DA slams fracking appointment

2011-06-20 16:30

Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance (DA) has characterised the appointment of Adrian Tiplady, a key member of South Africa's Square Kilometre Array (SKA) bid, to government's task team examining hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" in the Karoo, as an afterthought.

A statement issued on Sunday by DA shadow science and technology minister Marian Shinn has called for government to give greater clarity on the makeup and the mandate of the inter-departmental task team that is due to report in July.

The task team was set up after Cabinet called a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing in the ecologically sensitive Karoo.

Fracking is when a well is drilled into the ground and then a combination of chemicals and water is poured in to create pressure to start the flow of shale gas that could be used to generate electricity of create fuel.

More than 220 000km2 of the semi-arid Karoo have been earmarked for exploration by at least three companies that have applied for permission to search for shale gas. They are Shell, Falcon Oil & Gas and Bundu Oil & Gas.

Fears

The Karoo, considered one of the darkest places on earth, is also the proposed site of the multi-billion rand SKA radio telescope that the country hopes will be awarded to it by the international consortium in 2012.

Astronomers have expressed fears that shale gas exploration and exploitation could interfere in terms of light pollution and radio wave interference with the SKA bid.

A law, called the Astronomy Geographical Advantage Act, confers strong powers on Science & Technology Minister Naledi Pandor to stop any such interference. However, her department have given no undertaking that this provision would be used.

Shinn said when the Parliamentary science and technology committee met last week she asked the departments whether any astronomers were on the fracking task team.

According to Shinn, Science & Technology Director General Phil Mjwara responded with an emphatic "no", and explained this was unnecessary because the task team's focus was on the science and process of fracking.

Shinn said that the following day after the meeting Tiplady was appointed to the technical team.

This team was due to complete its draft report by the end of June for consideration by the main task team, which is expected to report to the Cabinet by the end of July.

Deadline

Tiplady's other deadline on June 30 is the submission of the final reports on the SKA bid for the International SKA Office.

"This hasty appointment of an astronomer to the team indicates that the government is merely going through the motions of being seen to address public concerns about hydraulic fracturing. It also calls into question Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor's commitment to ensure the SKA bid is not negatively impacted by fracking on the Karoo," Shinn said.

Shinn also said there was no need to rush the work of the task team.

"But if members of the task team are still being added to it at this stage, then it is clear the task team is not entirely sure of its mandate," Shinn said.

- I-Net Bridge (News24)