The county government said mining activities and handling of dangerous chemicals were also suspended but would be gradually restored.
So why does Fracking arouse anger? Because, it can cause a lot more than minor earthquakes in the area.
As fracking requires the drilling company to drill past the water tables to reach the underlying oil and gas. The risk of chemical exposure to the water is high.
Another issue with fracking is the practice uses massive amounts of fresh water, and once the water is chemically treated, the practice leaves behind a toxic liquid waste, unusable for anything else. Which is very troublesome for vast swathes of the planet facing looming water shortages.
As Fracking forces apart the shale rocks to tap into the source of oil and gas, it can cause damage to non-oil bearing rocks as well, resulting in methane forcing it’s way upward to the surface, contaminating the water you drink. As this celebrated video proves, it is a very real risk.
Thus, you have a situation where not just China, other places with high potential from fracking for oil and gas are also leery of this technique. The UK is one prime example where protestors have been mobilised against fracking in Lancashire. With 3.7Trillion cubic metres of gas estimated in the Bowland shale, that runs across north and central England, the government has a tough balancing act at hand, of higher energy security versus potential damage to the environment. Thus, you have the labour opposition promising to ban it, the Scottish with a self imposed moratorium on exploration, and the Welsh government saying they will not consider any applications.
In India too, while some tracts have been identified as high potential, it seems like fracking will not really see a dawn here, what with the much more densely packed population, poor access to water and high cost of onshore land, which will probably make it unviable at existing prices.