URGENT: TRAFFIC LIGHT SYSTEM FOR COAL INDUCED EARTHQUAKES

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Dear Friends

Thank you to all who have signed the petition and a really big thanks to those who spoke out at the coal mine planning inquiry about the earthquake/subsidence risks to Sellafield.   Because of all of you the Planning Inquiry will now *touch on*  seismicity and proximity to Sellafield.  (The Planning Inspector stated this at the beginning of today’s proceedings) 

We need to make sure that Cumbria County Council do more than *touch on*  serious public health and safety concerns by requiring the developer West Cumbria Mining to agree to s106 conditions on seismicity at least as stringent as the Fracking Traffic Light System  (s106 are conditions to be placed on the coal mine should the Secretary of State give approval)

Please do write to Cumbria County Council and copy to the Planning Inspectorate asking that a Traffic Light System at least as stringent as that for fracking is placed on the coal mine as part of the s106 conditions.

It is Cumbria County Council who have the power to insist on this condition on seismicity to safeguard us from earthquakes should this coal mine be given the go ahead.  It is incredible that the issue of tree planting and landscaping is being given far more attention than the almost taboo fact that this coal mine, just five miles from Sellafield, WILL induce earthquakes.

The earthquake likelihood and potential nuclear fallout including resuspension of radioactive silts under the Irish Sea would have gone unrecorded had it not been for those who spoke on nuclear impacts.  

Heartfelt Thank you to  Irene Sanderson from North Cumbria CND, Lindy Powell, John Ashton, Neil Wilson and Samagita Moisha who all raised the nuclear/earthquake issue.  I spoke on behalf of Radiation Free Lakeland and followed up with a letter urging Cumbria County Council and the Planning Inquiry to put conditions at least as stringent as those for fracking on the coal mine should the Secretary of State grant permission.

Please do write to Cumbria County Council and copy to the Planning Inspectorate asking that a Traffic Light System at least as stringent as that for fracking is placed on the coal mine as part of the s106 conditions (conditions placed on developments).

Email Cumbria County Council:  Paul.Haggin@cumbria.gov.uk

copy to the Planning Inspectorate: ELZABETH.HUMPHREY@planninginspectorate.gov.uk

Our letter can be seen here – your letter doesn’t need to be long – here is a suggestion for inspiration :  Please ensure a Traffic Light System at least as stringent as that for fracking is placed on the coal mine which is just five miles from the world’s riskiest nuclear waste site and directly under decades of radioactive wastes now on the sea-bed.

Remember to include your name and address. 

The coal mine operators do not propose stopping operations even if earthquakes of a far greater magnitude than 0.5 ML occur.  This is outrageous given that coal mining is known to induce earthquakes of 3 ML and more.  

Geologist Peter Styles in his 2018 paper said: UK Seismic Traffic Light Thresholds postulate a cessation  and subsequent modification (or even halting) of fracking activities if an earthquake of magnitude 0.5 ML occurs. This size of event corresponds to a movement of only a few millimetres on a short fault segment of a larger fault.  Fracking and Historic Coal Mining: Their relationship and should they coincide?  by  Professor Emeritus Peter Styles

Finally, Thank you for signing the petition Coal Produces More Earthquakes than Fracking, So Lets Talk About Sellafield and the Mine, we will keep the petition open to raise awareness,  you can help spread the word by sharing.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/coal-produces-more-earthquakes-than-fracking-so-lets-talk-about-sellafield-and-the-mine

Many Thanks!

Marianne Birkby

Will a Plate of Mince Pies At WCM tomorrow Substitute for a Plate of Mince Pies Somewhere Else in the World??

Tomorrow the developers of the first deep coal mine in the UK in decades will hold a ‘drop in’  session “for locals”.  Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole have been told that they are not welcome and the developers have long since stopped answering any of my questions.

The day includes free mince pies and tea.  So here is a question for WCM.  If a plate of their mince pies are eaten – will that substitute for a plate of mince pies elsewhere in the world?  ie will a plate of mince pies elsewhere in the world not be eaten because a plate of mince pies has been eaten tomorrow at the developers ‘drop in’ session?  That is the laughable argument the developers made to Cumbria County Council – and the Council bought it!  They bought the line that 3 million tonnes a year of coal a year will not be produced elsewhere because  coal would be mined in Cumbria ( just five miles from Sellafield) .  “Substitution” – its magic!

Other questions of emissions, hydrology, water use, seismic damage, pollution, blight are brushed aside as casually as a crumb from a mince pie.

If you fancy a mince pie then West Cumbria Mining will be delighted to see you as long as you don’t ask any awkward questions…  Wednesday 11th December from 2pm till 6pm  at the Haig Museum offices, Whitehaven

 

WCM (with Cumbria County Council’s help) Puffed Up At the Planning Meeting Their Plan for “Recycling Water.” Get Real!! How Much Fresh Water Will You Use? From What Fault?.

We have written asking under Freedom of Information about West Cumbria Mining’s fresh water use.  WCM have years ago (really!)  stopped answering any questions from us and Cumbria County Council told me over the telephone last week that they have no clue as to how much fresh water WCM plan to abstract from a fault near Whitehaven.

So we are forced to write and ask for this information under Freedom of Information This important information on fresh water should already be highlighted in the public domain and be easy for the public to access.   WCM have puffed themselves up mightily over “recycling surface water” and this was repeated at the planning meeting by Cumbria County Council officials as though WCM were some kind of super duper eco warriors.

The tiny percentage of ‘recycled standing water’ would be a drop in the vast ocean of fresh water necessary to wash the coal and other processes that WCM plan to do.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST TO THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

We have repeatedly asked the developers West Cumbria Mining and Cumbria County Council for detailed information on WCM’s projected water use .  WCM’s  PR makes much of the notion that WCM will “recycle” water, the public only heard briefly (and for myself for the first time)  about ‘abstraction from a fault’ at the planning meeting .

 We have recieved no reply to our questions either from WCM or from Cumbria County Council.

Under Freedom of Information, Radiation Free Lakeland ask the Environment Agency for sight of:

Fresh Water Abstraction From the Named Fault by West Cumbria Mining.

1. What is the name of the fault that WCM propose to use?

2. How much water per day do WCM propose to abstract from the fault?

3.  Has this proposed abstraction had an EIA from the EA?

4.  Does the fault proposed to be used by WCM have linkage with the Lake District Boundary Fault or is this unquantifiable?

Thank you

yours sincerely,

Marianne Birkby

Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole (a Radiation Free Lakeland campaign)

Letter in the Guardian – Cumbrian Coal Must Stay in the Ground

Cumbrian coal must stay in the ground where it belongs

The government’s rejection of coal-mining in Northumberland is good news, says Marianne Birkby. Now they must follow up by rejecting plans for a new Cumbrian mine

THE GUARDIAN Letters

Wed 28 Mar 2018 17.53 BST

The proposed deep coal mine would run under the Irish Sea off the coast of St Bees, Cumbria (pictured). Photograph: Chris Ord

What fantastic news that the government has rejected plans for an opencast coal mine in Northumberland (Javid rejects plan for opencast coalmine, 24 March).

This should put the nail firmly in the coffin of the plan for the first deep coalmine in the UK in 30 years. This would be at the proposed Woodhouse Colliery, which is north of Kendal (not south as wrongly located in your article) and under the Irish Sea off the beautiful coastline of St Bees.

St Bees happens to be the last place where the black guillemot nests in England, which is why the RSPB has opposed the plan. Other reasons to oppose, apart from the compelling climate-change argument, are that it is just five miles from Sellafield. The Davy lamp was tested out in nearby Whitehaven because coal seams here are so gassy with methane. What could go wrong with mining ever nearer to Sellafield? There is a petition to sign opposing this mad plan at 38 Degrees called Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole.
Marianne Birkby
Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole

TODAY’s EARTHQUAKE IN CUMBRIA – WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR NEW COAL NEAR SELLAFIELD?

Headline from The Times “Cumbria rocked as second earthquake shakes Britain in a fortnight”

PRESS NOTICE

TODAY’s EARTHQUAKE IN CUMBRIA – WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR NEW COAL NEAR SELLAFIELD?

The following letter has been sent to all Cumbrian Councillors on the Development Control and Regulation Committee . These councillors will be taking the decision in April whether or not to give a green light to the first deep coal mine in the UK …near to Sellafield.  The letter outlines concerns about induced seismic activity from coal mining and is especially pertinent to today’s earthquake.  There will always be earthquakes – but should there be developments near Sellafield that have the capacity to induce seismicity?  West Cumbria Mining have told campaigners that the plan is for coal to be mined up to five miles from Sellafield.

The Letter sent out today….

Dear Councillor …,

West Cumbria Mining – Planning Meeting Scheduled for the 18th April

Good Afternoon.   I am writing to you from the Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole campaign (a Radiation Free Lakeland campaign).

The timing of this morning’s earthquake is uncanny as the previous day we had sent a letter to Tim Farron on this very subject.  I am sure you would agree that increasing the risk of earthquakes in Cumbria should be avoided and yet there is a plan to mine for coal just five miles from Sellafield off the St Bees Coast.  Coal mining is known to induce seismicity – this also is the case with with heavy loading (Moorside/new nuclear would equal 100s of 1000s of tonnes of concrete) and injection (Preston New Road fracking site is 49 miles from Sellafield).

Over the last several decades Cumbria County Council has been minded to approve many developments at Sellafield including reprocessing which has led to a terrible accumulation of increasingly dangerous nuclear wastes. http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1976/nov/03/windscale-nuclear-reprocessing

I am sure you would agree that it is now incumbent on Cumbria County Council to ensure the safe stewardship of Sellafield. That safe stewardship must include shunning dangerous new developments nearby, whether they be nuclear, or coal.

Our letter to Tim Farron said:

“Dear Tim,

Last April we wrote to the HSE about the proposals to extract coal within five miles of Sellafield and fracking five miles from Springfields in Preston.  We did not recieve a reply.

Last week we sent (after trying to hand deliver..just think Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy!) a petition of 1163 signatures (and growing) and a letter to the HSE asking that there should be a moratorium on the extraction of fossil fuel in such  close proximity to dangerous nuclear installations.

The Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations carried out an assessment of seismic risk for nuclear installations following Fukushima.    However the report (Japanese earthquake and tsunami: Implications for the UK nuclear industry HM Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations September 2011) makes no reference to the impact of new fossil fuel extraction near nuclear installations and does not include the real possibility of induced seismicity from that fossil fuel extraction.

This is the reason we have written to the HSE to ask for a moratorium on fossil fuel extraction which is currently proposed so close to Springfields, Lancashire (the front end of the nuclear cycle) and Sellafield, Cumbria ( the back end of the nuclear cycle) both sites are at risk of criticality following seismic events.

The full letter to the HSE is included below. We have not recieved an acknowledgment.  We would be very grateful if you could ensure that this letter is seen and acted upon by the HSE.”

In 2016 The Ecologist reported that: “Especially serious are the ~20 large holding tanks at Sellafield containing thousands of litres of extremely radiotoxic fission products.” Discussing these tanks, the previous management consortium, Nuclear Management Partners, stated in 2012: “There is a mass of very hazardous [nuclear] waste onsite in storage conditions that are extraordinarily vulnerable, and in facilities that are well past their designated life”The National Audit Office (NAO) stated these tanks pose “significant risks to people and the environment”.   One official review published in The Lancet concluded that, at worst, an explosive release from the tanks could kill two million Britons and require the evacuation of an area reaching from Glasgow to Liverpool.    This certainly would negate Cumbria County Council’s strategic objective of avoiding adverse impacts from developments ( Objective 2, Cumbria Minerals and Waste Local Plan 2.27)

Coal mining causes induced seismicity.  Please consider today’s earthquake when you make your decision on 18th April on the first deep coal mine in the UK for 30 years…..near Sellafield.

Yours sincerely

Marianne Birkby

on behalf of Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole

a Radiation Free Lakeland campaign

https://keepcumbriancoalinthehole.wordpress.com/

Campaigners Shocked At ‘What Coal Mine?’ Survey Response

Local Radio Stations have reported on our survey.  Many thanks to The Bay and Lakeland Radio .

From the Bay Radio…

Tuesday, February 6th, 2018 5:00am

Campaigners say they’re surprised that plans for a deep coal mine off the Cumbrian coast don’t seem to be common knowledge.

A survey in Kendal last week found that 100% of the respondents knew about the Thirlmere zip wire plans – but none had heard about the mine proposals, just 30 miles from Kendal – under the Irish Sea at St Bees.

Both applications will be heard on March 7th, in Kendal, by the Lake District National Park Authority and Cumbria County Council respectively.

Marianne Birkby from Radiation Free Lakeland said: “Of these two developments, the plan that will, beyond any shadow of a doubt have the most damaging and long lasting impacts on Cumbria and our neighbours is the coal mine.

“But this is the plan that campaigners Keep Cumbrian Coal in the Hole say is ‘going way under the radar’.

“Everyone questioned in the survey was astonished that there is a plan to open a new coal mine which would extend under the Irish Sea from St Bees.”

The developers, West Cumbria Mining, have told campaigners that mining could take place five miles from Sellafield but that ‘seismic activity as a result of mining would not be a problem.’

Opponents say it’s not a risk worth taking.

In September, campaigners met in Bowness to ask people to sign their petition against the plans, calling for them to “show resistance” to the first new deep coal mine in the UK for more than 30 years.

 

 

PETITION: KEEP CUMBRIAN COAL IN THE HOLE (IT’S TOO NEAR SELLAFIELD)