MEMBERS of the public are being invited to find out about an environmental baseline monitoring programme across the Vale of Pickering.

The 'drop-in' session will take place on Thursday, March 2 from 3pm-8pm at Kirby Misperton Village Hall.

It is being held by the British Geological Survey (BGS) who, alongside partners, have since September 2015 been monitoring:

  • water quality (groundwater and surface water)
  • seismicity (earthquakes)
  • ground motion
  • air quality including radon
  • soil gas

This has been independent of regulators or industry.

The information being collected is also being made publicly available through the project’s website.

The informal drop-in event will give an update on what has been monitored and what has been found so far, as well as being opportunity to speak to the team who have been carrying out the work.

As well as geologists, seismologists and groundwater scientists from the British Geological Survey, there will be scientists from the universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, York and Public Health England.

The project aims to establish a benchmark against which any future changes to the environment during and after hydraulic fracturing or 'fracking' can be measured.

Separate to this project, Third Energy, the energy company conducting the forthcoming test frack at Kirby Misperton, are also conducting 13 various environmental baseline studies.