Fracking ads get the chop

Monday, 25 July 2011

Activists have welcomed the ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which ordered Shell South Africa to withdraw “unsubstantiated” and “misleading” statements made in full-page advertisements in local newspapers.

The ads promoted their proposed hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations for shale gas explorations in the Karoo.

The ruling followed a complaint laid by Jonathan Deal, chairperson of the Treasure the Karoo Action Group (TKAG), who expressed delight at the outcome.

“We welcome the ASA’s ruling,” said Deal on www.greentimes .co.za. “It is critical that with an issue so important to South Africa as fracking that the public is not misled, as Shell clearly intended in its advertising. We do not know enough about the long-term or even the short-term damage fracking could inflict on the environment. We should not be misled by the emotional calls and manufactured facts of such adverts.”

The ASA ruling pertained to statements by Shell, which claimed amongst others, that the “marriage of technologies [hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling] led to dramatic increases in the availability of natural gas from deep shale formations, as well as increased awareness of the benefits of shale gas.”

The ASA said such claims were in contravention of the Code of Advertising Practice, which requires unequivocal, independent verification.

In addition, Shell’s statement that: “Today, hydraulic fracturing is used at nearly nine out of 10 natural gas wells,” was ruled as unsubstantiated and therefore misleading.

The ASA also ruled that the following statement be withdrawn: “There has never been a single documented case of groundwater contamination resulting from fracturing, according to a host of independent environmental regulators.”

The South African government has put a moratorium on fracking for the moment, but Deal says much more needs to be done in terms of a proper strategic environmental assessment before any explorations should even be considered.