Island Gas Ltd
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ISLAND GAS LTD. PERIODIC REVIEW OF MINING SITES SECTION 96 OF SCHEDULE 14 TO THE ENVIRONMENT ACT 1995 EGMANTON OILFIELD, COMPRISING OF: EGMANTON GATHERING CENTRE, WELLSITES 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, 27, 32, 35, 44, 52 AND 64 AT LAND BETWEEN EGMANTON AND WESTON, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. SUPPORTING STATEMENT July 2012 2012 Island Gas Ltd.. PERIODIC REVIEW OF MINING SITES SECTION 96 OF SCHEDULE 14 TO THE ENVIRONMENT ACT 1995 EGMANTON OILFIELD, COMPRISING OF: EGMANTON GATHERING CENTRE, WELLSITES 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, 27, 32, 35, 44, 52 AND 64 AT LAND BETWEEN EGMANTON AND WESTON, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE. SUPPORTING STATEMENT July 2012 Author Mr. M Jervis Estates Manager, Island Gas Ltd. Report Status Final Date of Issue 5th July 2012 DISTRIBUTION Date Issued To: Name No. 5/07/2012 Nottinghamshire County Council 1 5/07/2012 Island Gas Ltd. Mr. M. Jervis 1 CONTENTS Page 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background 1 1.2. The Applicant 2 1.3. Location and Description 2 1.4. Geology and Hydrology 3 2. SITE DETAILS 2.1. Egmanton Gathering Centre 4 2.2. Wellsite 1 4 2.3. Wellsite 7 5 2.4. Wellsite 35 5 2.5. Wellsite 52 6 2.6. Wellsite 64 6 2.7. Wellsite 5 7 2.8. Wellsite 27 7 2.9. Wellsite 14 8 2.10. Wellsite 44 8 2.11. Wellsite 3 9 2.12. Wellsite 32 9 3. OPERATIONS DESCRIPTION 3.1. General 10 3.2. Oil Production 10 3.3. Production Rates and Lifetime 11 3.4. Security and Site Monitoring 11 3.5. Surface Water and Waste Disposal 12 3.6. Site Maintenance 12 3.7. Environmental Permitting 12 4. RESTORATION AND AFTERCARE 4.1. Restoration 13 4.2. Aftercare 13 5. TRANSPORT 5.1. General 14 5.2. Access 14 5.3. Vehicle Movements 14 6. NOISE 6.1. General 15 6.2. Potential Noise Impacts 15 Egmanton Oilfield July 2012 7. LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACT 7.1. Landscape Character 16 7.2. Visual Impact 16 8. OTHER POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS 8.1. Flood Risk 19 8.2. Contamination and Groundwater Protection 19 8.3. Dust 19 8.4. Ecology 20 8.5. Statutorily Designated Sites 20 8.6. Public Rights of Way 20 8.7. Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 20 9. CUMMULATIVE IMPACT 21 10. PLANNING POLICY 10.2. Policy Framework 22 10.3. Minerals Local Plan 22 10.4. Nottinghamshire Emerging Policy 23 10.5. Newark and Sherwood Local Plan 24 APPENDICES 1. Plans 2. Gathering Centre – Plans and Photographs 3. Wellsite 1 – Plans and Photographs 4. Wellsite 7 – Plans and Photographs 5. Wellsite 35 – Plans and Photographs 6. Wellsite 52 – Plans and Photographs 7. Wellsite 64 – Plans and Photographs 8. Wellsite 5 – Plans and Photographs 9. Wellsite 27 – Plans and Photographs 10. Wellsite 14 – Plans and Photographs 11. Wellsite 44 – Plans and Photographs 12. Wellsite 3 – Plans and Photographs 13. Wellsite 32 – Plans and Photographs 14. Noise Impact Assessment 15. Flood Risk Assessment 16. Proposed Conditions Egmanton Oilfield July 2012 1 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background The Egmanton oilfield is situated between the villages of Weston and Egmanton, some 4km south-southeast of Tuxford in Nottinghamshire. The field comprises of eleven wellsites and a Gathering Centre, which are linked by underground pipelines. Oil is currently produced from three wellsites, with other sites being used for reservoir monitoring and management. The field was discovered in the 1950s and lies in a gentle west-northwest to east- southeast trending anticline cut by several faults parallel to the fold axis. It exploits several sandstone horizons in the Lower Coal Measures and Millstone Grit, with the main producer being the Westphalian Crawshaw Sandstone. Numerous wells were initially drilled by BP and were connected to Egmanton Gathering Centre (EGC) by underground pipelines. At its peak the Egmanton field produced some 760 bbls of oil per day and, in total, has produced over 3,300,000 bbls. Initially produced oil was conveyed from individual wellsites by pipeline to EGC, where it underwent primary processing and stabilisation prior to export. An export pipeline from EGC originally sent oil to Tuxford rail sidings for onward transport to the refinery. Production has now declined to less than 1% of the early production and these reduced volumes no longer require the use of the Gathering Centre. The unprocessed oil is now collected directly from the producing sites by road tanker. Planning permission for the Oilfield was originally granted in the 1950s and was subject to relatively few conditions. By the late 1980s the requirement for more effective control of the environmental impacts relating to old mining permissions was recognised and this resulted in several pieces of legislation designed to protect amenity and the environment, and to ensure equal treatment of different sites and mineral operators. The first of these, the Planning and Compensation Act 1991, brought the oldest, Interim Development Order, mineral consents into a modern system of review and control. Subsequently similar controls were extended, by way of the Environment Act 1995, to cover mineral permissions granted in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. This latter Act is applicable to the permission covering the Egmanton field. Egmanton Oilfield July 2012 2 An integral element of the new controls was the requirement that all older consents should be subject to an Initial Review followed by Periodic Reviews every 15 years thereafter. The initial review of the Egmanton field was undertaken in 1997 and the field currently operates under conditions determined during this review as set out in permission 3/97/0519. During May 2011 the field operator was served with notice that this permission had fallen due for its Periodic Review. As the development falls within Schedule 2 of the Town and County Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011, a request for a Screening Opinion was submitted to Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC), as the appropriate Mineral Planning Authority (MPA) in December 2011. The resulting Screening Opinion confirmed that ‘the Council does not consider the development is likely to result in significant environmental impacts and therefore the application will not need to be accompanied by an Environmental Impact Assessment’ . Accordingly, a schedule of updated conditions, based on information contained within this Supporting Statement, has been proposed and is reproduced at Appendix 16. 1.2. The Applicant Island Gas Limited is part of the IGas Energy Group, an integrated energy company that produces oil, gas and electricity from a number of onshore oilfields in the United Kingdom. Its principal operations are focused on oil and gas fields in the northwest of England, North Wales, Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. The company employs some 80 staff in the East Midlands Area and spends in excess of £1m annually on taking services from local companies to support its operations. In the East Midlands the company has recently taken five apprentices for long term training, and it is envisaged that these apprentices will replace staff due for retirement in the near future. The formal apprenticeships are completed in association with Lincoln College where part time study is completed. 1.3. Location and Description The wellsites are located in a broadly northwest-southeast trending area to the south and west of Weston, which is located 4km southeast of Tuxford and 15km north of Newark on Trent. Nine of the sites lie between the A1 and the B1164 Great North Road, with only two wellsites and the Gathering Centre lying to the southwest of the A1. Sites 3, 14 and 32 are currently producing oil with the remaining sites being used for reservoir monitoring. Egmanton Oilfield July 2012 3 The area surrounding the wellsites is predominantly agricultural, with the bulk of residential properties being situated in the village of Weston. A number of farm complexes are scattered throughout the local area and several industrial land uses are located to the south of Weston. Transport links are dominated by the A1, the B6114 and the East Coast Mainline railway, all of which run northwest-southeast through the area. For further details of all the sites locations, see drawing numbers EGMO-01A and EGMO- 02A. 1.4. Geology and Hydrology British Geological Survey (BGS) mapping shows the greater part of the oilfield to be underlain by clays and mudstones of Mercia Mudstone Group, which are characterised by dominantly red mudstones which often become mottled red-grey in areas. Locally, thin bands of gypsum or anhydrite and fine grained white sandstones are occasionally encountered. Limited outcrops of Quaternary alluvium are present in lower lying areas however no laterally extensive superficial deposits are recorded in the area. The area covered by the oilfield is drained by a number of artificial ditches which feed into a number of unnamed watercourses which run generally northeastwards towards the B1164. These water courses drain into Goosemoor Dyke, which flows from west to east, eventually discharging into the River Trent. Egmanton Oilfield July 2012 4 2. SITE DETAILS 2.1. Egmanton Gathering Centre The Gathering Centre is located at NGR SK 754 681, approximately 2 km to the west- northwest of Weston village centre and 300m to the southwest of the A1. The extent and layout of the site are shown on drawing numbers EGMC-11A and EGMC-12A respectively which, along with photographs of the site, are reproduced at Appendix 2. The site is accessed via metalled roadway which runs eastwards from Moorhouse Lane. This roadway forks to the northwest of the site, with the southern fork affording access to wellsite 7, the Gathering Centre and Ladywood Farm. The northern fork allows access to wellsites 1, 35 and 52. These roadways are shared with local agricultural users, with the access to the public highway being secured by a gate which is locked when not in use.