On 23rd March 2016 the Environment Agency held a ‘Meet the Regulators and East Riding of Yorkshire Council’ event in Driffield. With only 6 days notice to the public, minimal advertising (actually all we could find was a small poster on the EA website) and on a Wednesday in Driffield when the shops are closed the event was not exactly designed to be noticed by us, the residents of the East Riding of Yorkshire. You needn’t have worried boys we advertised it for you.
On arriving outside Driffield Methodist Church, once again, there was nothing advertising the event. You needn’t have worried boys we were on it for you.
We spent a pleasant few hours standing outside talking to residents interested in the frackers plans to decimate the North of England and encouraged them to go in and ask questions of the Environment Agency, the Health and Safety Executive, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Public Health England and Natural England. You needn’t have worried boys we put our side of the argument against the dirty drillers for you.
On entering the event we noticed that no one was signing people in or out. You needn’t have worried boys we made sure we counted people entering and leaving the event for you.
We had also noticed that no-one was filming the event, you needn’t have worried boys we had that covered as well.
We were only in the hall 30 seconds when we surrounded by representatives of the Environment Agency who seemed extremely envious of our camera and were very insistent that we either stop filming or leave. Sorry boys but we have waited too long to get to really talk to you and demand from you the answers that we, the Residents of Holderness, deserve.
We know, despite Rathlin Energy’s best efforts to deny the truth, that the film of Caroline Foster, Field Manager and Chief Off-Site Engineer for Rathlin Energy, was genuine. It was filmed on the 3rd of August 2014 on a beautiful sunny day in what should have been an idyllic setting, except we were standing outside Rathlin Energy’s West Newton A well site where Ms Foster was explaining in great depth that Rathlin were, at that moment, undertaking a mini-frack in the Bowland Shale.
At the time we were unaware of exactly how important this piece of film was to become.
We have patiently waited and watched as Rathlin Energy have repeated over and over again they ‘did not exercise their right to undertake a mini fall-off test within the Bowland Shale‘. Prior to the Driffield event only 4 people had seen the video in all its glorious, unedited, broadcast quality, HD entirety. But on that day in Driffield, we had the original, untouched and carefully stored video and were keen, at long last, to be able to share our film with the Environment Agency.
Despite being, what can only be described as extremely reluctant to sit down and talk to us and view the film, they eventually did. Never more than during those moments had a picture painted a thousand words.
Finally, and at long last, representatives from the Environment Agency understood why we are so upset at being continually called liars by Rathlin Energy.
We also made sure that the Environment Agency comprehensively grasped that it wasn’t just us, Residents and Activists, Rathlin Energy were calling liars they have also been running around frantically calling the Environment Agency into question as well.
We have news for you Mr Montagu-Smith et al, we are not liars and nor, we distinctly hope, are the Environment Agency.
And so we reach our conclusion to events on that interesting day.
The Environment Agency went away with information, how to contact us, how to access the What Went Wrong Report, details of our website, which we are sure they will find fascinating, and we received a promise from them they will investigate this.
We will not say, and have never said, Rathlin were not permitted to test the Bowland Shale we are just very, very interested into why they continually deny they did and what really went wrong at West Newton A.
On that day, 3rd August 2014, was Caroline Foster lying or was she just being grossly incompetent with her knowledge of what exact tests Rathlin Energy were undertaking at that time at West Newton A?
We are holding our breath for the truth, just please boys don’t take to long to let us know.
Communities of Holderness Against On Shore Drilling 