further questions on plugging and abandonment at Markwells Wood
Dear Health and Safety Executive,
Thank you for your response to my letter regarding plugging and abandonment procedure at Markwells Wood, Forestside, West Sussex. ( Environmental Information Request Reference No: 201811322)
Further to my correspondence, please can you send me the date and copy of the BSOR abandonment notification that you received from UKOG regarding Markwells Wood P & A.
By now the first part of the P&A is almost complete. Please can you send me a copy of any correspondence and the logs filed since commencement of works at the site in November.
Please can you forward a copy of the questions HSE raised to UKOG
addressing isolation of the water aquifers as part of your inspection of
the BSOR notification for plugging and abandoning the well?
I emailed the EA to follow up on oversight you stated was not in your remit, but was the EA's responsibility and they replied that as the well was drilled prior to 2013 there was no permitting and therefore they have no oversight of the procedure.
While we are thrilled to see the end of oil development in our community and the restoration of this industrial site to woodlands, it is extremely worrying that there is so little oversight of the procedure.
There are over a thousand onshore wells in the UK that were drilled prior to 2013 regulations, some in very sensitive source protection zones. Each one will be plugged and abandoned in due course. The fact that there is scant or no regulatory oversight of plugging and abandonment for these wells which is a very involved and complicated procedure, is astounding.
Is there anything that can be done to ensure that our communities and environment is protected while these major operations occur at sites that were not permitted pre -2013?
Many thanks for your help with these matters.
Sincerely,
Emily Mott
Markwells Wood Watch
Forestside, West Sussex
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Dear Emily
Environmental Information Request Reference No: 201901053
Thank you for your request for information about:
Further questions on plugging and abandonment at Markwells Wood
Your request was received on 4 January 2019 and I am dealing with it in
accordance with the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Under the
terms of the regulations you are entitled to a response within 20 working
days of receipt.
If for any reason we are unable to meet this deadline we will keep you
fully informed of the reasons for this and will tell you when you can
expect a response.
Guidance on how the Health and Safety Executive deals with requests under
the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations
can be found on the HSE website at [1]http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/index.htm
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
Yours sincerely
Dave
Dave Salmon / OSDR Competent Authority Office /
Energy Division ED7.1
References
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Dear Health and Safety Executive,
I note that I haven't had a response from you regarding "further questions on plugging and abandonment at Markwells Wood." This should have been answered by now.
Please can you look into the matter and send me the relevant material requested.
Yours faithfully,
Emily Mott
Thank you for emailing the Health and Safety Executive. This is an automatic acknowledgement to tell you we have received your email.
Please note this email account is for the submitting of FOI requests via the 'whatdotheyknow' website only. For all other FOIs requests please refer to http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/your-right-to-...
HSE publishes a comprehensive range of information and guidance on our website. You can find out what the health and safety law requires by searching under the relevant topic or industry section, and all of our publications are free to download. HSE does not operate a telephone helpline for general health and safety information. If you need to engage the services of a health and safety consultant, you may wish to visit the Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register (OSHCR).
If your email is a request for advice, please visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/informatio...
If your email is about a concern, please visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/complaints...
If you wish to report an incident, please visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/index.htm
Thank you for contacting the Health and Safety Executive.
Dear Emily
Apologies for the delay in responding to your request which is currently
being processed. I hope to have a substantive response to you within the
next two weeks at the latest. Sorry for any inconvenience this delay may
cause,
Kind regards
Dave
Dave Salmon / OSDR Competent Authority Office /
Energy Division ED7.1
Health & Safety Executive, Lord Cullen House, Fraser Place, Aberdeen, AB25
3UB
Dear Dave Salmon-
We spoke two weeks ago about my request of 4th January and you said you'd get the material to me end of last week or beginning of this week. I'm sorry to chase but the information is now way overdue and I would appreciate it if you'd send it to me as soon as possible.
Thank you very much,
Emily Mott
Thank you for emailing the Health and Safety Executive. This is an automatic acknowledgement to tell you we have received your email.
Please note this email account is for the submitting of FOI requests via the 'whatdotheyknow' website only. For all other FOIs requests please refer to http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/your-right-to-...
HSE publishes a comprehensive range of information and guidance on our website. You can find out what the health and safety law requires by searching under the relevant topic or industry section, and all of our publications are free to download. HSE does not operate a telephone helpline for general health and safety information. If you need to engage the services of a health and safety consultant, you may wish to visit the Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register (OSHCR).
If your email is a request for advice, please visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/informatio...
If your email is about a concern, please visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/complaints...
If you wish to report an incident, please visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/index.htm
Thank you for contacting the Health and Safety Executive.
Dear Emily
Environmental Information Regulations Reference No: 201901053
Thank you for your request for information about:
Plugging and abandonment at Markwells Wood
Your request was received on 4 January 2019 and I am dealing with it
under the terms of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Please
accept my apologies for the delay in responding to you.
I can confirm that the Health and Safety Executive holds the following
information:
1. Email dated 4 November 2018 and attached notification to abandon
Markwells Wood 1 well
2. Email from HSE to UKOG dated 7 November 2018 and OGUK’s response of 13
November 2018 in connection with issues raised by HSE during the
inspection of the notification
3. Email dated 28 November 2018 and attached material change to the above
notification
4. Email from HSE to UKOG dated 29 November 2018 and OGUK’s response of
29 November 2018 in connection with issues raised by HSE during the
inspection of the material change
This information can be partially disclosed to you. Personal data is being
withheld by virtue of the exception in Regulation 13 – personal
information.
In response to your final question I can only reiterate that HSE has no
viries following abandonment and we consider that the current regime under
the Boreholes Sites and Operations Regulations, and the Offshore
Installations and Wells (Design and Construction etc.) Regulations is
suitable and sufficient. The standards for decommissioning and abandonment
required by the regulatory regime are exacting and provide a good level of
assurance for the ongoing integrity of the abandoned well.
The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You may re-use this information
(not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the
terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit
[1]http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/o... or
write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London
TW9 4DU, or e-mail: [2][email address].
Information you receive which is not subject to Crown Copyright continues
to be protected by the copyright of the person, or the organisation, from
which the information originated. You must ensure that you gain their
permission before reproducing any third party (non Crown Copyright)
information.
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.
If you are unhappy with the decisions made by HSE you may ask for an
internal review within two calendar months of the date of this letter by
writing to me.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545700
Fax: 01625 524510
Email: [3][email address]
Website: [4]http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Yours sincerely
Dave
Dave Salmon / OSDR Competent Authority Office /
Energy Division ED7.1
Health & Safety Executive, Lord Cullen House, Fraser Place, Aberdeen, AB25
3UB
*: [5][email address]
References
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3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
5. mailto:[email address]
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