While Shell has been in the hot seat with respect to their application to frack for shale gas in the Karoo, two other companies including Anglo America also have applications to frack in the Karoo. What is less well known is that SASOL has managed to stay pretty much below the radar with their investigations about fracking in the Drakensburg. So for those who think the Karoo is a quaint backwater with funny fat plants and kitsch sunsets, how do you feel about the prospect of 50m high drilling rigs boring 5kms below the surface on 5 acres of flattened drilling pad in the iconic Drakensberg?
Since January the electronic and print media have been the platform for almost weekly exposure of increasingly disturbing news about the potential negative impacts of Fracking the Karoo for shale gas. To confuse this exposure with a process to refuse fracking permits would be a big mistake. It is not at all clear that the Government is heeding the calls by farmers, tourism associations, Karoo communities and concerned South Africans to turn down the fracking applications.
A governmental task team set up to investigate fracking in South Africa is required to report their findings by August 2011. According to the Treasure Karoo Action Group, an NGO with grave reservations about Shell’s commitment to environmental responsibility, the make-up of the governmental task team has not been made public and appeals for information have been ignored. At the same time, it is well known that big corporations have a huge amount of economic and political influence to wield in promoting their business. And it appears that Shell which has applied to frack an extensive 90 000km² of environmentally sensitive and water stressed Karoo is pretty determined to win their application. Their pro-fracking brochure, which included attractive claims of job creation and a commitment to environmental sensitivity was pronounced by the Advertising Standards Association on 6 July as misleading (pers. com Treasure Karoo Action Group).
What can you do? Don’t loose interest – Keep informed. Boycott Shell petrol stations. By boycotting them you will be using your purchasing power to demonstrate lack of support for their fracking application. Sign the anti-fracking petition. Go to http://treasurethekaroo.blogspot.com/ for up to date information about fracking application process and protest action.
KimK
Click here for an article by environmental writer Glen Ashton for an explanation of what Fracking is.
Click here if you have not heard or read Lewis Pugh’s speech challenging Shell’s track record in Africa - Shell Why should we trust you?
3 Comment
Johan van Huyssteen, August 29, 2011 at 12:14 pm
Dear Readers
ReplyPlease visit our website and order your Anti-Fracking T-shirt.
Kim, August 23, 2011 at 12:46 am
UPDATE: 20 August. Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu has extended the moratorium on Fracking in the Karoo for another six months to enable her task team to complete their technical investigation. She is not satisfied with some aspects of the report and has asked the task team for clarity.
Individuals and NGOs with strong reservations about Fracking are concerned that Minister Shabangu’s Task Team is made up primarily of government officials and that their brief and finding have been kept out of the public arena. While her public statement at the Cape Town Press Club breakfast on 18 August that the public will be fully consulted from September when the task team completes its report is heartening, there are real concerns that the process will not adequately address problems identified by the public interest groups. Will this public participation be genuine if the NGOs representing the affected communities are not represented on the Task team – nor consulted about the brief and experts represented on the team?
Minister Shabangu’s statement that in South African law, the polluter must pay for any clean-up required does not alleviate concerns. There are too many situations where mining activities ignore measures to mitigate their environmental impacts and default on their polluter pays responsibilities. It has repeatedly been said that Shell does not have a good track record in Africa – and that in spite of legislation, implementation of environmental protection by the authorities is weak in South Africa. Not a good combination, nor one which gives me any confidence that Fracking in the Karoo and or the Drakensberg will be done with the long term benefit to the citizens of South Africa in mind.
KimK
ReplyGray, July 27, 2011 at 11:34 am
August 9 is a public holiday, so if you have nothing better to do other than nurse a hangover… get down to Cape Town for a fun walk through the city wearing gasmasks.
The intention is to bring the global issue of fracking to the public, whether they like it or not. We will walk from the top of Kloof St (next to Bombay Cycle Club @ 10:45am) and walk all the way down through Long St, down to Adderley through to the Company Gardens… handing out flyers about the controversial method of extracting shale gas not only from the Karoo, but worldwide!
WE SEEK A GLOBAL BAN ON FRACKING
What if you don’t have a gasmask? Ask a friend, buy a cheapy at the hardware store or make your own. Wear overalls, or whatever you like… the freakier the better!
So? Are you in?
You can check out the details on:
Thanks
Gray
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