Protestors with "FRACK-OFF" written on their arses mooned a pro-fracking lecture at Leeds Uni today.

The talk, The Science of Fracking - Societal Issues and Perceptions, by Dale Leckie of Canadian Oil and Gas company Nexen Inc was organised by the Leeds University Centre for Integrated Petroleum Engineering and Geoscience.

Leckie accused critics of being unscientific in their critiques of fracking. He claimed that ground water methane contamination - as shown in the film Gasland where people had been able to set alight to their drinking water - had not occurred because of fracking, he claimed that the contamination is more likely to have occurred because of faults in the pipes bringing the gas to the surface - so not a problem connected to fracking at all then!

He failed to mention in his list of concerns people have around fracking the critical issue of climate change or the problem of the quantities of water that fracking process uses, or that the process can cause fractured rocks to leach out toxic chemicals such as arsenic or radioactive isotopes.

A group of protestors, after raising their concerns at the end of the talk, left and mooned the speaker through the window with FRACK-OFF written on their bums.

For more about the impacts of fracking and a map of fracking sites in the UK visit frack-off.org.uk

Notes:
Nexen Inc is active in fracking and tar sands in North America.