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Closed 31/01/2020

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£4,781
raised of £9,000 target by 109 supporters

    Weʼve raised £4,781 to fund water and air monitoring at Brockham, ahead of imminent oil extraction, gas flaring and waste-fluid reinjection.

    Funded on Friday, 31st January 2020

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    Story

    Brockham, in Surrey’s Green Belt, is about to be subject to a new and controversial type of oil extraction. This involves the use of chemicals, acids, reinjected waste fluids and gas flaring which can release toxins into our air and water sources. These risk harm to our health and environment. We urgently need funds to commission experts to gather the water and air samples needed to monitor this.

    Brockham is in an area with much groundwater and numerous water courses and we are highly concerned about the water pollution risks this new activity presents. During a recent test from the same rock formations at Balcombe in Sussex, Angus Energy hit ‘unexpected high-pressure water’ through ‘fractured communication’ with other layers, highlighting the reality of the risks we face.

    We are also concerned about the impacts on public health from the gas flaring and gas engine combustion, which are projected to produce significant emissions of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and undetermined quantities of Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S).

    Astonishingly, no statutory body is monitoring air or water quality, nor required disclosure of the type and quantities of chemicals to be used.This is because the site is being allowed to operate under an old-style environmental permit appropriate for a simple nodding donkey type pump – NOT the new technique about to be deployed.

    The Environment Agency has been in the process of putting in a modern-style permit for over 2 years, but it is still unclear when this will be completed. Meanwhile, in August 2018 Angus received retrospective planning permission for the unauthorised ‘sidetrack’ hole they drilled under the guise of maintenance works . This gives Angus Energy carte blanche to commence extraction from unconventional geology using new methods that are neither properly regulated or monitored.

    Brockham will be the first site in the country to attempt commercial production from the Jurassic Kimmeridge - a thick deposit of shale rock compared by the authorities to the Bakken Formation in North Dakota, where the use of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling brought about mass industrialisation and thousands of wells…

    Brockham Oil Watch, with the help of accredited experts, plan to monitor air and water quality to hold Angus Energy to account for risks to local people's health and the environment. We need to raise funds to cover the cost of equipment, advice and analysis so that the monitoring methodology is robust.

    We need to act quickly to secure vital baseline data before further activity.

    The independent hydrogeological work and water sampling costs £2,830. Our hydro-geologist requires a 25% deposit to start this work now. We are also in the process of engaging specialist air quality advice and monitoring, bringing the required total to an anticipated £6,000. We clearly see the need for future monitoring as the situation develops and have therefore set a target of £9,000.

    We simply seek to properly respect and protect our health and environment.

    Please help us - it really is urgent. Thank you so much to those that do…

    RELEVANT LINKS:

    1. Drill or Drop, 14 June 2018, Residents uncover regulatory loophole at Surrey oil site

    2. Response to Application MO/2018/0444 SCC Ref 2017/0215 for Brockham Wellsite (from Balcombe residents group - FFBRA)

    3. Brockham Oil Watch

    Updates

    5

    • Brockham Oil Watch5 years ago
      Brockham Oil Watch

      Brockham Oil Watch

      5 years ago
      Update from the Page owner

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    • Brockham Oil Watch5 years ago
      Brockham Oil Watch

      Brockham Oil Watch

      5 years ago

      We also have some news to share: the Environment Agency have accepted that the old permit didn't offer sufficient control and have moved to issue a new permit. Crucially, this new permit doesn't allow acid stimulation or reinjection of contaminated waste water from Brockham and Lidsey. Whilst we are relieved that reinjection is no longer allowed, it is very unsettling that this process has been taking place virtually unregulated over the years. There is still no requirement for groundwater monitoring at Brockham under the new permit

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    • Brockham Oil Watch5 years ago
      Brockham Oil Watch

      Brockham Oil Watch

      5 years ago

      Thank you for your generous support and the many messages of encouragement. We would like to report that our hydrologist collected surface and groundwater samples, and these have been sent off for analysis. We have also installed tubes to monitor NO2 and VOCs at six different locations around the site. We managed to do this work before the new type of extraction starts, so the lab data from the samples collected will be part of the baseline conditions assessment.

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    6 years ago

    Brockham Oil Watch started crowdfunding

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    Page last updated on: 3/29/2019 14.18

    Supporters

    109

    • Caroline Sprung

      Caroline Sprung

      Mar 29, 2019

      To all the people at Brockham Oil Watch, thank you for the time and effort put into monitoring the water and air, not to mention keeping an eye on Angus. Well done!

      £100.00

    • Anonymous

      Anonymous

      Mar 26, 2019

    • Nicola Avery

      Nicola Avery

      Feb 9, 2019

      £10.00

    • Anonymous

      Anonymous

      Feb 4, 2019

    • Anonymous

      Anonymous

      Jan 8, 2019

      Thanks so much for all the good work you are doing.

      £50.00

    • david and pippa

      david and pippa

      Jan 6, 2019

      thank you, we appreciate and support your efforts towards monitoring and proper regulation.

      £50.00

    • Sue J

      Sue J

      Jan 5, 2019

      We will stop this in the end! Bravo to all there!

      £50.00

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    About the fundraiser
    Brockham Oil Watch

    Brockham Oil Watch

    Brockham Oil Watch is a non-political group of local residents concerned about the threat of unconventional hydrocarbon extraction from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation (or other unconventional reservoirs) at Brockham, and gaps in the current legislative/regulatory framework.

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