Blackpool MP calls for brine review

Mr Maynard has written to Minister Clare Perry and the Department for Business, Energy and Skills, asking for an urgent examination of the Halite gas storage scheme and expressing concerns that the permits to pump highly concentrated salt solution into the sea might be based on incomplete or outdated evidence.

He said: “I am deeply concerned that the way brine behaves when pumped into the sea will differ significantly from Halite’s own modelling and will result in the formation of ‘dead zones’ off our coast.

I am worried that once damage is done to our marine environment it will be very difficult to put right. There are no second chances.”

Campaigners fear the scheme could lead to a huge depletion in fish stocks.