Saturday 19 April 2014

There's More to Fracking than Just Drilling for Gas

Amended


If you think fracking is only about drilling for gas, you are wrong.

If a borehole comes to your vicinity the first thing that could happen, albeit invisibly, could be the devaluation of the property you own by about 30%, that's if you could find a buyer.

Presuming someone did decide to buy your home at the reduced sale price. Joy could turn to despair if you find that their mortgage company has turned them down because they won't insure the property.

Many insurance companies could now refuse to provide home insurance for properties near to unconventional gas exploration and extraction sites, commonly known as fracking sites.

So, not only could it be difficult to sell your house but there is a posibilty you couldn't even insure it yourself, even if you do manage to renew your policy, the possibilty is it could exclude potential damage that could potentially be caused by fracking.

At the time of writing, it is against the law for companies to drill under your property without your permission. That's about to change.

In May, David Cameron will present to the Queen a proposal to alter the law to allow drilling under your property WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION. She is expected to approve it.

In effect the law will allow you to be poisoned by a greedy energy company that is not even British, while your home could collapsing around you due to possible abnormal seismic activity. Meanwhile, the insurance companies could be wiping the sweat off their foreheads having, by the skin of their teeth, managed to save a small fortune by refusing to insure the properties in your local community and laugh all the way to the bank.

You can help prevent this happening to you and your local community by joining us on Facebook and find out how you can contribute to the Anti-Fracking cause, it doesn't have to be monetary or physical, there are many ways of helping.

Follow this link to find out how You too, can help

4 comments:

  1. Idea for another article may be focus on answering the question - "What can we do about it?" i.e. 'The Accent of Community' and the real possibility that 'we' the people can bring about change; with examples of where communities around the world have been successful.

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  2. Hi FFU! Can you add links to the evidence for the statistics you quote for house-price effects and refusal to insure homes close to fracking sites? The government proposal to allow fracking underneath your property is common knowledge, but a link to press reports on the subject might be helpful to potential supporters who have not been following the debate. On induced seismicity, as far as I am aware only very minor tremors that would not cause property damage at the surface have been induced by fracking. Larger quakes in the USA have been caused by injecting waste-water back into the wells. According to Michael Roberts, who is a geologist, this practice is illegal in the UK. If you have evidence that contradicts this, please add links to the sources of your information and I'll be happy to take it up with him!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your comments Jackie.

      Here is a list of links that support the article.

      House-price effects;

      http://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/mortgage-solutions/news/2276883/fracking-risks-reducing-house-prices-by-30

      http://www.propertytribes.com/impact-shale-fracking-on-property-prices-t-8828.html

      http://www.yourmortgage.co.uk/your-mortgage/news/2277001/fracking-could-lower-property-values-by-30

      http://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/jun/23/fracking-undermine-value-home

      Refusal to insure homes close to fracking sites;

      http://www.blackfriarsgroup.com/insure/is-damage-caused-by-fracking-covered-by-insurance-policies/

      http://www.ernstversusencana.ca/the-association-of-british-insurers-abi-could-demand-info-from-homeowners-if-they-are-near-fracking-sites

      Mortgage refusal;

      http://investigatingbalcombeandcuadrilla.com/2013/11/01/mortgage-uncertainty-in-fracking-areas-despite-government-assurances/

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-24640990

      The government proposal to allow fracking underneath your property;

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27110655

      Induced seismicity;

      http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21120-how-fracking-caused-earthquakes-in-the-uk.html#.U2uQr6LNrTp

      http://earthquakes.bgs.ac.uk/research/earthquake_hazard_shale_gas.html

      Injecting waste-water back into the wells;

      As far as I am aware, your statement about it being illegal in the UK, is correct

      There are many articles on the internet relating to the above highlighted points, however, I have only selected articles which I believe, come from reliable sources

      Also, in view of the highlighted points, FFU have altered the wording of the article so as not to mislead readers

      Once again I wish to thank you for your input and hope the answers supplied are satisfactory.

      At FFU we welcome all feedback

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  3. good comments Jackie. We agree on something :)

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