AN BORD Pleanála has said it is considering a request from a north Mayo community group to reopen the oral hearing into the Corrib gas pipeline.
The request was sent to the board late this week by community group Pobal Chill Chomáin, which is opposed to the new pipeline route on health, safety and environmental grounds.
The group’s spokesman John Monaghan said the request had been made because of what he claims to be serious irregularities in further information supplied by the lead developer, Shell EP Ireland (SEPIL), to the Department of the Environment for a foreshore licence application on October 26th.
The information for the foreshore application for a new pipeline route up Sruwaddacon estuary was submitted more than three weeks after the closure of An Bord Pleanála’s resumed oral hearing into the pipeline application – but differs significantly in some important details, Mr Monaghan said.
“This indicates that SEPIL have identified weaknesses in their own application that – worryingly – did not give rise to concerns from the authorities, including An Bord Pleanála,” his community group said.
“Much of the information provided recently was withheld from the planning hearings by both the Department of Energy and SEPIL, but is being presented as forming part of the planning process,” the group said.
“Clear references are made to the Health and Safety Authority (whose input was absent from the planning hearings) and to fundamental issues such as public safety, housing proximity and land-use planning,” the group said in its letter to the board.
“We are also drawing the board’s attention to the great disparity between SEPIL’s assertions in the new information given to the Department of the Environment, and their evidence on the very same issues given at the planning hearings in 2009 and 2010,” the group said.
It said it believed there was a real danger the board’s deliberations would “result in a project that has escaped full and proper scrutiny” unless the oral hearing was reopened.
An Bord Pleanála said it would consider the matter but could make no further comment at present.
It had been due to make a final ruling on the pipeline by the end of this year, along with a decision on compulsory acquisition orders for land.
Shell EP Ireland has confirmed that the further information was forwarded to the Department of the Environment’s foreshore section.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Showing posts with label corrib gas pipeline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corrib gas pipeline. Show all posts
Wednesday, 15 December 2010
Monday, 14 July 2008
Massive vessel to work on Corrib pipeline
WORK ON the controversial pipeline to the Corrib gas field is set to start within weeks following the arrival of the world’s largest pipe-laying vessel.
The giant 400m (1,300ft) long Solitaire has been anchored in Killybegs port, Co Donegal, for several days and will be based there during the laying of 83km (51 miles) of underwater pipeline from Glengad in Broadhaven Bay, Co Mayo, to the Corrib gas field.
The Solitaire, which is 96,000 tonnes and requires more than 18m of water when fully laden, welds sections of the gas pipeline on board. The ship is more than twice the size of the world’s biggest fishing vessel, Atlantic Dawn.
When the underwater pipe-laying operation is fully under way, the Solitaire will have a crew of up to 550 on board and 15 support vessels, which will be serviced by existing marine-related services from the new pier at Killybegs.
Joey Murrin, former chief executive of the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation, who campaigned for the new pier, said: “It was the best €50 million the government ever spent in Donegal.
“Naturally I am saddened by the state of the fishing industry, but we need alternatives, and I see this pier as part of the future development of Killybegs. Oil and gas is a part of that.”
Jim Parkinson, managing director of Sinbad Marine Services, the company with responsibility for logistics management and crew changing while the pipeline is being constructed, said that the contract would have a huge impact on Killybegs.
“It fits hand in glove with the fishing industry. For three months of the year the port is a fishing port and for nine months it is a commercial port.
“I believe the two can work together. Fishermen can get employment during their off season, and stevedores, crane drivers and ships’ chandlers can all provide their services.”
He believed the benefits for the Killybegs area would continue after the work on the Corrib project is completed.
He said: “We don’t necessarily know what is coming at us but we are flexible, capable, enthusiastic and looking forward to a positive future for Killybegs.”
Shell to Sea, the lobby group opposed to the Corrib gas terminal and pipeline being constructed on land, has hit out at the latest move to build the underwater section.
They claimed that with planning permission for the onshore section still under consideration, work on the offshore section is “extremely premature”. They demanded that the Green Party’s two Cabinet Ministers, John Gormley and Eamon Ryan, halt the offshore work.
The Erris Inshore Fishermen’s Association says it will not be co-operating with Shell on the pipelaying until the company engages with it in a “meaningful way”.
Mayo fishermen who have gear on the offshore route are angry over lack of notice given by the multinational.
The fishermen’s association has serious concerns about the location of the refinery discharge pipe and its impact on the marine environment. It claims it was not informed of the offshore pipelaying plans.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The giant 400m (1,300ft) long Solitaire has been anchored in Killybegs port, Co Donegal, for several days and will be based there during the laying of 83km (51 miles) of underwater pipeline from Glengad in Broadhaven Bay, Co Mayo, to the Corrib gas field.
The Solitaire, which is 96,000 tonnes and requires more than 18m of water when fully laden, welds sections of the gas pipeline on board. The ship is more than twice the size of the world’s biggest fishing vessel, Atlantic Dawn.
When the underwater pipe-laying operation is fully under way, the Solitaire will have a crew of up to 550 on board and 15 support vessels, which will be serviced by existing marine-related services from the new pier at Killybegs.
Joey Murrin, former chief executive of the Killybegs Fishermen’s Organisation, who campaigned for the new pier, said: “It was the best €50 million the government ever spent in Donegal.
“Naturally I am saddened by the state of the fishing industry, but we need alternatives, and I see this pier as part of the future development of Killybegs. Oil and gas is a part of that.”
Jim Parkinson, managing director of Sinbad Marine Services, the company with responsibility for logistics management and crew changing while the pipeline is being constructed, said that the contract would have a huge impact on Killybegs.
“It fits hand in glove with the fishing industry. For three months of the year the port is a fishing port and for nine months it is a commercial port.
“I believe the two can work together. Fishermen can get employment during their off season, and stevedores, crane drivers and ships’ chandlers can all provide their services.”
He believed the benefits for the Killybegs area would continue after the work on the Corrib project is completed.
He said: “We don’t necessarily know what is coming at us but we are flexible, capable, enthusiastic and looking forward to a positive future for Killybegs.”
Shell to Sea, the lobby group opposed to the Corrib gas terminal and pipeline being constructed on land, has hit out at the latest move to build the underwater section.
They claimed that with planning permission for the onshore section still under consideration, work on the offshore section is “extremely premature”. They demanded that the Green Party’s two Cabinet Ministers, John Gormley and Eamon Ryan, halt the offshore work.
The Erris Inshore Fishermen’s Association says it will not be co-operating with Shell on the pipelaying until the company engages with it in a “meaningful way”.
Mayo fishermen who have gear on the offshore route are angry over lack of notice given by the multinational.
The fishermen’s association has serious concerns about the location of the refinery discharge pipe and its impact on the marine environment. It claims it was not informed of the offshore pipelaying plans.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Bord Pleanála will consider new Corrib route proposal
AN BORD Pleanála has confirmed that it will accept applications for the Corrib gas project's modified onshore pipeline route under the Strategic Infrastructure Act which allows for fast-tracking certain projects.
Shell E&P Ireland has prepared two applications for the planning appeals board under the fast-tracking legislation, which may result in another oral hearing.
The first of these two was lodged on behalf of the Corrib gas developers on Monday - hours before formally rejecting a compromise proposal from Erris residents which aimed to resolve the continuing difficulties.
The compromise, which is still before Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan, involves relocating the refinery currently under construction at Bellanaboy - but dropping a demand for it to be built at sea.
A coastal location would obviate the need for an onshore pipeline and would not pose the risk which the current refinery does to public drinking water, as it is within the Carrowmore lake catchment, the seven Erris community leaders contend. All seven were key supporters of the Mayo Shell To Sea campaign, which is making no comment on the development.
The compromise has received public endorsement from the Bishop of Killala, Dr John Fleming, Mayo Fine Gael TD Michael Ring and Labour Party president Michael D Higgins - all of whom have appealed for Shell and Mr Ryan to respond.
Mr Higgins yesterday described the bishop's support and that of community leaders as "very significant", and urged StatoilHydro, as a partner in the Corrib gas project, to use its influence with Shell if further conflict is to be avoided.
"StatoilHydro is responsible to a Norwegian government which has an oil and gas development policy that stresses consultation must take place with local communities," Mr Higgins said.
However, Pro Erris Gas Group secretary and retired garda Brendan Cafferty described the compromise location at Glinsk on the coastline as "another diversion" and "preposterous".
In a related development, the European Parliament's petitions committee is to discuss Corrib gas issues on May 26th. This follows a petition lodged last year by former Shell To Sea spokesman and Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology lecturer Dr Mark Garavan.
His petition argues that the project is in breach of a number of EU directives, including the habitats, Seveso and water framework directives.
Shell E&P Ireland's first application to an Bord Pleanála this week relates to compulsory application orders (CAOs) for access to land on the modified high-pressure pipeline route. The second relates to planning permission for the actual route.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Shell E&P Ireland has prepared two applications for the planning appeals board under the fast-tracking legislation, which may result in another oral hearing.
The first of these two was lodged on behalf of the Corrib gas developers on Monday - hours before formally rejecting a compromise proposal from Erris residents which aimed to resolve the continuing difficulties.
The compromise, which is still before Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan, involves relocating the refinery currently under construction at Bellanaboy - but dropping a demand for it to be built at sea.
A coastal location would obviate the need for an onshore pipeline and would not pose the risk which the current refinery does to public drinking water, as it is within the Carrowmore lake catchment, the seven Erris community leaders contend. All seven were key supporters of the Mayo Shell To Sea campaign, which is making no comment on the development.
The compromise has received public endorsement from the Bishop of Killala, Dr John Fleming, Mayo Fine Gael TD Michael Ring and Labour Party president Michael D Higgins - all of whom have appealed for Shell and Mr Ryan to respond.
Mr Higgins yesterday described the bishop's support and that of community leaders as "very significant", and urged StatoilHydro, as a partner in the Corrib gas project, to use its influence with Shell if further conflict is to be avoided.
"StatoilHydro is responsible to a Norwegian government which has an oil and gas development policy that stresses consultation must take place with local communities," Mr Higgins said.
However, Pro Erris Gas Group secretary and retired garda Brendan Cafferty described the compromise location at Glinsk on the coastline as "another diversion" and "preposterous".
In a related development, the European Parliament's petitions committee is to discuss Corrib gas issues on May 26th. This follows a petition lodged last year by former Shell To Sea spokesman and Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology lecturer Dr Mark Garavan.
His petition argues that the project is in breach of a number of EU directives, including the habitats, Seveso and water framework directives.
Shell E&P Ireland's first application to an Bord Pleanála this week relates to compulsory application orders (CAOs) for access to land on the modified high-pressure pipeline route. The second relates to planning permission for the actual route.
The Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
New gas pipeline route likely to be as controversial as original
GARDAÍ CALL it the "golden mile" because of overtime opportunities, while locals refer to it as the "Shell highway". A mile-long stretch of road along windswept bogland in north Mayo has been the focus for continuous opposition to the Corrib gas project since work on the €200 million refinery resumed in October 2006, writes Lorna Siggins.
The road borders the "largest construction site in Ireland", as Shell calls it, and it says the refinery is 30 per cent complete. State approvals are being sought for an essential component - a modified onshore pipeline route.
"The Corrib gas partners recognise that this project can only succeed in partnership with the local community," Shell EP Ireland's chief executive, Andy Pyle, has pledged.
The difficulty for Pyle and his colleagues in Statoil and Marathon is that securing this pledge is proving far more elusive than he may have imagined after the September 2005 release from prison of a group of protesters known as the Rossport Five.
The five, and the Shell to Sea campaign that was formed around them, gained much public support. Marine minister Noel Dempsey commissioned a safety review of the pipeline, which recommended that its pressure be halved. He also appointed a mediator, Peter Cassells.
Cassells's efforts proved unsuccessful, partly because he was precluded from dealing with the project in its entirety. In his report of July 2006, he recommended modification of the pipeline route. Work resumed on the refinery later that year, early-morning protests began, and there were several clashes with up to 200 gardaí deployed in Erris to provide security for the developers. Ironically, television images of elderly people being manhandled into ditches did nothing for the Shell to Sea campaign.
The bill for Garda deployment has been running at €800,000 a month, based on figures supplied by Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan.
Shell's modified pipeline route runs through commonage and Special Areas of Conservation, and is set to prove as controversial as the original. The decision to issue compulsory acquisition orders may result in further protests. Hence last weekend's significant decision by key Mayo Shell to Sea supporters to drop that "refine at sea" demand, and suggest a compromise proposal on the coast that would not require an onshore pipeline and would be away from drinking-water supplies.
Shell, which reported record earnings again this year of $27.6 billion (€17.7 billion), can write off all expenditure against tax.
It secured planning approval and an integrated pollution prevention control licence for Bellanaboy, and believes it still has full State support.
The continuing spectre which has haunted all this activity - and now haunts Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan - has been the wording of Bord Pleanála inspector Kevin Moore in his report on the first, unsuccessful, planning application for the refinery in April 2003.
Moore described Bellanaboy as the "wrong site" from strategic planning, environmental, regional and sustainable development perspectives. He noted that there was a "failure in understanding the community and environment into which this large industrial development seeks to be sited" and "this emphasises how out of context this proposal is".
Shell's subsequent successful planning application modified some of its plans but did not change the location.
That inland location requires one of the longest high-pressure pipelines of its type in Europe. It also lies within three water catchments, including a public drinking-water supply for some 10,000 people at Carrowmore lake.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
The road borders the "largest construction site in Ireland", as Shell calls it, and it says the refinery is 30 per cent complete. State approvals are being sought for an essential component - a modified onshore pipeline route.
"The Corrib gas partners recognise that this project can only succeed in partnership with the local community," Shell EP Ireland's chief executive, Andy Pyle, has pledged.
The difficulty for Pyle and his colleagues in Statoil and Marathon is that securing this pledge is proving far more elusive than he may have imagined after the September 2005 release from prison of a group of protesters known as the Rossport Five.
The five, and the Shell to Sea campaign that was formed around them, gained much public support. Marine minister Noel Dempsey commissioned a safety review of the pipeline, which recommended that its pressure be halved. He also appointed a mediator, Peter Cassells.
Cassells's efforts proved unsuccessful, partly because he was precluded from dealing with the project in its entirety. In his report of July 2006, he recommended modification of the pipeline route. Work resumed on the refinery later that year, early-morning protests began, and there were several clashes with up to 200 gardaí deployed in Erris to provide security for the developers. Ironically, television images of elderly people being manhandled into ditches did nothing for the Shell to Sea campaign.
The bill for Garda deployment has been running at €800,000 a month, based on figures supplied by Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan.
Shell's modified pipeline route runs through commonage and Special Areas of Conservation, and is set to prove as controversial as the original. The decision to issue compulsory acquisition orders may result in further protests. Hence last weekend's significant decision by key Mayo Shell to Sea supporters to drop that "refine at sea" demand, and suggest a compromise proposal on the coast that would not require an onshore pipeline and would be away from drinking-water supplies.
Shell, which reported record earnings again this year of $27.6 billion (€17.7 billion), can write off all expenditure against tax.
It secured planning approval and an integrated pollution prevention control licence for Bellanaboy, and believes it still has full State support.
The continuing spectre which has haunted all this activity - and now haunts Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan - has been the wording of Bord Pleanála inspector Kevin Moore in his report on the first, unsuccessful, planning application for the refinery in April 2003.
Moore described Bellanaboy as the "wrong site" from strategic planning, environmental, regional and sustainable development perspectives. He noted that there was a "failure in understanding the community and environment into which this large industrial development seeks to be sited" and "this emphasises how out of context this proposal is".
Shell's subsequent successful planning application modified some of its plans but did not change the location.
That inland location requires one of the longest high-pressure pipelines of its type in Europe. It also lies within three water catchments, including a public drinking-water supply for some 10,000 people at Carrowmore lake.
Irish Times
www.buckplanning.ie
Saturday, 26 April 2008
North Mayo residents propose deal on location of gas refinery
NORTH MAYO residents opposed to the Corrib gas pipeline have dropped their demand for a gas refinery to be built at sea and are backing a compromise solution to the long-running controversy.
A statement due to be issued tomorrow by seven community leaders in Erris says that all of the problems surrounding the Bellanaboy refinery site and its controversial onshore high-pressure pipeline would be "solved in one move", if the developers - Shell, Statoil and Marathon - agreed to relocate the refinery.
The seven - Mary and Willie Corduff, Philip and Vincent McGrath, PJ Moran, Pat O'Donnell and Caitlín Uí Seighin - have all been key supporters of the Mayo Shell to Sea campaign.
That campaign was formed after Mr Corduff, Philip and Vincent McGrath, Micheál Ó Seighin and Brendan Philbin were jailed for 94 days over opposition to the pipeline in 2005.
Earlier this month, the seven travelled to Norway with Labour Party president Michael D Higgins, Green Party councillor Niall Ó Brolcháin and Sinn Féin councillor Noel Campbell in a bid to break the current impasse.
The group met StatoilHydro, a partner in the Corrib gas project, and received support from the federation of oil and gas workers' unions, SAFE, representing 8,700 members.
StatoilHydro commented afterwards that the chances of moving the refinery were "close to zero".
However, in an implicit criticism of the role of Irish statutory authorities, Helge Hatlestad, StatoilHydro's vice-president (exploration and production) for western Europe, said he believed it was "very unfortunate" that the concerns voiced by the north Mayo community had not been listened to during the planning stages of the project in 2000/2001.
Speaking earlier this month, Mr Hatlestad said: "We've learned in Norway that there is a need for these sort of discussions, for consultation and communication, before a project is sanctioned . . . It becomes commercially unviable to do something different once a project has started."
The current refinery project at Bellanaboy, which involves a 9km linking onshore pipeline, is about 30 per cent complete. However, the developers are preparing to seek planning and other statutory approvals for a modified pipeline route, which was announced last week.
The community leaders say they support the compromise alternative location proposed by three priests in Kilcommon parish, Fr Michael Nallen, Fr Michael Gilroy and Fr Seán Noone, in letters last year to Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan.
This location at Glinsk, near Belderrig, was identified by Shell consultants, RPS, last summer as a potential landfall during initial work on modifying onshore pipeline routes.
However, the consultants were excluded from involvement in any aspect of the refinery, then under construction, and this option was dropped from subsequent shortlists.
Glinsk has no housing within several miles of the exposed area of bogland, but Shell consultants had noted in their assessment for the pipeline survey that the exposed landfall had steep cliffs of greater than 50 metres.
The statement, due to be issued tomorrow, calls for serious consideration of this compromise as the "first real attempt at finding a solution to the ongoing dispute that understands the many concerns surrounding the current location".
"Our stance has never been anti-gas, but our priority has always been health, safety and the environment, and this remains the case," the statement says.
"This proposal has come about after a series of events, culminating in our recent visit to Norway.
"This conflict has always been capable of being resolved by agreement and respect, and we call on all genuinely interested parties to respond positively to this move," it says.
"Failure to do so would inevitably see the situation revert to compulsory land acquisition, court orders, court cases, conflict, and more suffering and trauma for our families, neighbours and community.
"The current Corrib project has done untold damage to this community, the reputations of Shell, Statoil and successive governments, and the integrity of numerous State agencies.
"We sincerely hope that this chance for agreement is not lost, as it represents a clearly long-overdue opportunity for resolution, agreement and healing," the statement says.
The Irish Times
www.buckplaning.ie
A statement due to be issued tomorrow by seven community leaders in Erris says that all of the problems surrounding the Bellanaboy refinery site and its controversial onshore high-pressure pipeline would be "solved in one move", if the developers - Shell, Statoil and Marathon - agreed to relocate the refinery.
The seven - Mary and Willie Corduff, Philip and Vincent McGrath, PJ Moran, Pat O'Donnell and Caitlín Uí Seighin - have all been key supporters of the Mayo Shell to Sea campaign.
That campaign was formed after Mr Corduff, Philip and Vincent McGrath, Micheál Ó Seighin and Brendan Philbin were jailed for 94 days over opposition to the pipeline in 2005.
Earlier this month, the seven travelled to Norway with Labour Party president Michael D Higgins, Green Party councillor Niall Ó Brolcháin and Sinn Féin councillor Noel Campbell in a bid to break the current impasse.
The group met StatoilHydro, a partner in the Corrib gas project, and received support from the federation of oil and gas workers' unions, SAFE, representing 8,700 members.
StatoilHydro commented afterwards that the chances of moving the refinery were "close to zero".
However, in an implicit criticism of the role of Irish statutory authorities, Helge Hatlestad, StatoilHydro's vice-president (exploration and production) for western Europe, said he believed it was "very unfortunate" that the concerns voiced by the north Mayo community had not been listened to during the planning stages of the project in 2000/2001.
Speaking earlier this month, Mr Hatlestad said: "We've learned in Norway that there is a need for these sort of discussions, for consultation and communication, before a project is sanctioned . . . It becomes commercially unviable to do something different once a project has started."
The current refinery project at Bellanaboy, which involves a 9km linking onshore pipeline, is about 30 per cent complete. However, the developers are preparing to seek planning and other statutory approvals for a modified pipeline route, which was announced last week.
The community leaders say they support the compromise alternative location proposed by three priests in Kilcommon parish, Fr Michael Nallen, Fr Michael Gilroy and Fr Seán Noone, in letters last year to Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan.
This location at Glinsk, near Belderrig, was identified by Shell consultants, RPS, last summer as a potential landfall during initial work on modifying onshore pipeline routes.
However, the consultants were excluded from involvement in any aspect of the refinery, then under construction, and this option was dropped from subsequent shortlists.
Glinsk has no housing within several miles of the exposed area of bogland, but Shell consultants had noted in their assessment for the pipeline survey that the exposed landfall had steep cliffs of greater than 50 metres.
The statement, due to be issued tomorrow, calls for serious consideration of this compromise as the "first real attempt at finding a solution to the ongoing dispute that understands the many concerns surrounding the current location".
"Our stance has never been anti-gas, but our priority has always been health, safety and the environment, and this remains the case," the statement says.
"This proposal has come about after a series of events, culminating in our recent visit to Norway.
"This conflict has always been capable of being resolved by agreement and respect, and we call on all genuinely interested parties to respond positively to this move," it says.
"Failure to do so would inevitably see the situation revert to compulsory land acquisition, court orders, court cases, conflict, and more suffering and trauma for our families, neighbours and community.
"The current Corrib project has done untold damage to this community, the reputations of Shell, Statoil and successive governments, and the integrity of numerous State agencies.
"We sincerely hope that this chance for agreement is not lost, as it represents a clearly long-overdue opportunity for resolution, agreement and healing," the statement says.
The Irish Times
www.buckplaning.ie
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