Press Reaction to the ASA ruling on Cuadrilla’s newsletter
It has been interesting to see how far the news of the ASA ruling, which effectively bans Cuadrilla from making certain claims about the safety of fracking, has travelled.
The Guardian was the first paper to publish an article
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/apr/24/caudrilla-censured-fracking-safety-claims
Curiously this article suggested (incorrectly) that the ASA had suggested changes to Cuadrilla’s claims
Cuadrilla was also criticised by the ASA for asserting that “we know that hydraulic fracturing does not lead to contamination of the underground aquifer”. That must be changed to: “To ensure that there can be no route for fluid or gas to leak from the shale rock up to the aquifer, we use multiple layers of steel casing sealed by cement.”
That was factually incorrect but the article was sympathetic, pointing out that
The censure by the Advertising Standards Authority will force a significant watering down of some of the company’s claims and is a further blow to Cuadrilla, which has halted fracking at all of its UK sites following a series of setbacks.
Locally the Lancashire Evening Post picked up very quickly on the story
http://www.lep.co.uk/news/business/watchdog-censures-cuadrilla-over-fracking-leaflet-1-5608726
The BBC picked up the article shortly afterwards
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-22284340
and Reuters
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/04/24/uk-cuadrilla-fracking-advertising-idUKBRE93N0PZ20130424
sent it worldwide so we ended up with coverage as far away as Africa!
http://africanoilandgasnews.com/news/uk-cuadrilla-must-tone-down-fracking-safety-claims-uk-watchdog
We were also pleased to see that the Gasland Facebook page picked up on the story.
Here is a sample of the coverage we got elsewhere.
http://www.utilityweek.co.uk/news/news_story.asp?id=198447&title=ASA+orders+shale+gas+fracker+Cuadrilla+to+mind+its+language
http://www.naturalgaseurope.com/cuadrilla-warned-about-exaggerating-safety-claims
http://www.lse.co.uk/FinanceNews.asp?code=pcpscd9v&headline=Cuadrilla_must_tone_down_fracking_safety_claims_UK_watchdog
http://stopfyldefracking.org.uk/latest-news/the-claim-that-cuadrilla-used-proven-safe-technologies-has-not-been-substantiated-asa/
http://www.frackingdigest.co.uk/
