THE MP for Stretford and Urmston has demanded to know why waste water from fracking was dumped into the Manchester Ship Canal.


Kate Green spoke out after a BBC Inside Out programme aired on Monday, January 27, reported that before October 2011, radioactive water from Cuadrilla’s fracking operations was handled at United Utilities (UU) treatment works in Davyhulme and, after treatment, released into the Manchester Ship Canal.


A UU spokesman said water from Cuadrilla’s Preece Hall site was treated at Davyhulme, but under a licence granted by the Environment Agency (EA) and this treatment stopped in September 2011, when the EA amended the licence.


The spokesman said the effluent released into the ship canal complied with the EA-granted licence.


Ms Green has now written to the chief executiveof UU to ask how much radioactive waste water from fracking was treated at Davyhulme before the regulations changed, and how much waste was released into the Manchester Ship Canal or elsewhere.


“I am extremely concerned that radioactive waste water has been released into our local waterways,” said Ms Green.


“Local residents are rightly worried, which is why I have written to the chief executive of United Utilities to ask for a full explanation of their involvement with waste water from fracking.


“Full and open disclosure from Cuadrilla and United Utilities is essential so that we can get to the bottom of why this has happened.”


A UU spokesman said: “United Utilities takes its environmental responsibilities in controlling discharges to watercourses very seriously and complied fully with permits issued by the regulator.”