A charity said it will continue to stand up against fracking – despite agreeing not to repeat “misleading” claims it published in a leaflet
A charity said it will continue to stand up against fracking - despite agreeing not to republish a leaflet that made misleading claims about the energy extraction method.
English charity Friends of the Earth (FOE) issued a fundraising leaflet which claimed the controversial technique could pollute drinking water, cause cancer and increase rates of asthma.
Energy giant Cuadrilla complained about the flyer to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which launched a 14 month investigation.
Following the probe, the charity, which is entirely separate to Friends of the Earth Scotland, agreed not to repeat the specific claims made on the leaflet, but noted that the ASA had “dropped the case without ruling” and said it would continue to oppose and to campaign against “inherently risky” fracking.
FOE had claimed 25% of chemicals used during the fracking process could cause cancer, and suggested there was a risk of contamination to drinking water.
The leaflet also featured a photo of Grasmere in the Lake District, despite there being no plans for fracking in the area.
A spokesman for the ASA said the advert "must not appear again in its current form" and the FOE must "not make claims about the likely effects of fracking on the health of local populations, drinking water, or property prices in the absence of adequate evidence".
Cuadrilla's chief executive Francis Egan described FOE as "the unacceptable face of the charity sector", accusing it of scaremongering.
He said: "The charity's admission that all of the claims it made, that we complained about, were false should hopefully put a stop to it misleading the UK public on fracking."
But FOE political campaigner Donna Hume said: "We continue to campaign against fracking, alongside local people, because the process of exploring for and extracting shale gas is inherently risky for the environment, this is why fracking is banned or put on hold in so many countries."
