Oil Drilling Can Go Ahead Near Belfast Reservoir, Says NI Water
Northern Ireland’s sole water utility has given the green light for onshore oil exploration to take place next to a key reservoir that supplies 130,000 people in Belfast and its surrounding areas.
NI Water will lease the land for the controversial oil project, led by developer Infrastrata, despite public protest over fears that drinking water could be at risk of contamination, and that the surrounding Woodburn Forest could be damaged.
Tensions escalated last week into a stand-off between police and local anti-oil activists at the site 15 miles north of Belfast.
The protesters have so far raised £3,000 through an online campaign, and secured the support of Hollywood actor and water campaigner Mark Ruffalo.
The Avengers star published an open letter to Stormont environment minister Mark Durkan last week saying that it was the first time a public water utility had leased land for an unconventional oil and gas project. He branded the plans “irrational”.
But NI Water has said that drilling can go ahead near the reservoir on the condition that Infrastrata does not use the process of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to extract oil now or in the future.
The utility said it was “satisfied” that the current plans were safe because a “geosynthetic clay layer” would be used to prevent any liquids on site from soaking into the ground below.
Should contamination take place the utility said it would be able to isolate the reservoir and use supplies from other reservoirs to keep safe water supplies flowing to customers.
Infrastrata has insisted that no fracking will take place on the “watertight site”.
The firm was awarded an exploration licence for the site in 2011 and has since conducted two successful non-drilling campaigns to establish the underlying geology of the area.
It is now expected to complete the construction of the well site within weeks before undertaking seven weeks of exploration drilling.
Any further development at the site will require separate planning permission from the Northern Ireland government.
