A PROTEST will be held outside Trafford Town Hall to object to a plan to allow methane gas extraction in Davyhulme.

The demo will be held ahead of a meeting at Trafford Town Hall to decide whether to allow coal bed methane extraction at a site next to Davyhulme Waste Water Works.

The plan will involve deep drilling directly under the Barton Renewable Energy Plant site.

Peter Kilvert, the chairman of the Breathe Clean Air Group said the demo would be joined by other environmental groups to protest claiming the move could contaminate water supplies.

Mr Kilvert said: “This area of Trafford has more than its fair share of pollution already. We know that fracking is an unsafe technology, likely to cause catastrophic water contamination, earth tremors, and airborne pollutants.

"We urge Trafford and the Government to undertake a non-carbon based energy policy."

Coal bed methane is gas which is trapped in coal seams. To extract the gas the firms must first ‘de-water’ the coal seam by drilling vertically and then horizontally (for up to 1 kilometre) and pumping out vast quantities of water that has been in contact with the coal for centuries.

This releases pressure in the coal seams, and allows the gas to flow. Although CBM extraction does not always involve fracking, the chemicals used in drilling muds are claimed to sometimes be as toxic those used in fracking, and there are the same risks of spills and leakages.

Labour opposition spokeswoman Cllr Joanne Harding said: “There are unanswered questions and uncertainties concerning health and safety around the environmental harm to the area, including water contamination, instability of surrounding land due to drilling, high usage of water, and the most recent revelation that dangerous levels of radioactivity and salinity have been found in shale gas waste disposal sites which can contaminate drinking water.

"Therefore, in light of these concerns the Labour Group cannot support this process being carried out anywhere in Trafford.”