Environmentalists' outrage at proposal for South Downs oil drill

GREEN campaigners have criticised an application to drill for oil in the South Downs National Park.
Markwells Wood, Forestside near Rowlands CastleMarkwells Wood, Forestside near Rowlands Castle
Markwells Wood, Forestside near Rowlands Castle

United Kingdom Oil and Gas Investments PLC (UKOG) has applied to the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) for 20 years of oil extraction at Markwells Wood, Forestside near Rowlands Castle.

Although UKOG state the well will not be fracked it has asked for permission to drill horizontal wells, stimulation of the wells by acidisation, and to drill a well to reinject waste water.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Friends of the Earth is concerned that horizontal wells require extraction techniques that can have risks for the environment due to the processes, chemicals and pressure used.

Brenda Pollack, Friends of the Earth’s south east regional campaigner, believes that national parks should not be subject to such an extensive period of drilling.

She said: ‘We believe that oil drilling should simply not be allowed in one of our most precious landscapes.

‘The processes they want to carry out have risks for our environment. We have serious concerns about the techniques needed to get the oil out of horizontal wells and reinjecting the waste water back underground is worrying.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘Our national parks should be protected for people to enjoy.’

IGas currently operates six oil and gas wells at Singleton in the national park.

The independent gas and oil exploration and production company also has three wells at Storrington in West Sussex, where planning permission for oil production runs until December 31, 2017.

The Horndean oil field, to the east of Markwells Wood, is just outside the park boundary

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Long-standing local resident Michael Harbour has also protested against the application.

He said: ‘I regularly cycle on the South Downs and really don’t want to see this kind of industrial blot on the landscape for the next 20 years.

‘This is a tranquil beautiful area that should not be opened up for an oil bonanza.’

The application is yet to be validated and published on the South Downs National Park Authority website. A short period of public consultation is expected.

Related topics: