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 the number of daily Heavy Good Vehicles (HGV) arriving or 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.
The graph below shows when during the day our Heavy Good Vehicles (HGVs) have been arriving or departing over the whole month.
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 permit from the Environment Agency, we are required to undertake surface water sampling. Samples are taken monthly from six locations including from Carr Bridge Brook and other small bodies of water 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.
Measurements for air quality around our site are shown at the graph below as gathered at four air quality monitoring stations around the site, measuring: Methane (CH4), Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5), Particulate Matter 10 (PM10). Methane is monitored as a requirement of the Infrastructure Act 2015 Section 50. PM2.5 and PM10 are monitored every month to fulfil our obligations under the dust management plan agreed with Lancashire County Council (condition 32A). Measurements are taken once monthly. The baseline shown is the peak reading from the same monitoring locations taken during baseline readings from May 2014 – May 2015
As a condition of Cuadrilla’s planning consent for our Preston New Road site, noise from the site is subject to restrictions. For daytime hours (8am-9pm), the noise from the site at any boundary of any residential property shall not exceed 55dBLAeq 1hr (level of noise averaged over an hour). For night-time hours (9pm-8am), the noise from the site shall not exceed 39 dBLAeq 1hr (level of noise averaged over an hour). Additionally, over the night-time hours, the maximum noise for very short periods (100 milliseconds) shall not exceed 57dBLA.
The graph below shows sounds levels for two monitoring points during daytime only as we are not operating at night-time until the start of drilling operations. The daytime noise levels are shown in comparison with a baseline of noise from the same monitoring positions during the month of December 2016. Night-time noise levels will be added as we move into drilling operations.
For any apparent exceedance of 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.
During February, data gaps were identified due to technical issues with the noise monitoring equipment.
This problem has now been rectified to allow for continuous monitoring from now on.
During February, data gaps were identified due to technical issues with the noise monitoring equipment.
This problem has now been rectified to allow for continuous monitoring from now on.
We would appreciate any feedback you may have to help us improve our monitoring portal.
