UK nears first fracking approval

The United Kingdom is on its way to approving its first hydraulic fracturing job after the project cleared a key hurdle Monday.

Planning officers at the Lancashire County Council in England’s northwest recommended Monday that Cuadrilla Resources should be allowed to use fracking to extract natural gas at one site in the county, BBC News reported.

{mosads}The site would be the first full-scale use of fracking in the United Kingdom. The process has kicked off a gas and oil revolution in the United States, despite concerns that it can pollute groundwater and cause other environmental harms.

The controversial practice for extracting gas or oil from shale formations has divided the country, and a moratorium put in place in 2011 was only recently lifted. That ban was put in place after scientists concluded that fracking was the likely cause of small earthquakes in Blackpool, according to BBC.

The full Lancashire County Council will vote later this year on whether to implement the planners’ recommendations, BBC said. The planners said the council should approve an application in the village of Little Plumpton, but reject Cuadrilla’s permit to frack in nearby Roseacre Wood due to traffic concerns.

The fracking approval would come with a number of conditions meant to limit the timing of activity and the highway traffic, among other restrictions.

Friends of the Earth told BBC it is concerned that the Lancashire approval will set a precedent that will allow fracking to grow uncontrollably in the United Kingdom.