People gathered in the village hall in Balcombe, West Sussex, hear of hydraulic fracturing plans. Fracking techology was blamed for triggering earthquakes near Blackpool. Photograph: Martin Godwin/for the Guardian
After earthquakes in Lancashire and tales of poisoned water and flaming taps in the US, "fracking" for gas or oil in the English home counties was never likely to be easy. And so it proved when oil executives faced the fury of a village hall full of West Sussex residents in a clash over controversial technology that energy companies believe could open up major reserves of energy from underground rocks.
"What you are about to do will make our water beyond toxic!" Ella Reeves shouted at Mark Miller, the Pennsylvania oil man who had come to Balcombe to explain plans to search for hydrocarbons 800 metres under the Sussex weald. "It's about money for you, but for me it is about life."
The Guardian
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