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Anti-fracking protesters have superglued themselves to the doors at the main entrance of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). A related protest is also underway at the offices of iGas, the UK’s biggest shale gas company, which has seen two entrances blockaded by campaigners.
The activists from the Reclaim the Power camp at Blackpool say the protest is against 63 redactions in a government report released last week on the potential impacts of shale gas exploration on rural communities.
At 8am three activists superglued themselves to the doors of Defra’s main entrance and tried to prevent access, the group said. Another activist climbed the building and unfurled a banner reading: “What’s to hide Defra? Don’t frack with our future.”
Some of the activists wore black tape across their mouths, campaigners said.
A Metropolitan police spokesman said officers were called at 7.30am and there were about 15 protesters on the scene. He said they had climbed scaffolding.
One protester on second floor scaffolding at Defra fracking protest - bit above banner in pic pic.twitter.com/NH6Dd6UOWx
— Adam Vaughan (@adamvaughan_uk) August 18, 2014
The campaigners claim deleted sections in the government report include analysis around falling house prices and failing rural services.
They say the chapter examining the effect of drilling on house prices had three sections cut. But a government spokesman said: “There is no evidence that house prices have been affected in over half a century of oil and gas exploration in the UK or evidence that this would be the case with shale.
“This government believes that shale has a positive part to play in our future energy mix, providing energy security, driving growth and creating jobs.”
One of the campaigners superglued to the building is Lindsay Alderton from London. Speaking from the protest, she said it is “shameful” that the government is “keeping secret the impacts of shale gas extraction”, adding that the public “has a right to know”.
She said: “This morning we’re here at Defra to remind them that they work for the public that pays them their wages, and that the public demands to know the facts about fracking – censoring is not an acceptable option.”
“At a time when we really need to be having a public debate about fracking, it’s really scary that censorship of a document that needs to be out in the public realm isn’t there. That’s going to affect the rural communities who live there, who farm, who raise their children there, it’s not okay.”
Will Pettifer, who is locked to Alderton through a pipe, said: “It’s a personal issue but it’s an issue for everyone. There’s health risks, contamination to water, continued reliance on fossil fuels, that’s not great. Even though the carbon emissions from the gas itself may be lower [than coal power], the emissions from the process is far greater [though methane leaks].”
One male protester was still two floors up on the scaffolding at mid-morning.
A Defra spokeswoman said the department would not be releasing an unredacted version of the report, as the campaigners had requested.
Elsewhere in London, around a dozen protesters from Reclaim the Power also blockaded the entrance and side entrance to the Mayfair headquarters of iGas, which became the UK’s biggest shale developer when it acquired rival company Dart Energy in May.
Mel Strickland, a spokeswoman for the group, told the Guardian: “We’re here today targeting iGas, the biggest company in the UK that wants to frack. We’re attacking the industry on all levels today.
“Cuadrilla [another energy company] in the past has got a lot of press attention, but a lot of people don’t know about iGas, so we want to focus on iGas now, to let the industry and government know that this is going to be opposed at every step of the way.”
Both protests appeared to be continuing peacefully and police said no arrests had been made.
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