New anti-fracking petition online

Ultan Sherry

Huge concerns persist in Blacklion regarding the possibility of fracking in the area within a couple of years and health professionals have launched an online petition seeking an all-island ban on the controversial practice.
Local GP Dr Carroll O’Dolan spoke to the Anglo Celt recently about efforts that are being made by an overseas company to frack in sites in County Fermanagh that are just two kilometres from Blacklion as the crow flies.
Fermanagh native Dr O’Dolan is one of a number of healthcare professionals who last week launched a website called 'Concerned Health Professionals of Ireland’, where one can find an encyclopedia of information regarding fracking.
When they first came to the area, they were blocked in the North as they did not meet licensing criteria and, in the South, the government opted to undertake a research project to find out more about the controversial practice.
Dr O’Dolan believes that the risk and consequences of fracking all boil down to health. “When you pump down gallons of water down fracking wells, half of it returns. In that water that returns, there would be Benzene, which causes cancer and Spina Bifida; mercury causes brain and kidney damage and volatile organic compounds cause lung, gut and reproductive diseases,” he explained.
Health studies have uncovered other risks such as possible heart defects for anyone living within 10 miles of a fracking well. Women are also more likely to have a premature baby or a smaller baby if they live near a fracking zone. The American Lung Association even said that air quality in fracking areas can actually be worse than normal air in urban areas.
So with that in mind, what is the view of it in Blacklion? “Initially some people thought, 'oh well it will bring in a few jobs’, but when they looked into it in more detail, they very quickly turned against it,” Dr. O’Dolan told the Celt. “They’re not against jobs and development but this is a boom and bust industry. It brings very few jobs and huge negative issues,” he contended.
Those negative issues for locals mainly centre around the water in the area. Blacklion is situated very close to the two largest water systems on the island, the Shannon and the Erne. Fears have been expressed that if fracking went ahead near Blacklion, chemicals could enter the Shannon system with potentially devastating consequences for those living hundreds of miles downstream.
Dr O’Dolan conceded that halting fracking near Blacklion could be difficult, given that County Fermanagh is under UK jurisdiction. “The London government is very keen to frack but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not so keen. A lot of the rules have been changed too. They said they wouldn’t frack near national parks - now they’ve changed that rule,” he explained. The Marble Arch Caves and the Cuilcagh Mountains lie very close to potential fracking sites.
“I’m a doctor. My job is to try and keep people healthy. There’s no point in handing out inhalers and heart tablets in 10 years’ time if I thought I could have stopped some of this 10 years ago,” the doctor concluded.
The Concerned Health Professionals of Ireland (CHPI) campaign is based on a growing network of health providers opposed to fracking, a model successfully used to achieve a ban in New York. The new website also includes a petition for health professionals to call on government on both sides of the border to implement an all-island ban on fracking.
Deputies Eamon Scanlon (FF) and Martin Kenny (SF) were among a number of TDs present at the launch. For more information see the new website www.chpi.ie