Green Water in proximity to IGas Barton Moss site

The request was partially successful.

Dear Environment Agency,

Green water has appeared running near the iGas site at Barton Moss during the exploratory drilling phase of operations, 1st January 2014.

Please can you provide a full disclose of information for the following under the Freedom of Information Act:

1) What permissions have been sought to
a) use tracer dyes
b) undertake migratory studies to determine impacts to groundwater

2) Please detail and provide copies of IGas' application where applicable to undertake any work which utilizes a green dye, or otherwise explain why you consider this water is present.

3) Please advise when you will be assessing and investigating this waste water or if you consider this to be in the remit of another agency, whom you will be advising of this.

With regards to a newly placed pipe discovered exiting the iGas compound:

4) Please advise where and how the Mining Waste Permit application allows for the implementation of a pipe to remove waste water from the compound to the surrounding fields, and in the event of capture of rainwater run off, why it would be necessary to begin to use tracer dyes to follow this watercourse.

Yours faithfully,

Helen Chuntso

Enquiries, Unit, Environment Agency

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Enquiries, Unit, Environment Agency

Dear Helen

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NW Info Requests, Environment Agency

Dear Helen

Thank you for contacting the Environment Agency, North West regarding the
IGas site at Barton Moss.

In line with our Service Commitment we will endeavour to provide you with
a response within 10 working days. While we make every effort to reply
within 10 working days, please be aware that under the Environmental
Information Regulations, we have up to 20 working days to respond to your
email. 

 

If you need to contact me in the meantime, please do not hesitate to do
so using the details below and quoting reference number PROTECT-STH1118SR.

 

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this link 
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Many thanks

Sarah

Sarah Rogerson

Customers and Engagement Officer

Customers and Engagement Team North West

Environment Agency

Ghyll Mount, Gillan Way, Penrith 40 Business Park, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11
9BP

Telephone: 01768 215764

Email: [2][email address]

 

 

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improve our service. Please click on the link below and fill in our survey
– we use every piece of feedback we receive:
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NW Info Requests, Environment Agency

Dear Helen

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

 

Thank you for your enquiry regarding the Igas site at Barton Moss which
was received by ourselves on 2 January 2014.

 

Please see below response to the questions you raise in your enquiry.  The
text in black is taken from your enquiry and our response is in blue text.

 

Green water has appeared running near the iGas site at Barton Moss during
the exploratory drilling phase of operations, 1st January 2014.

 

Please can you provide a full disclose of information for the following
under the Freedom of Information Act:

 

1) What permissions have been sought to

a) use tracer dyes

None

 

b) undertake migratory studies to determine impacts to groundwater

Again to date none have been received.  A Groundwater Activity Permit
under EPR2010 may be required if potentially making a discharge to
groundwater. There is an exemption that would allow us to permit a direct
discharge to groundwater for tracing purposes for which companies need to
apply.

 

2) Please detail and provide copies of IGas' application where applicable
to undertake any work which utilizes a green dye, or otherwise explain why
you consider this water is present.

Igas has confirmed to us that they have not used tracer dye and we have
not received any calls to our incident hotline from people reporting green
dye in a local watercourse. If people suspect a pollution incident they
should report it to our incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.

 

3) Please advise when you will be assessing and investigating this waste
water or if you consider this to be in the remit of another agency, whom
you will be advising of this.

For general surface water drainage from the Igas site; the water collected
within the site drainage system goes through a silt trap and Class 1 oil
interceptor before being discharged to the adjacent drainage ditch. This
does not appear to be causing discoloration or pollution of the
watercourse.

 

The drilling platform on the site is self contained and is not served by
this drainage system. It is highly unlikely that anything other than
rainwater has been discharged.

 

We have contacted the Company who have confirmed this. They have also
confirmed that they have not used tracer dye.

 

With regards to a newly placed pipe discovered exiting the iGas compound:

 

4) Please advise where and how the Mining Waste Permit application allows
for the implementation of a pipe to remove waste water from the compound
to the surrounding fields, and in the event of capture of rainwater run
off, why it would be necessary to begin to use tracer dyes to follow this
watercourse.

 

The operator’s surface water drainage arrangements are detailed in the
Waste Management Plan section 3.3 titled ‘Non-Extractive Wastes’.  This
includes a reference to the collection of any rainfall in a perimeter
drain surrounding the well-pad which then flows to an oil interceptor.

The Waste Management Plan is incorporated into the permit in Table S1.2
Operating Techniques.  The Site Condition Report, figure 6, provides a
detailed site drainage layout and forms part of the application.  This
shows an outlet pipe which is to discharge directly into the existing open
drain.

 

We have no evidence that green dye has been used by Igas and therefore we
cannot speculate on why it would be used in this location. However tracer
dye is generally used to determine the path of watercourses and drains
which may be culverted along their length.

 

I hope that we have correctly interpreted your request.

 

We respond to requests for recorded information that we hold under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the associated Environmental
Information Regulations 2004 (EIR).

 

If you are not satisfied with our response to your request for information
you can contact us within 2 calendar months to ask for our decision to be
reviewed. 

 

Yours sincerely

 

Sarah

 

Sarah Rogerson

Customers and Engagement Officer

Tel: 01768 215764

[1][email address]

 

We would be really grateful if you could spare five minutes to help us
improve our service. Please click on the link below and fill in our survey
– we use every piece of feedback we receive:
[2]http://feedback1.environmentagency.uk.co...

 

 

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.

We have checked this email and its attachments for viruses. But you should still check any attachment before opening it.
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 NW Info Requests,

Please supply a full disclosure of your correspondences with IGas to clarify your statement:

'We have contacted the Company who have confirmed this. They have also
confirmed that they have not used tracer dye.'

Yours sincerely,

Helen Chuntso

NW Info Requests, Environment Agency

Dear Helen

Thank you for your e-mail below regarding IGas.

I have sent your e-mail to our teams to answer and as soon as I get a response I will send it onto you.

Thanks

Sarah

Sarah Rogerson
Customers and Engagement Officer
Customers and Engagement Team North West
Environment Agency
Ghyll Mount, Gillan Way, Penrith 40 Business Park, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 9BP
Telephone: 01768 215764
Email: [email address]
 
 
We would be really grateful if you could spare five minutes to help us improve our service. Please click on the link below and fill in our survey – we use every piece of feedback we receive: http://feedback1.environmentagency.uk.co...

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NW Info Requests, Environment Agency

Dear Ms Chuntso

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

Further to your enquiry of 8 March 2014, the team that regulate the Igas site had inspected the outfall on an earlier inspection and were satisfied that the surface water management arrangements would ensure protection of the environment. Measures are in place to ensure that any wastes from drilling activities would not be able to discharge to the existing drain.

Following the reports to us we contacted the operator to investigate. This was done by phone so that the operator could look into the matter as a matter of urgency. The operator confirmed that uncontaminated rain water was being discharged only and that they had not used a tracer dye. At a subsequent site visit our officers inpsected the operators records (sampling results) and were again satisfied that this was the case.

We did not require receipt of the sampling results and as such do not hold these records.

I hope that we have correctly interpreted your request.  Please see the attached Standard Notice or licence for details of permitted use.
 
We respond to requests for recorded information that we hold under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the associated Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR).
 
If you are not satisfied with our response to your request for information you can contact us within 2 calendar months to ask for our decision to be reviewed. 
 
Yours sincerely

Helen Reynolds
Customer and Engagement Officer
Customer and Engagement Team North West
Tel: 01768 215848
[email address]

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