UK-focused shale gas firm Cuadrilla Resources is a step closer to beginning fracking operations in the northwest of England after Lancashire County Council formerly validated and accepted an application to drill in the county, the firm announced Wednesday. The planning application, to drill up to four shale gas exploration wells at Preston New Road, and its accompanying environmental statement is now accessible to the public. Cuadrilla said the environmental statement details the findings of an “extensive” environmental impact assessment of the sites, which was carried out by experts at independent consultant Arup. Arup Project Director Des Correia commented in a statement: “The work we’ve undertaken for both the environmental impact and environmental risk assessments has been tremendously comprehensive. We’ve been using best practice standards throughout our work and we’ve covered a full exploration life-cycle as well as considering cumulative impacts in both our scope and analysis work. “Our approach […]