesters who have picketed the site since planning permission was granted in May 2016.

Third Energy has not yet received final government consent to begin fracking.

But the company expects to start before the end of the year.

Marchers, some of whom had travelled from outside of Yorkshire to attend, carried banners, waved flags and chanted slogans.

John Coan, from the Unite union, said: "Our community branches have come from Derbyshire, Lancashire and right across Yorkshire to be here today.

"We believe it's an unsafe practice and the people who live here should have the final say over if this process should go ahead."

http://www.unitetheunion.org/campaigning/unitepolitics/

"Len McCluskey said:  “The Corbyn team deserves particular credit for inspiring young and old alike, for pointing the way towards how Labour can transform itself to once again be the people’s party.

“Voters can now look at Labour and see, unquestionably, that it stands for fairness, justice, peace and strong communities.  It is the party of hope, ready to take on a government hell-bent on making life worse for ordinary people.

“The task now for all of us who support Labour is to back the leadership team, to unite, to turn to face the Tories and hold them to account.  It is what the voters expect, it is the way back to power and it is the duty of those at all levels of the party to deliver.”

Unite’s political strategy encourages all members to get involved and play their part so we can deliver on the four key elements agreed by our Executive Council:

  • Winning working people for Labour – encouraging members to get involved at all levels of the Labour Party so that it is truly representative of our society .
  • Winning Labour for working people – making our voice heard on the policy issues that are most important to ordinary people, their families and their communities .
  • Building a broad alliance to beat the Tories – working with other like-minded groups who support our values to fight back against cuts and austerity .
  • Most important – winning a Labour Government that governs in the interests of working people"

Not for the retired then.

"Unite Community membership is going from strength to strength within our region.  We now have 11 Unite Community branches and offer advice on benefits and support on numerous campaigns in our community centres.  As a Community member you have access to professional advice and training and the support networks of Britain’s largest trade union. 

We believe organising and activism are at the centre of strong communities, which is why Unite’s Community membership provides a way people can develop and use their political voice. Whether it is taking a stand against a service closure or coming together to protect the environment, as a Community member, Unite will be on your side..."

http://www.unitetheunion.org/how-we-help/listofregions/northeastyorkshir...

Unite Community members work closely with our industrial sector and have been instrumental in many successful industrial campaigns over recent years. We also work alongside scores of community campaigns on everything from defending social housing to opposing fracking. 

We campaign locally on issues such as preserving libraries and combatting loan sharks and nationally against benefit sanctions and in support of workers at Sports Direct and in many other workplaces.  Join us today and become a part of the fight for a more equal and just society. 

Contact John Coan, Unite community coordinator
Tel    0113 236 4830  
Email John Coan "

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMO20a8TdaI

Oh. Wotdoya mean tis not a live documentary...

Skyvers.

"McCLUSKEY: The most prominent trade union leader in modern Britain, he has used his muscle to drag Labour radically to the Left under Jeremy Corbyn, and accelerate his movement’s decline into becoming merely a mouthpiece of narrow, well-paid vested interests.

Often described as a dinosaur and a relic of the Seventies, he yearns for a return to that era of turmoil. ‘It was a time of great advances for working people,’ he says. By which he means mayhem and misery."

Best not mention Falkirk ...
 
 

 

"Karie Murphy was a Labour insider, and office manager for Tom Watson MP, who at the time was shadow cabinet member in charge of Labour's 2015 election strategy. Reportedly, she was also a close friend of Unite boss Len McCluskey. In which, more in a moment...

"Spurred on by their victory over weak Ed Miliband, Unite thugs were then dispatched to Grangemouth.

In tactics that Unite boss Len McCluskey himself later described as "ugly trade unionism", a mob was sent to protest outside family homes with banners, flags, and a giant inflatable rat. Even a country pub and a charity fun-run were disrupted...

Ed Miliband may have to put up with that kind of behaviour. But Ineos – the managers of Grangemouth – could not afford it. As Labour's Falkirk crisis spiralled out of control, the petrochemicals plant at Grangemouth was forced to close ahead of Unite's planned strikes. 800 jobs were lost. 800 families were left facing the dole. All because the Unite union wanted to rig a Labour selection."

Nowt's changed.

Oooh...  Ava Gardner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiXVownSAuY

https://drillordrop.com/2017/11/02/judge-adjourns-decision-in-ineos-frac...

Captain Black's picture

Fire Brigade Union & Anti Frackers

https://drillordrop.com/2017/10/04/police-misused-fire-service-to-end-n-...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAhWgIg1VBs

https://www.choosemypcc.org.uk/candidates/north-yorkshire/steve-howley/

https://www.fbu.org.uk/news/2016/05/04/firefighters-back-steve-howley-no...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEOC01FoBmw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZBRx-Dyax0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9lmCpIzhFo

Meanwhile:

http://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/15638498.LETTERS__Ryedale_folk_can_l...

"IN response to Councillor Andrew’s letter “Protest Camp is in residents’ interest”. I wish to state that there is absolutely no need for the existence of Kirby Misperton Protection Camp.

Those at the camp are radical activists who see shale gas as an opportunity to further their radicalism. If it wasn’t shale gas they would choose some other fashionable cause to protest.

They come from all parts of the country and abroad. Daily we see evidence of their appalling antics, surfing on lorries, lock-ons, pop-ups, building towers, blocking roads and the constant closure of Habton Road.

The protesters are certainly not welcomed by a majority of Ryedale residents who do not need or want outside help.

Any genuinely local “peaceful” protesters could easily action a campaign in their homes or village halls. Ryedale folk managed before squatters came and will manage when they have gone. Local folk can take care of their own affairs without the assistance of others.

As to the camp site, owned by Flamingo Land, I don’t believe the owners are giving tacit approval of them. The owners had at least two attempts to remove them, but prevented by a Section six notice (allows people to take over unoccupied property with a severe threat of penalties if forcible removal is used).

Court processes to remove them would be a long, tedious and expensive business. Flamingo Land has existed for decades, they can wait."

The Plot thickens...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sjZ1M4TKWs

Captain Black's picture

Be Afraid ... The Geopoliticals.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-41872995

"Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Yemen, after a loud explosion was heard near Riyadh airport on Saturday evening.

The missile was destroyed over the capital and fragments landed in the airport area, officials quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency said.

A TV channel linked to Houthi rebels in Yemen said the missile was fired at the King Khalid International Airport.

The civil aviation authority said that air traffic was not disrupted.

Saudi forces have reported shooting down Houthi missiles in the past , though none has come so close to a major population centre...

"A blockade imposed on Yemen since 2015 by the Saudi-led coalition has reduced the amount of food, aid and fuel allowed into the country to a trickle.

The little that does make it in by sea often spends weeks waiting to be offloaded because the cranes at Hudaydah - once Yemen's busiest port - have been bombed beyond use or repair...

"The conflict has also left 20.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, created the world's largest food security emergency, and led to a cholera outbreak that is believed to have affected 884,000 people and caused 2,184 deaths."

Environment = Each & Equally

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-ZVdHnOqd8

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-41874117

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41872701

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq78D-3HwEM

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/flights/a-nervous-flyers-gui...

 

 

Captain Black's picture

Answers On A Postcard

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/nov/03/sheep-turn-bl...

"When the sheep turn black, war's toxic legacy can no longer be ignored

"Pools of thick oil ran in the streets. In the sky above the town, the black smog mixed with white fumes from a nearby sulphur plant that the jihadists had also set on fire as they retreated. The plant burned for months, spewing as much sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere as a small volcanic eruption. Hundreds of people were hospitalised.

The fires may have been extinguished, and Isis ousted from the city, but the environmental devastation caused by the battle for Mosul will linger for decades. The destruction of hospitals, weapons factories, industrial plants and power stations has left behind a toxic cocktail of chemicals, heavy metals and other harmful waste. Many of these pollutants are mixed up with unexploded bombs and mines in the vast amount of rubble generated by the fighting.

Our team has already found high levels of lead and mercury in Mosul’s water and soil. This is the toxic legacy of one of the fiercest urban battles of the modern age.

"When we measure the brutality of war, we often count the dead bodies, the destroyed homes and the lives upended by violence. Rarely do we pause to consider the environmental devastation that wars cause. In the din of battle and the rush to treat and shelter its survivors, the toxic legacy of war is often ignored – as is the long-term damage to the health of millions of people forced to live amid the pollution.

There is nothing new in the waste generated by war. Parts of Belgium and France are still suffering from the contamination of heavy metals used in the weapons of the first world war. In Vietnam, the herbicide Agent Orange, sprayed to strip trees of foilage that gave enemy the cover, has caused birth defects, cancers, skin disorders and mental disability.

When bombs fall, the environment suffers. In Colombia, which hosts 10% of the planet’s biodiversity, half a century of war has destroyed some of the world’s most vibrant ecosystems. The mining of gold, which funded rebel forces during the conflict, has polluted the country’s rivers and land with mercury. In Ukraine, three and a half years of fighting in the heavily industrialised country has contaminated the groundwater. Decades of conflict in Afghanistan has destroyed more than half the country’s forests.

Often, the environmental destruction is deliberate. Environmental infrastructure is increasingly targeted to drain the enemy of popular support. When power plants, water facilities and sewage systems are destroyed, disease and pollution spread and civilian health plummets, prolonging the suffering of people whose lives have already been devastated by violence.

Failing to respond appropriately when the bullets stop only generates more environmental calamity. Plans to rebuild Mosul with sand and gravel dredged from the Tigris would be disastrous for a river that irrigates about two-thirds of Iraq’s agricultural land and supplies water and electricity to millions of people. Instead, recycling the debris so that it can be used to reconstruct the shattered city would save millions of dollars, limit quarrying and generate 750,000 days of work for some of Mosul’s long-suffering residents.

The environment isn’t just a silent victim of war. When poorly managed, the environment can also trigger and fuel armed conflict. In Syria, severe drought drove millions into cities that were ill-equipped to cope with the burden. Popular anger grew inside some of the country’s poorest urban areas, fuelling protests that erupted into a civil war that has killed more than 400,000 people and sparked one of the largest humanitarian crises of our time. Around the world, natural resources are funding militias, prolonging violence and making it even harder for peace deals to stick.

The wars of tomorrow will increasingly be fought over natural resources, as populations boom and supplies of food and water dwindle in regions most vulnerable to the impact of climate change. Never has it been more important for the world to place the environment at the very heart of how we prevent, solve and respond to conflict."

"There are encouraging signs that the world is beginning to wake up to this need. Social media, smartphones and satellite imagery are making it easier to identify pollution hotspots, allowing governments and aid agencies to respond faster and more effectively to reduce the harm to human health. The UN is drafting new laws to protect the environment during conflict, laws which have barely evolved since the 1970s. And the international criminal court may soon try cases that involve the destruction of the environment and the illegal exploitation of natural resources during conflict.

In December, the third UN Environment Assemble will take place in Nairobi. Curbing pollution – in all its insidious, life-threatening forms – will dominate the agenda. Worrying about the environment during war may seem like a luxury. But this is not about birds and butterflies. This is about protecting the soil, air and water that all of us depend on to survive. When we destroy the ecosystems that sustain us, when we pollute the rivers and land with heavy metals and toxic chemicals, we cripple our health and our ability to rebuild amid the ruins. If we continue to ignore the environmental toll of conflict, then we will continue to perpetuate the misery of war and prolong the suffering of those caught in the crossfire."

Wise Wierds.

Grrrrr ...

The big Q remains.

 

Captain Black's picture

Tin Hats

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-41942048/la...

"One of the two head shafts at Kellingley Colliery has been demolished almost two years since the final shift at Britain's last deep coal mine.

Production began at the North Yorkshire pit, known locally as Big "K", in April 1965 and at its height employed more than 2,000 workers.

However, the site was a victim of a decline in UK coal production and closed in December 2015."

Meanwhile:

https://drillordrop.com/2017/11/08/ready-to-frack-third-energy-tells-res...

"Third Energy has told people living near its Kirby Misperton gas site in North Yorkshire that it is preparing to frack.

In a letter distributed today, the company said it had completed the workover phases of the KM8 project and was laying out the hydraulic fracturing equipment – described as the frac spread..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kAgIkLD8fk

".. "These are all valid, worthwhile forms of protest, and they are all essential if we are going to win."

However, a newly-formed group calling themselves Ryedale Against Anti-Social Protestors (RAAP), criticised the protest.

A spokesperson said: "RAAP is deeply disappointed by the return to direct action protests at KM8, particularly after residents voiced their concerns about the effect of such actions on the locals during recent television and radio coverage.

"We will continue to support the local community and police force at this time, and hope to see a return to lawful protest in order to free police resources and restore the levels of community policing the area requires."

RAAP describes itself as a "group formed to give a voice to residents affected by direct action protests around Third Energy's KM8 fracking operation."

It says its current membership stands at 800.."

Oh Dear ..

"Labour Party Day of Action 15th November
(Organised by Thirsk and Malton Labour Party)

"Speakers from 9.30.
Dave Yellen - Thirsk and Malton Labour,
Lindsay Dade - Malton/Norton
Cllr Eric Broadbent - Labour leader of North Yorkshire County Council
Eddie Thornton - from the Protection Camp.
Music: Tim Moon, Filey Folk Singer."

Hypocrits.

https://drillordrop.com/2017/11/10/police-drag-green-party-co-leader-fro...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqLLDZvbG-U

Captain Black's picture

Coal & Tone Deaf Elements

http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/mining/figure-shows-death-knell-...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-42043754

"It would be an awful shame to throw them away or to take them to the tip," said Mrs Saunders.

"We've been here for 60 years and we've kept them for spares for years, but now we'll never use them again..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luef1H24hU8&list=RDgU3k1Tpih8E&index=2