The pressure group, “Cuenca del Segura Libre de Fracking”, (Segura Basin Free From Fracking), of which Calasparra Town Hall is a member, has launched a petition and is collecting signatures as part of the campaign to suspend the licences granted for hydraulic fracking in this area.
Four licences have been granted to carry out hydraulic fracking in the area of the Segura basin (see map Aries 1, Aries 2, Leo and Escorpio which affect the local area) and there is a fifth pending permission (Acuario). Altogether an area of 280.000 hectares are affected in the provinces of Alicante, Albacete and Murcia.
Petitions have been distributed in dozens of municipal areas in North West Murcia affected by the licences with “ the objective of reaching the maximum number of towns and residents in the basin because the impact of fracking, such as the contamination of water or the inducement of earthquakes, affects the whole area.”
The group call on local residents to sign the petition which demands the suspension of the licences because fracking is “an unacceptable risk to the health of the population, the environment and the economy of the areas,” according to a spokesperson.
“We regret that the regional government and the central government, despite knowing the risks, have turned their back on the residents by granting these licences and continue to turn their backs on the consequences of fracking which is causing growing social unrest.”
He explains that fracking is a process consisting of perforating the ground with an injection of materials, under enormous pressure, in order to enlarge existing fractures in the rocky substratum to facilitate gas escaping. The material injected is in vast quantities and is mixed with water and various chemicals, foams and gases which risk contaminating underground wells and water supplies as well as pumping methane into the atmosphere. There is also a high risk of radioactivity escaping through the earth´s surface.
Rafa Romero, Head of the local Department of Environment, has called on the local population to sign the petition and express their rejection of the techique due to the short and long term social and environmental impact.
The petition is available in various shops and businesses in Calasparra as well as all public buildings.
