Fracking: Fish Stocks
Culture, Arts and Leisure
3:45 pm
Steven Agnew (Green)
8. asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure whether she has any concerns that fracking could have a damaging impact on fish stocks. (AQO 1919/11-15)
Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin)
It was hard to flick through that very quickly. I have great concerns about the potential impact of fracking on the natural environment and habitats. I have ensured that DCAL’s inland fisheries group is notified of all hydraulic fracking applications as part of the consultation process. All hydraulic fracking applications — I will just call it fracking — are submitted to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) under section 11 of the Mineral Development Act (NI) 1969. DCAL officials will make an assessment of the potential impact of any fracking activity on fisheries, and this will be considered in the overall assessment of each application. DETI has recently established a shale gas forum to address recent interests and concerns about fracking. DCAL’s inland fisheries group is represented on this forum.
Steven Agnew (Green)
I thank the Minister for outlining the significant concerns that there are about fracking and the potential impact on fish stocks. She mentioned the shale gas forum. Would she support proposals to make that forum more open and transparent, given the significant level of public interest and concern around this issue, and to assure the public that Departments are working in the wider public interest?
Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin)
I support what the Member is asking for. All Departments need to provide clarity and transparency, and there certainly needs to be clarity and transparency around this issue. The shale gas forum has representation from other stakeholders — DOE, planning, environmental policy, the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive, DARD and NI Water. Those are just a few examples of public bodies sitting on the forum.
We all have a section 75 duty to make sure that it is inclusive, but if the Member has identified any gaps, perhaps he would forward them to the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. I agree that, particularly where new fora have been established, people question, even if not in a critical way, the representation on the boards and how the work of the boards is transparent to people in the community.
Phil Flanagan (Sinn Féin)
Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister for her answers so far. She will be well aware of the importance of the lakes and waterways to people and to tourism in Fermanagh. What are the potential risks to fisheries in Fermanagh, given that the company behind these plans seems to think that it can lift as much water as it wants from lakes such as Lough Macnean if fracking goes ahead?
Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin)
Any potential threats to fish would be the same regardless of which lake they were in, but I take the Member’s point about Fermanagh. The fracking process requires large amounts of water, which may be abstracted from water bodies in the vicinity. This could result in a lowering of the water levels, which would have a detrimental effect on fish populations.
Over 50 different chemicals can be used in the fracking process, and while much of the water and chemicals are collected during the process, they have the potential to pollute ground water which could, in turn, seep into surface waters, resulting in potential fish kills. Only a small amount of the water used for pressurisation can be reused in the operation, but almost 60% will be stored on site, which could become a potential pollutant source.
Danny Kinahan (UUP)
The Minister said that every fracking application will be based on an assessment of the harm that it would do to fish stocks. However, to know what harm fracking will do to fish stocks, we need a baseline. When will the Minister have a baseline for the stocks of fish in all our rivers and loughs?
Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin)
I commend the Member for weaving that question in, but our baseline for fish stocks is really about conservation. It is a bit ridiculous to suggest that I would know how many fish there are in each lake, and I do not, for one moment, think that the Member is suggesting that.
Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin)
Maybe he is. Perhaps I will go and count them myself. [Laughter.] I take on board what the Member said, and I acknowledge his concerns about fracking.
William Hay (DUP)
Order. That ends Question Time. I ask the House to take its ease as we move into the next item of business.