Shell reject terminal proposal

CONSTRUCTION SITE More than 800 people will be employed at the Corrib gas terminal at Bellanaboy by the summer.

Shell reject proposal to move terminal site

Áine Ryan

A BREAKTHROUGH in the long-running Corrib gas dispute seemed no closer last night (Monday), when Shell rejected a proposal by a group of Kilcommon residents to move the site of the controversial refinery, under construction at Bellanaboy, to an onshore and remote location at Glinsk.
Fine Gael’s Deputy Michael Ring, Labour Party President, Deputy Michael D Higgins and former Shell to Sea spokesman, Dr Mark Garavan all called on Shell and the Government to respond positively to the compromise proposal, published at the weekend by a group of community leaders in Kilcommon Parish. 
In a statement issued to The Mayo News yesterday (Monday) evening, however, John Egan of Shell said the  company remained steadfast that Bellanaboy was chosen as the location for the gas terminal because ‘it was the best and most suitable site available in the locality’.
“That remains the case today. The terminal received full planning permission in 2004 following a three-year long process where all interested parties had an opportunity to raise their concerns. The Bellanaboy terminal is currently the biggest construction site in Ireland with 650 employees – 60 per cent of whom come from County Mayo. The terminal facilities are expected to be 80 per cent complete by the end of 2008. Moving the terminal is not an option,” he said.
“The issues raised in 2005 were around the perceived safety of the onshore pipeline – not the location of the terminal. We believe we have taken every reasonable step to address genuine safety concerns around the pipeline.
“SEPIL has at all times been willing to meet and discuss with anyone their concerns about the Corrib project and this remains our position,” the statement concluded.
Prior to the issuing of the Shell statement, Rossport Five’s Mr Vincent McGrath said the proposal – first mooted last November by three priests from the parish – provided ‘a genuine solution’, and was neither about ‘point scoring’ nor ‘spinning a new line in the dispute with Shell’.
“This is absolutely genuine and we don’t need an immediate or quick response from Shell because of the seriousness and sincerity of our statement. We want to get back to our lives. This is not about who has suffered most, it’s about our interest in restoring harmony to our community,” said Mr McGrath.
He also said while there was no split in the Shell to Sea group, ‘there will be people who will not come around to the idea of an onshore site’.
“We respect everyone’s views and still believe offshore is the safest way,” added Mr McGrath.
Signed by Mary Corduff, PJ Moran, Philip McGrath, Caitlín Ui Seighin, Willie Corduff, Pat O’Donnell and Vincent McGrath as ‘concerned residents of Rossport, Kilcommon’, the statement fully supports the initiative by Fathers Michael Nallen, Michael Gilroy and Sean Noone,
“Their proposal, to consider relocating the Corrib refinery to a much more remote and coastal location, is the first real attempt at finding a solution to the ongoing dispute, that understands the many concerns surrounding the current location. All of the problems surrounding the Bellanaboy site would be solved in one move. Our stance has never been anti-gas, but our priority has always been health, safety and the environment, and this remains the case,” it says.
The proposal also received the support of the Bishop of Killala, Dr John Fleming yesterday evening, in a statement which described the proposal by the community group as ‘an important and significant attempt to resolve on-going difficulties’.
“I appreciate their courage in dropping their demand that the refinery be located at sea and agreeing that it be sited on-shore. I now invite the partners in the Corrib gas project to consider this proposal carefully. I accept that substantial investment has already been made in the site at Bellanaboy and I realise that relocation to a new site will increase the overall cost of the project. However, I believe that the benefits of relocation will far outweigh the financial considerations involved.”
Bishop Fleming went on to say that a decision to relocate could significantly allay the fears that have plagued the people of this area in recent years. 
Meanwhile, Deputy Michael Ring said he welcomed the statement, as ‘a move in the right direction’. He also appealed to Shell to ‘sit down and talk’ and for the Minister for Energy, Deputy Eamon Ryan ‘to recognise the opportunity’.
Deputy Higgins also expressed similar views. He told The Irish Times that ‘a very genuine effort was being made by the community to restore peace in the area and get on with their lives’.
Dr Mark Garavan said: “I believe it to be the duty of all of those who have taken a role and interest in this issue to give our full support to the local community in resolving the conflict.”
He also revealed that the European Parliament Petitions Committee will discuss the Corrib gas issue on Monday, May 26, next.
The situation of the refinery at Bellanaboy – which is about 30 per cent completed, and over recent months has employed a workforce of around 700 – involves nine kilometres of high-pressure pipeline from the proposed landfall at Glengad. On the other hand, the location at Glinsk, which is near Belderrig, includes no housing within several miles of the exposed area of bogland, but, according to Shell consultants, was deemed unsuitable as a possible landfall site because of steep cliffs, over 50 metres high.