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From: r. baillie [mailto:[FOI #213316 email]]
Sent: 23 May 2014 12:24
To: Enquiries, Unit
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Radon distribution and fracking

 

Dear Environment Agency,

Please disclose the following information:

-Do you hold information on the effects of fracking on radon release and
distribution in areas where fracking has taken place? This does NOT apply
to wellhead data, rather to surrounding areas distant from the wellhead.

- Do you have plans to monitor changes in radon levels at the surface in
such areas on a prospective basis after fracking has commenced?

- Do the fracking licences require fracking companies to survey and
monitor ambient environmental radon levels in areas overlying and adjacent
to their activities?

- Radon is capricious in distribution, and can track along geological
faults to produce anomalously high concentrations in some properties,
whilst leaving adjacent ones unaffected ("radon hot spots"). Since
fracking involves the creation of myriad microfaults which would
facilitate such a process, what plans do you have to ensure that such
redistribution, threatening previously unaffected properties, does not
occur?

 

- Has the EA formally considered these matters and made an evidence based
risk assessment? If not, does it have plans to ask COMARE to produce a
supplement to its radon report considering these issues, and if not, why
not?

 

Many thanks for your kind assistance,

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Roger Baillie

 

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dangos adrannau a ddyfynnir

Dear Mr Baillie

 

Thank you for your request relating to radon distribution and fracking.

 

We are treating your enquiry as an Information Request under the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004/Freedom of Information Act
2000.

 

Your request will be dealt with by our National Request Team under
reference NRMAY62

 

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cost, however we will make you aware of any charge prior to the request
being completed. 

 

The Environment Agency’s obligation under the relevant legislation is to
provide you with the requested information within 20 working days from the
date your enquiry is received.

 

In the meantime should you have any queries regarding this request please
contact us at: [1][email address]

 

Kind regards,

 

Maria Bisby

Environment Agency

National Requests Team

Part of National Operations

03708 506 506

[2][email address]

 

 

 

Information in this message may be confidential and may be legally privileged. If you have received this message by mistake, please notify the sender immediately, delete it and do not copy it to anyone else.

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We may have to make this message and any reply to it public if asked to under the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Act or for litigation. Email messages and attachments sent to or from any Environment Agency address may also be accessed by someone other than the sender or recipient, for business purposes.

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Dear Roger

RE: Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(FOIA) / Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR)

 

Thank you for your enquiry which was received on 23^rd May 2014

 

Please find below our responses to your questions:

-        Q  Do you hold information on the effects of fracking on radon
release and distribution in areas where fracking has taken place? This
does NOT apply to wellhead data, rather to surrounding areas distant from
the wellhead.

A   Public Health England is responsible for assessing the risks to public
health from radon.  

-        Q  Do you have plans to monitor changes in radon levels at the
surface in such areas on a prospective basis after fracking has commenced?

A  Public Health England is responsible for assessing the risks to public
health from radon. We do not have any plans to monitor changes in radon
levels.

-        Q  Do the fracking licences require fracking companies to survey
and monitor ambient environmental radon levels in areas overlying and
adjacent to their activities?

A  Please speak to PHE about their requirements. There is no intention to
require this under environmental permits.

-        Q  Radon is capricious in distribution, and can track along
geological faults to produce anomalously high concentrations in some
properties, whilst leaving adjacent ones unaffected ("radon hot spots").
Since fracking involves the creation of myriad microfaults which would
facilitate such a process, what plans do you have to ensure that such
redistribution, threatening previously unaffected properties, does not
occur?

A  We have published a [1]comprehensive risk assessment of the
environmental risks of shale gas. The risk assessment focuses on the
exploration stage, which matches the current stage of development of the
UK shale gas industry.

We assessed the potential for fracture propagation as part of our risk
assessment, and concluded this was low.

-        Q  Has the EA formally considered these matters and made an
evidence based risk assessment? If not, does it have plans to ask COMARE
to produce a supplement to its radon report considering these issues, and
if not, why not?

A  See response to previous question.

 

 

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We respond to requests for recorded information that we hold under the
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Environment Agency

National Requests Team

Part of National Operations

03708 506 506

[email address]

 

 

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