Our public service workers deserve your support tomorrow. They put up with years of terrible pay and poor conditions for the promise of a decent pension. This issue is absolutely crucial to the morale and esteem of all those people we rely so much on. The government is picking on the wrong people and we must let them know as much.

Video from UNITE

“Economic inequality and social decay. An economy rigged in the interests of the few while the many struggled to cope. £200 billion of privatisation and North Sea oil receipts frittered away paying the benefits bill of the mass unemployment she created.”

Sound familiar?

This is where Cameron and Tory Blair learned it all from.

http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/11/margaret-thatcher-was-every-bit-as-bad-as-we-remember/

Beware the distortions in the forthcoming Thatcher biopic movie.

http://www.cuadrillaresources.com/what-we-do/technology/fracturing-fluid/ offers the lie that they use just three chemicals, namely: polyacrylamide (frequently contaminnated with or degrades into the nerve toxin acrylamide), biocide (poison) and hydrochloric acid (corrosive to human tissue). This is confirmed verbally by CEO Mark Miller in the video. However, some simple maths – that simple that an intelligent man like Mark Miller wouldn’t make such a crass mistake surely – reveals that all the declared ingredients only add up to 99.955% Careless or what?

So here we have Mark Miller confirming Nick Grealy is a pathetic liar, but how do we know Mark Miller is a liar, and not a careless mathematician? Because his company supplies us with this:
http://www.cuadrillaresources.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Chemical-Disclosure-PH-1.jpg
Mark no doubt had a bout of amnesia (a symptom of exposure to some chemicals) when he forgot to mention the HYDROCARBON OIL listed , or the chemical tracer that is stated as a SODIUM SALT.

So is this data sheet, the complete story? NO it is not. How do we know this?
The data sheet does not pretend to be complete – it calls itself the composition of components of the frack fluid for a start.
But it would certainly have been nice to know exactly which poisons they have selected as their biocide of choice, wouldn’t it? They are not listed.
And there is no mention of the hydrochloric acid Miller mentioned either.

These Cuadrilla sources also serve to highlight another common misconception about frack fluid. The required composition is highly variable. It will vary with different stages of each frack job at each site. There is no one recipe. It is almost constantly varying. Mark Miller himself points this out with his explanation that hydrochloric acid may only be needed in initial stages. The data sheet shows major variations between the stages listed.

So can we collate all this information that Cuadrilla has so kindly supplied us with and assume we have the full picture? I don’t think so.

We know from world renowned Dr Theo Colborn, in Gasland and other places, that she alone has evidence of around 980 products used in the US industry of which 78% are highly dangerous; in some cases even in microscopic quantities. The industry does not, presumably, use these additives for fun. The sequence near the end of Gasland that shows the industry man squirming as he is forced list the chemicals his company uses is fascinating. It corroborates evidence from Australia that shows that the industry regularly needs to use the following:

• Strong acids to dissolve minerals
• Numerous poisonous biocides to eliminate bacteria and algae
• Friction reducers such as polyacylamides and mineral oils
• Corrosion inhibitors to protect drills and well casings
• Scale inhibitors to prevent furring
• Surfactants and crosslinkers to adjust fluid viscosity
• Acidity regulators
• Breakers
• Iron control agents

So if the the industry everywhere else in the world needs all these additional (underlined) components, how is that Cuadrilla can do without them?

Finally, let us nail the myth that there has to be full disclosure of chemicals used. There is no such UK legislation that I can find.
People like the EA have rights to visit and test samples whenever they like, but they can only find what they test for. If they do not know what they are looking for, they are most unlikely to find it! Dr Theo Colborn repeatedly makes this point.
Recently, the EA published its monitoring report of the flow back water from Cuadrilla’s Preese Hall site, near Blackpool, after they had fracked it. There was sufficient cause for concern about the high incidence of salts, minerals and heavy meatls, as well as radioactivity, that the EA are now saying that they will require permits in future. But most worrying, I would suggest, was the complete absence of any data on the chemicals that Cuadrilla admit to using, let alone ones they don’t!! The EA failed to look for any of them it would appear. How reassuring is that?

Even if the industry were legally obliged to divulge all their little secrets, would they? EA’s sampling methods are totally inadequate. If the companies keep their secrets, they are likely to get away with it, unless caught red-handed, as they are banking on getting in, cutting and running before the slow, insidious affects of their poisons have done their damage and been able to be proved. The EA recognise these companies ability to get away with it here:

“For example, at present company directors can legitimately walk away from environmental liabilities they have caused (e.g. Polluting groundwater and public drinking water supplies) by forming a new company and leaving a financial liability with the insolvent old company (Hunts Refuse Ltd at Helpston). This has resulted in public funds having to be used to clean up the pollution and protect public health.”
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Business/modernising03_919412_1758802.pdf

I rest my case.

Andy Chyba

Additional information:
https://bridgendgreens.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/collated-fracking-notes-on-earthquakes-frack-fluid-and-wellhead-density/
https://bridgendgreens.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/lessons-from-cuadrillas-pr-gambits/

This poll is now closed.

Do you think hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas should go ahead?’ Another poll by The Guardian. Get voting people!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/poll/2011/nov/18/forward-with-fracking-poll?CMP=twt_gu&fb=native

The ‘No’ votes are currently winning by 3 to 1 – just 11 hours to go. 4 to 1 by the end is possible if you all act quickly!

If you have problems accessing the link please let me know and I will
happily email them to you directly or print off copies for you.
Also if you have any special requirements or need help finding the venue
please let me know and I’ll do my best to help.
Please pass this on to anyone else you know who is attending but you think
has not notified me.
If you can make a small donation of a couple of pounds to help with costs
of the buffet that will be gratefully appreciated, but not essential if you
are on a low budget.

10:45-11:00 Conference Welcome with coffee/tea – Aneurin Bevan Room,
Cardiff Student Union

11:00 Conference Opens (Open to all)
Leaders Speech (10 mins)
Deputy Leaders Speech (10 mins)
Councillor Felicity Norman
http://www.greenparty.org.uk/region/westmidlands/people/felicity-norman
To speak on being a Green Councillor (15 mins)

11:35-11:50 Break with coffee/tea

11:50 Chris Williams, West Midlands regional development officer who has
successfully increased the number of Green councillors in the area,
speaking on theme of “winning local elections” (40 mins)
Q&A for Chris and Felicity(15 minutes)

12:45 -13:30 Buffet lunch

13:30 AGM Opens (members only)
Receipt of emergency motions, close of nominations for WGPC positions for
which no nominations were received by the published deadline (10 mins).
Issue of ballot papers.
Minutes of previous AGM (15 mins)
Reports from Officers and SOC (45 mins)

14:40-14:55 Break with coffee/tea
Policy debates (45 mins)
Hustings for officers (15 mins)
Motions (Emergency, organisational and policy) (40 mins)
Discussion around equality led by Anne Greagsby (15 mins)
Announcement of winners of council officer elections (5mins)

17:00 Conference close
Social drinks in Taff bar on 2nd floor of student union (open to all)

19:00 Bar close

Biofuels have been getting a real bad press. There is potential for it to make a contribution to our energy needs, but as ever it needs careful management and cannot be entrusted to private sector capitalists, or else it can present the sort of nightmares presented below:

Original Message:

Dear Andrew In the video below, Mariam Shabani, 13, tells you how her village had its land grabbed by UK company Sun Biofuels. Now, they often go hungry and have to walk miles for water. >> Watch the video and send a message to Mariam and the families of Kisarawe Your message will be delivered straight to Mariam’s village, to show people we are with them in their struggle. In August, Sun Biofuels was sold to a new company. We are hopeful that we can work with them to help Mariam and her community get justice. If you’d like to find out more about the campaign you can read this expose in the Guardian. Thank you for your support, Josie Cohen, ActionAid biofuels campaigner josie.cohen PS. Thank you to the thousands of you who signed the petition to stop the global biofuel land grab. It’s a powerful message to politicians that will help stop biofuel companies grabbing land from communities like Mariam’s.

This marks the Anniversary of the re-launched Bridgend Green Party

So it would be nice to see as good a turn out as possible.

AGENDA

1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Apologies for Absence
3. Minutes and matters arising
4. Officers’ reports
5. Campaigns update – esp. fracking/pv for free
6. Elections – BCBC 2012 – Nomination of Candidates
7. Wales Green Party Conference – Sat. 19th Novemeber
8. AOB
9. DoNM

NOTE – Venue is 2 minutes walk from both the Bus and Train stations in Bridgend.
See map: https://bridgendgreens.wordpress.com/2011/07/16/next-meeting/

IF ANYONE NEEDS A LIFT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW

Andy.