Eastern England - Subregion 4
National Geological Screening for a GDF - Eastern England region
The screening report hosted on this site is a technical exercise across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. No specific location in England, Wales or Northern Ireland has been identified as a potential GDF site. Any future decision on geological disposal would be subject to community agreement and planning and environmental consents.
Details
Our work shows that we may find a suitable geological setting for a GDF in some of this subregion.
Although rock cannot generally be seen at the surface in this sub-region except in man-made excavations such as quarries or road cuttings, deep boreholes and geophysical investigations, in the coalfield area south of York in particular, give us an understanding of the rocks present and their distribution.
There are various types of gaps in our understanding of geology and we deal with these gaps in a number of ways.
The only rocks in which it is likely that a GDF could be sited are layers of rock salt to the east of York and Selby. The few boreholes which have been drilled through these layers suggest that they may be too thin and we would need to do more work to find out whether they have suitable properties and thicknesses.
Some of the subregion near Selby has been mined for coal to depths below 100m and there are known oil and gas resources to the west of Gainsborough. In these areas the drilling and mining is likely to have affected the way in which water moves through the rock. Also possible exploration in the future in these areas means that it is more likely that future generations may disturb a facility.
Parts of this area, much of this subregion south of the River Humber and an area to the north and east of York, have Petroleum Exploration & Development Licences to allow companies to explore for oil and gas. This exploration is currently at an early stage and it is not known whether oil or gas in these licence areas will be exploited. RWM will continue to monitor how this exploration programme progresses.
For further information, read the report below.
We have also produced a summary of the geological attributes of the Eastern England Region.