Shale gas environmental monitoring

BGS, along with the universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Royal Holloway and York and partners from Public Health England (PHE), conducted an independent environmental baseline monitoring programme in the Vale of Pickering, North Yorkshire.

The investigation was initiated as a result of planning permission being granted in 2016 to oil and gas operator, Third Energy, to explore for shale gas by high-volume hydraulic fracturing at its Kirby Misperton site. Subsequent failure to obtain final government consent and the imposition of the 2019 moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for exploration in England meant that no hydraulic-fracturing operations were ever undertaken at the site. In early 2020, the site operator indicated an intention to drop plans for shale-gas exploration in favour of alternative subsurface energy developments.

Monitoring

The environmental monitoring programme was initiated in response to widespread public concern over the potential environmental impacts of new shale-gas exploration and was planned to continue through operations should they take place. The monitoring was separate from that conducted by the site operator.

The monitoring in and around the Vale of Pickering included:

• water quality (groundwater and surface water)
• seismicity
• ground motion
• air quality
• soil gas

The activities included:

• Monitoring the quality of groundwater and surface water using an established network of monitoring sites
• Monitoring groundwater quality and water levels in newly established boreholes drilled into the local shallow aquifer
• Conducting time-integrated indoor and outdoor measurements of radon in air
• Conducting real-time monitoring of seismicity at six surface sites and four sites installed in new boreholes
• Conducting real-time monitoring of atmospheric greenhouse gases and indicators of air quality at and close to the former proposed exploration site (KMA)
• Streaming of real-time data to the BGS website
• Evaluating soil gas compositions from surveys at selected sites
• Interpretation of satellite data for assessment of ground motion
• Continuing an analogous environmental monitoring programme around a site of hydrocarbon exploration in Lancashire

Establishment of the environmental baseline

While the original remit of the project to establish a baseline ahead of shale-gas exploration no longer applies in the area, the project has served to provide robust environmental data for air, water, ground motion and soil. This has helped provide insights into natural, urban and industrial processes that impact on air and water quality including deep groundwater, guidance for monitoring nearfield natural and induced seismic events, testing of new and developing technologies for monitoring (including in real time), and insights into protocols and practice for sound environmental monitoring and data evaluation. The monitoring has been independent of the hydrocarbon industry and regulators to ensure evidence-based and impartial scientific outputs.

BGS, along with partners from the Universities of Manchester, York, Birmingham, Bristol, Royal Holloway (RHUL) and PHE carried out a programme of science-based environmental monitoring in Fylde, Lancashire, an area where in 2018 and 2019 hydraulic fracturing for shale-gas exploration was undertaken by Cuadrilla at its Preston New Road (PNR) site. Our environmental investigations took place from 2015 with most ending in 2020 but with limited monitoring of seismicity and groundwater continuing.

The BGS-led environmental monitoring programme was independent of both the industry and regulators.

The investigation built on pre-existing national monitoring programmes for groundwater and seismicity. Monitoring and investigation involved:

• water quality (groundwater and surface water)
• seismicity
• atmospheric composition
• ground motion
• radon in air
• soil gas

The study represents the first independent, integrated monitoring programme to characterise the environmental baseline in an area subjected to close scrutiny in the development of a UK shale-gas industry.

The need for an effective baseline and independent monitoring

Over the period from February 2015, our baseline environmental monitoring programme continued for us to acquire a robust set of water, air, soil and ground baseline measurements. This provided a vastly improved knowledge base for an area recognised as prospective for shale gas but also of significant public concern.

Should any future gas exploration/development take place in Lancashire or elsewhere in the UK, the data acquired are providing us with a strong evidence base against which to assess any future changes in environmental conditions.

Such baseline characterisation was not undertaken during the early stages of unconventional oil and gas development in parts of North America, where recent scientific study has highlighted that problems with lack of regulation and borehole integrity have led to environmental pollution. The monitoring in Fylde will be of value in providing environmental baseline data and its temporal variation, regardless of whether or not any future shale–gas exploration takes place.

The monitoring we undertook was independent of industry and the regulators to ensure that scientifically robust outputs are evidence-based and impartial.

Information collected from the monitoring programme is summarised on the BGS website and is also supporting peer-reviewed science.