Government commissions report into effects of ‘fracking’

A SCOTTISH university is to undertake a state-ordered report into a controversial gas extraction method known as “fracking” to determine potential environmental impacts and will be completed early next year.

Responding to concerns raised to him, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a study on the effects of fracking. The EPA commissioned experts at the University of Aberdeen at a cost of €6,000.

Fracking, which involves using water to fracture rocks to drill for natural gas, is causing concern among people in the mid and northwest about the potential environmental and health considerations related to the activity.