Ad watchdog informally resolves Cuadrilla complaints over leaflet stating chemicals used in fracking can cause cancer and contaminate water

Friends of the Earth has agreed not to reproduce an anti-fracking leaflet after the advertising watchdog upheld complaints made by the energy firm Cuadrilla.

Cuadrilla, which in October was given government permission for plans to frack after appealing two rejections by Lancashire council, made a string of complaints about the leaflet which made claims that chemicals involved in fracking can cause cancer.



The leaflet also included a photo of Grasmere in the Lake District, despite there being no plans for fracking in the area.



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Other claims made in the ad, entitled “Pat saved her home from fracking. You can save yours too”, included that there would be “plummeting house prices” and that drinking water would likely be contaminated.



Friends of the Earth, which had said that it “would not be silenced” by Cuadrilla, has now agreed not to repeat the claims it made in the leaflet.



The Advertising Standards Authority “informally resolved” the case between Cuadrilla and Friends of the Earth. This means that the ad watchdog did not launch a full investigation into the complaints as Friends of the Earth agreed not to repeat the claims after being approached by the ASA about the issues raised by Cuadrilla.



“We approached Friends of the Earth with the concerns that had been raised about its ad,” said a spokesman for the ASA. “The advertiser agreed not to repeat the claims, or claims that had the same meaning. On that basis we closed the case informally. The ad must not appear again in its current form.”



The ASA said that it has told FoE not to 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”.



“After many attempts by Friends of the Earth to delay this decision, 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,” said Francis Egan, chief executive of Cuadrilla.

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“Friends of the Earth’s repeated falsehoods have been exposed as nothing more than scaremongering designed to frighten the public into giving it money. It is the unacceptable face of the charity sector.”



Cuadrilla has itself fallen foul of the UK advertising watchdog for making unsupported marketing claims in the past. In 2013, the ASA censured Cuadrilla for claiming that it uses “proven, safe technologies”.

Donna Hume, a Friends of the Earth senior campaigner, said: “No ruling has been made against us. The ASA offered to drop the case without ruling after we confirmed that a particular leaflet was no longer being used.

“We continue to campaign against fracking because burning fossil fuels is dangerous for the climate. As well as that, 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.”