The Church of England has recently commenced a process which involves claiming ancient mineral rights that exists beneath numerous homes and farms. This process has prompted a lot of fear from many people and this means that the church may have to cash in on fracking.
The Church of England is doing this through the authorization of the lands ministry and many residents across England have started receiving letters from the land registry. These letters contain information to these residents telling them that the Church of England is seeking mineral rights to the earth beneath their properties. This process according to many lawyers across England, could earn the church a lot of profit. The problem however is that the church is seeking to extract oil underneath these properties by fracking. This is a very controversial method of extracting oil. This method simply involves using chemicals and water to fracture the rocks beneath the earth`s surface so as to reach an oil deposit.
Millions of litres of fracking fluid that is mixed with water are used in this process. Sand, toxic chemicals and carcinogens are also included in the mixture. These are what make the fracking method to be controversial as it becomes hazardous to the environment around it. The cement that is used to line the mine boreholes sometimes crack or crumble and allow the fracking fluid to the ground surface. In most cases, this waste is not disposed properly and this poses a great danger to the living things around the mines. In addition, during the fracturing process in the fracking method, the immense pressure that is used in the cracking of rocks makes them to break uncontrollably. This in turn contributes to pollution to the water table through the various heavy metals and radio active materials that emerge from these rocks.
This is also in addition to the weak nature that the entire process subjects to the surrounding areas of the mines. This limits construction and reconstruction in these areas.
However, the Church of England has come out boldly to respond to the anxiety of residents. It said that it had no plans at all of mining under anyone`s property. However, it failed to rule out allowing fracking on its property. Many church leaders have always opposed this process of mining. Telegraph exposed this week that the Diocese of Blackburn had issued a warning against fracking to parishioners terming this process as a threat to “God`s glorious creation“.
You should understand that sometimes this decision was just made by the church commissioners who are known to manage the church`s extensive investments. The financial decisions that these commissioners make sometimes do not stick to the church`s clergy ethical positions. There are also other incidents that can prove this. For example, it emerged that last month, church commissioners had invested some money in some payday lenders that were robustly disapproved and criticized by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The commissioners are looking forward to asset the church`s ownership of mineral rights beneath the property of England residents, to an area of up to five hundred thousands acres. This is almost the size of Sussex. The Church of England has owned this land for years and is using the laws dating back to the Norman conquests. These laws give the lords of manor the right to exploit all minerals beneath the properties of their former estates. Many readers of Telegraph who have received the letter from the land ministry giving the Church of England exclusive mining rights beneath their property have expressed concerns that the church`s unilateral claim could be linked to prospect fracking projects.