DutchNews.nl,
Thursday 27 March 2014
 |
| ED.nl |
British
company Cuadrilla Resources has licences to carry out test drilling in three
places in the Netherlands – Boxtel, Haaren and Noordoostpolder – although the
final green light has not yet been given.
But
Milieudefensie says economic affairs minister Henk Kamp has not made legally
binding agreements with Cuadrilla about who is responsible for paying for
environmental damage.
Freedom of
information
The
organisation bases its claims on correspondence between the minister and
Cuadrilla obtained using freedom of information legislation.
The
organisation says Kamp has no guarantee that Cuadrilla will pay if ground water
becomes polluted or there are earthquakes because of the drilling.
Although
Kamp told MPs in December there is ‘no reason to doubt the financial capacity
of the licence holder’, other documents show the Dutch subsidiary has no formal
guarantees on finance from its British parent, Milieudefensie said.
Moratorium
Last
September Kamp imposed a moratorium on further drilling pending further
research. That will take at least 1.5 years, he said at the time.
Shale gas
is ordinary natural gas that has been trapped in dense shale beds deep
underground. It is extracted using a controversial process known as fracking,
which involves drilling a hole deep into the shale and pumping in water mixed
with sand and chemicals.
A number of
local councils, water boards and even brewing groups like Heineken have come
out against the production of shale gas in the Netherlands because of the risk
of pollution.
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