They have started to drill!
Infrastrata announced on Tuesday that they have started to drill the well in Woodburn Forest, north of Belfast. The site is 400 metres from water reservoirs serving Belfast homes. The well will go down more than 6,000 feet and will explore for oil and gas. The drilling will continue for six weeks. This is a sad day for all the campaigners who have worked so hard to keep drilling out of Northern Ireland.
The finger now must be pointed at those politicians who are doing nothing to stop this drill. It is totally disgraceful that such a huge operation could commence without an Environmental Impact Statement or, indeed, proper planning permission. Why was the loophole of “permitted development” not plugged long ago? Shame on you all!
In particular, the silence from Sinn Féin is deafening. Having canvassed saying that getting a ban on fracking is their Number 1 priority, there is no statement from them, no action from them, no presence of them. If this is the kind of (in)action we can expect from our politicians, God help the people of Northern Ireland! Once fracking starts, nothing will stop it.