SITE A – A mere 400 metres along the footpath to the north of the isolated Llangeinor Arms public house. OS Grid Ref: SS 923 884
The site is distinctly visible on satellite photos taken some time ago – as an area where the grass has been removed revealing very pale – almost white – rock exposed. I believe this dates from test drilling operations that BCBC allowed in 2008.
The site is just as the steep path from the pub starts to flatten out a bit. There are magnificent views over the villages of Llangeinor and nearby Bettws. St. Cein’s Church is next to the pub. The substantial church in such an isolated spot is typical of villages that moved away after burying their dead in the churchyard during the Black Death. A new form of sinister plague could be about to revisit the area! The surrounding land is currently used for grazing sheep. Any surface run-off from here is likely to make its way to a small stream just to the west of the site and from there down into the River Garw flowing through Llangeinor village, and on to join the River Ogwr at Brynmenyn. Earlier posts highlight the probability and dangers of spills of highly toxic fracking fluid. The harmful effects are known to occur at incredibly low concentrations.

Pic 1 – 400m north of Llangeinor Arms – the site is now under grass again.
Pic 2 – Looking SW from the site towards Llangeinor and Bettws on the far hill – about 1.5 miles away

SITE B – Surrounded by Ogmore Forest at a site labelled Mynydd y Gwair on OS maps, at the junction of two bridleways, at OS Grid Ref: SS 944 894
The site is extremely secluded, to the point of being hidden away. Access to the site will be along the bridleway path that starts at the end of Rhiwglyn Road in Ogmore Vale. This rough track is about a mile long to the site. Despite planning approval not being granted as yet, the land has been cleared – and is clearly visible as a whitish clearing on satellite images taken quite some time ago, again, presumably from test drilling in 2008. Surface run-off from this site is most likely to streams that run-off down through Cwm Dimbath towards Glynllan and through Blackmill into the River Ogwr, on on through Bridgend. Any spills along the majority of the rough access track will directly threaten Ogmore Vale and Lewistown. All the fracking fluid brought back to the surface (it will be many thousands of gallons even in the pilot stage) has to be carefully collected and tankered away, through our towns and villages, to sites (so far unspecified) for de-contamination and (hopefully) safe disposal.

Pic 3 – From site looking back down the access track that leads down into Ogmore Vale, a mile away.
Pic 4 – The actual drilling site – that is already cleared. Satellite images suggest that testing drilling was done here at the same time as the Llangeinor site – but this looks very recently cleared to me – you can still see tyre tread marks in the mud and there is no evidence of regrowth.

Are we going to stand by and watch our land be raped again by corporate greed? This is even more insidious than the coal mining era. It will not produce many jobs. The thousands of jobs in mining came at a high price to miners health. This is a threat to the health of every living creature – including me and you.