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POTENTIAL SOCIAL IMPACTS OF HYDRAULIC FRACTURING AND SHALE GAS DEVELOPMENT IN THE UK by Kelsey R. Reckart A thesis submitted to the faculty of The University of Mississippi in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. Oxford May 2015 Approved by Advisor: Dr. David Rutherford Reader: Dr. John Sonnett Reader: Dr. Debra Young ii © 2015 Kelsey Reckart ALL RIGHTS RESERVED iii ABSTRACT Hydraulic fracturing has been responsible for revolutionizing the oil and gas industry in the US, and has since gained increasing popularity as nations across the globe look for new energy sources. The United Kingdom (UK) has recently taken steps to use hydraulic fracturing to develop their own shale gas industry, although thus far the industry is still in the initial exploratory stages of development. There has been much debate over the benefits and risks that hydraulic fracturing and shale gas development pose to UK communities and this thesis will investigate the potential social impacts that hydraulic fracturing may have on communities in the UK. This thesis uses the experiences of the US to predict what may occur in the UK as the shale gas industry grows. A literature review was conducted on the current social impacts in the US and UK, as well as current regulatory regimes and mining community characteristics in each respective country. Comparisons were then drawn between each country and predictions made according to the degree of similarity between communities, regulatory processes, and current social impacts. This thesis finds that, although the growth of the shale gas industry in the UK is likely to be slower and less of a game-‐changer for the UK than it was in the US, communities surrounding drill sites are likely to see many of the same impacts currently experienced by shale gas communities in the US. Communities may experience the boom-‐bust cycle characteristic of all extraction industry growth as iv well as varying degrees of social disorganization and fluctuating crime rates. This thesis also found that much of the public pushback against hydraulic fracturing and shale gas development in the UK comes as the result of environmental justice (EJ) issues. These (EJ) issues should be addressed through greater involvement of local communities in the planning and siting process for shale gas wells. This thesis concludes that due to the wide array of potential social impacts of shale gas development in the UK, greater access to data and literature on these social impacts needs to be made available to the public and local community governments. This information will be vital to the planning process and determining the local community’s ability to capture benefits and mitigate risks. v Table of Contents List of Tables .................................................................................................... viii List of Figures……………………………………………………………………………… ix Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................. 1 What is Hydraulic Fracturing? ...................................................................................................... 2 Hydraulic Fracturing in the UK .................................................................................................... 4 Public Perceptions of Hydraulic Fracturing ............................................................................. 6 The Need for Social Impact Literature ....................................................................................... 7 Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2: Hydraulic Fracturing and its Social Impacts in the US .. 12 The Cycle ........................................................................................................................................... 14 Social Impacts of the Boom ......................................................................................................... 17 Social Disorganization. ............................................................................................................................... 17 Crime Rates. .................................................................................................................................................... 19 Social Tension in Communities. ............................................................................................................. 21 Other Impacts. ............................................................................................................................................... 23 Social Impacts of the Bust ............................................................................................................ 24 Social Disorganization. ............................................................................................................................... 24 Crime Rates. .................................................................................................................................................... 25 Community Health. ...................................................................................................................................... 26 The Controllability of Boom-‐Bust Impacts ............................................................................ 26 Other Impacts .................................................................................................................................. 28 Chapter 3: Current Social Impacts and Public Attitudes in the UK 30 UK Public Opinion of Shale Gas Development ...................................................................... 31 Community Benefit Mechanisms .............................................................................................. 35 Monetary Compensation and Community Acceptance ...................................................... 38 Chapter 4: Hydraulic Fracturing Practices and Regulatory Regimes in the US and UK .............................................................................................. 41 The Scope of Hydraulic Fracturing in the US ........................................................................ 41 US Regulation of Shale Gas Development .............................................................................. 43 Hydraulic Fracturing in the UK ................................................................................................. 45 Available Resources. ................................................................................................................................... 48 Extraction Companies. ............................................................................................................................... 49 UK Regulation of Shale Gas Development .............................................................................. 52 Environmental risk and water management. .................................................................................. 57 Rights of Property Owners .......................................................................................................... 59 vi Chapter 5: Characteristics of Communities Surrounding Drill Sites ............................................................................................................................... 62 General Characteristics of Shale Gas Communities ............................................................ 62 Identified Potential Shale Gas Communities in the UK ..................................................... 67 Chapter 6: Environmental Justice .............................................................. 78 Environmental Justice in the UK ............................................................................................... 80 Implications of the EJ Movement .............................................................................................. 82 Chapter 7: Predictions ................................................................................... 86 The Boom-‐ Bust Cycle ................................................................................................................... 87 Boom-‐Bust Cycles in the UK ........................................................................................................ 89 Social Impacts of the Boom Cycle .............................................................................................. 94 Social disruption. .......................................................................................................................................... 94 Crime rates. ..................................................................................................................................................... 97 Social tensions. .............................................................................................................................................. 98 Other boom cycle impacts. ..................................................................................................................... 103 Social Impacts of the Bust Cycle .............................................................................................. 104 Possible Boom-‐Bust Impacts on Identified UK Shale Gas Communities .................... 106 Chapter 8: Conclusion ................................................................................. 110 List of References: ........................................................................................ 117 APPENDIX………………………………………………………………………………….126 vii List of Tables TABLE 2.1 List of the Major Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing. .............................................. 14 TABLE 5.1 Identified Shale Gas Communities in the UK .......................................................... 68 viii List of Figures Figure 1.1 Hydraulic Fracturing and Shale gas extraction. ..................................................... 4 Figure 3.1 Percieved Risks of Hydrualic Fracuring ................................................................. 32 Figure 3.2 Public support for exploratory activity in the UK. .............................................. 34 Figure 4.1 Total UK offshore oil production ................................................................................ 47 Figure 4.2 Total UK natural gas production, import, and export.. ...................................... 47 Figure 4.3 UK shale gas basins.. ......................................................................................................... 49 Figure 4.5 UK regulatory process for shale gas well development. ................................... 56 Figure 5.1 Shale gas community locator map. ............................................................................ 69 Figure 5.2 Elswick map. ........................................................................................................................ 71 Figure 5.3 Blackpool map .................................................................................................................... 72 Figure 5.5 Ellesmere Port map .......................................................................................................... 75 Figure 5.6 Kirby Misperton map ....................................................................................................... 76 Figure 7.1 Boom-‐ Bust cycle pattern ............................................................................................... 89 Figure 8.1 UK Public support for shale gas exploration in light of regulation. ......... 113 Figure 9.1 Shale gaw well structure. ............................................................................................ 127 ix Chapter 1 Introduction Hydraulic fracturing has been responsible for revolutionizing the oil and gas industry in the US, and has since gained increasing popularity as nations across the globe look for new energy sources. The practice has been a focus of much public debate in recent decades due to its many controversial benefits and risks to the public, the environment, and industry workers. The United Kingdom (UK) has recently taken steps to use hydraulic fracturing to develop their own shale gas industry, although thus far the industry is still in the initial exploratory stages of development. This exploratory activity has brought the debate over the safety and acceptability of hydraulic fracturing to the forefront of UK public and government attention (Hays et al, 2015). This thesis will explore the development of the UK shale gas industry as a means of assessing the potential social impacts hydraulic fracturing may have on communities in the UK. To date, there is extensive literature on the environmental risks and benefits associated with hydraulic fracturing and shale gas production. There is also extensive literature on the economic implications of shale gas production. The social impacts of hydraulic fracturing and its resulting shale gas industry boom have only recently become the topic of a growing array of research and publications. However, 1
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