We hope you find this a useful source of information about the monitoring of our shale gas exploration site. Please share any feedback on the portal with us here to help us to make this better. For further information please contact us and to return to the main Cuadrilla website please click here.
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We would appreciate any feedback you may have to help us improve our monitoring portal.
The graph below shows when during the day our Heavy Good Vehicles (HGVs) have been arriving and departing over the whole month.
The graph below shows the number of daily Heavy Good Vehicles (HGV) arriving and departing from site. The yellow line shows the baseline for the daily number of two-way HGV movements passing the site on Preston New Road.
During the hydraulic fracturing phase, we are monitoring induced seismicity using Traffic Light System (TLS) monitoring stations and submitting daily results to the regulator. On the Local Magnitude (ML) graph below we will be showing any seismic events over zero, which occur in our operational area, whilst we are hydraulic fracturing i.e. pumping fracturing fluid into the shale. In addition, after we have finished hydraulic fracturing i.e. are not pumping liquids, regulations state that any induced seismicity in our operational area, known as "trailing" events, should be below a level of 0.5ML and so we will also show any events that occur over this threshold. Hover the mouse over each icon on the graph to read more about each event.
During the hydraulic fracturing phase, we are monitoring induced seismicity using Traffic Light System (TLS) monitoring stations and submitting daily results to the regulator. On the Local Magnitude (ML) graph below we will be showing any seismic events over zero, which occur in our operational area, whilst we are hydraulic fracturing i.e. pumping fracturing fluid into the shale. In addition, after we have finished hydraulic fracturing i.e. are not pumping liquids, regulations state that any induced seismicity in our operational area, known as "trailing" events, should be below a level of 0.5ML and so we will also show any events that occur over this threshold. Hover the mouse over each icon on the graph to read more about each event.
The map below provides a view of any seismic events over the proceeding 24 hours (6am-6am) within the area of Cuadrilla’s seismic monitoring array (yellow boundary). The red boundary is the area within which Cuadrilla’s drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations are permitted.
 | Less than 0ML (not shown) |
 | Greater than 0ML but less than 0.5ML |
 | Greater than or equal to 0.5ML |
 | Trailing Event |
The map below provides a view of any seismic events in the wider area which have occurred since the beginning of 2018. This data is updated on a weekly basis by 10am every Monday. Seismic events outside the area of Cuadrilla's seismic monitoring array (yellow boundary) are not attributable to Cuadrilla's operations.
Please see the Daily Local Seismicity Map for events attributed to our operations within the TLS monitoring coverage
| Less than 0ML (not shown) |
| Greater than 0ML but less than 0.5ML |
| Greater than or equal to 0.5ML |
 | Events 1.5ML or over (lowest threshold of felt seismicity) |
As a requirement of the Infrastructure Act 2015 Section 50, we are establishing a 12 month baseline of groundwater methane prior to hydraulic fracturing. Methane is measured every month within four boreholes (BH1, BH2, BH3 and BH4) within two geological strata, the Glacial Till and the Middle Sands. The baseline monitoring commenced in July 2016
As a requirement of Cuadrilla's EA permit, we are required to undertake surface water sampling. Samples are taken monthly from six locations of water bodies near to the site. The graphs below show concentrations of diesel as this is the predominant chemical used on site. The baseline for surface water was established between May 2014-May 2015.
As of January 2019, we have switched from monthly static air quality monitoring to continuous air quality monitoring of methane, PM10 and PM2.5. Methane is monitored as a requirement of the Infrastructure Act 2015 Section 50. This new monitoring technique is consistent with what has been approved by the Environment Agency as part of Cuadrilla’s Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan (EMMP, May 2018), and covers the well testing period of the Preston New Road operation. The baseline data is based on results collected by the British Geological Survey at a monitoring location approximately 450m from the site. This continuous air quality monitoring started in early 2018, click here to view historical continuous air quality reports.
As a condition of Cuadrilla’s planning consent for the Preston New Road site, noise generation is subject to limits. Due to very high levels of background noise measured at Staining Wood Cottage (Location 1), a proxy location known as L2 was installed to take measurements of noise associated with the drilling rig. L2 takes measurements with less background noise and is closer to the rig. Therefore with L2 being closer to the rig and further away from the nearest residential receptor an additional 8dB scaling factor is added to the noise limits to account for the distance away from Staining Wood Cottage. For daytime hours (8am-9pm), the noise from the site at the L2 receptor shall not exceed 63 dBLAeq 1hr (level of noise averaged over an hour). For night-time hours (9pm-8am), the noise from the site shall not exceed 47 dBLAeq 1hr.
For any query related to noise levels due to Cuadrilla operations, we can refer to sound recordings to analyse whether noise is being caused by our operations or by background causes.
We would appreciate any feedback you may have to help us improve our monitoring portal.
