Upton, Chester, UK. 25th Dec, 2015. Anti-fracking campaigners, with support from local residents, celebrate Christmas at the proposed drill site they are occuoying 21 days after their eviction deadline. An 81 year old lady from Dublin who is visiting relatives in Chester visited the campaigners to show her support. The protesters have occupied the site since April 2014 in an attempt to prevent iGas from carrying out unconventional Gas Extraction which the campaigners say is likely to cause contamination to the underlying aquifer, ground and air. Credit: Dave Ellison/Alamy Live News
Protesters being evicted from Upton Community Protection Camp near Chester, England. The protest camp was set up during April 2014 in an effort to prevent Dart Energy (now owned by iGas) from carrying out an exploratory drill operation for unconventional gas extraction in the area. Justice David Hodge in the High Court, Manchester, granted iGas possession of the land that they have leased from Duttons Farm as from the 4th. December 2015. In a survey carried out across Upton area, 86% of residents were against the drilling for unconventional gas in the area. Protesters and locals believe there is a high risk of pollution to the aquifer below as well as land and air pollution. There are several schools close to the site which they believe will be affected by the pockets of gas released during the drilling process. Previous images of the camp - Justice David Hodge in the High Court, Manchester granted possession of the site to iGas and gave the protesters until 4th. December 2015 to vacate the site. Antifracking campaigners, with support from local residents, are defying the eviction order and will peacefully resist eviction using direct action tactics using tunnels, lock-ons and other methods.
Size: 7360px × 4912px
Location: Upton, Chester, England CE2 2PE
Photo credit: © Dave Ellison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: anti-fracking, antifracking, bed, camp, campaigners, christmas, coal, day, defiant, defying, eviction, extraction, gas, group, locals, methane, order, photograph, pollution, protest, protesters, risk, sign, unconventional
