Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the representatives from the EPA for coming before the committee. I have an interest in this matter. The main focus is on Leitrim and Fermanagh but the former shares a border with north Roscommon. If fracking is to take place, it probably will be expanded outwards because the geology of north Roscommon is very similar to that of Leitrim and the entire Lough Allen basin.

Hydraulic fracturing is very new technology and that is probably why there have been very few peer-reviewed scientific journal articles published in respect of it. I wish to ask a number of questions but before doing so, I wish to pursue a particular matter. Is it not the case that what we are doing with our counterparts in Northern Ireland in this particular field is unique? Am I correct in stating that it has not been done anywhere else in the world? The results of this research will be extremely significant because not only will it have implications in respect of fracking in Ireland, it will also have major implications for fracking throughout the world in the future. The latter is the case because research of this nature has not been carried out to date. In other words, there is not a body of research available which reflects that which is going to be produced here. Whatever the outcome of the research - and subject to it being properly peer reviewed - it will be extensively quoted, probably for generations, as the litmus test with regard to whether fracking should take place or the conditions under which it should take place, not just in Ireland or Europe but across the globe.

A number of questions arise. I recall attending a presentation in Dawson Street at which some of the key researchers in this area were brought together. The major issue which arose at that event related to well integrity, which, based on the research that has been carried out to date - limited though it may be - is the single biggest threat in respect of fracking. As a result of the fact that this is a new technology and because the wells involved are relatively new, how does the EPA analyse the long-term implications of well integrity? Does it consider the example of the storage of radioactive material in the UK in this regard? Such material was stored to a certain standard a number of years ago but now the UK has been left quite literally with a time bomb. How does one go about trying to make these particular storage facilities secure? How does one design a project to examine the issue of well integrity, not just for the present but for 100 or 150 years from now? Perhaps our guests will provide answers to these questions.

Mr. Lynott referred to exposure to chemicals. To date, the emphasis has been on the chemicals that are included in fracking fluid in order to try to release methane gas. The advocates of fracking and those companies which are considering becoming involved in using the process in our part of the country inform us that they will not use these chemicals. Is the EPA examining the feasibility of being able to carry out fracking without the use of such chemicals? Surely if these chemicals are not required in order for the fracking process to be carried out, then the US Environmental Protection Agency would not have licensed their use in the first instance. I am more concerned about the material that could actually be released from the ground as a result of the process, even if only water and sand are pumped in. There are some toxic chemicals in the ground. I am sure Leitrim and Roscommon are no different from anywhere else and that there will be arsenic, lead and other toxic chemicals in the ground which will be released as a result of the fracking process. Does the research being carried out contemplate the impact of those chemicals that can be released from the soil as a result of fracking?

The third issue I wish to raise relates to some of the very dispersed housing that is found in rural areas. Many environmentalists in this country have been critical of this.

This means that the implications of fracking in Ireland are different from those in continental Europe or in the US, where most people live in clusters in towns and villages. The number of people who would be affected by fracking in rural parts of continental Europe and the US is very limited. There are far more people involved here, even though we are taking about rural, isolated areas. There is a much higher population density here than in many parts of Europe where fracking takes place. Is that issue being taken into consideration? In regard to the design and structure of our housing - Deputy Michael Colreavy will understand this - many stone buildings are still inhabited today, which is not the case in many parts of the US, where there is mainly timber frame housing, or in many parts of Europe. Even very small vibrations could have a long-term structural impact on property. Is that being taken into account?

Deputy Colreavy mentioned the company Foster Wheeler. That company constructed the two peat-fired power stations at Shannonbridge and Lanesborough. As we are aware, it made a miscalculation of the acidity in the peat, which led to both of those plants having to be shut down and completely refitted. Seasonal staff in Bord na Móna lost out on employment for a whole season because of this retrofitting which had to take place. Some of the best consultants, even though they are advising the European Union, sometimes get it wrong also.