As the fourth hearing into the controversial Corrib gas project came to a close last week, The Mayo News was in Bemullet.
Ministers, gardaí, navy accused of prejudicing Corrib gas oral hearing As the fourth hearing into the controversial Corrib gas project came to a close last week The Mayo News was in Belmullet to record the significant concerns of local people and groups and the testimony of Shell that the project is safe.
Aine Ryan GOVERNMENT ministers, the Garda Síochána and the Naval Service have been accused of prejudicing the An Bord Pleanála hearing, chaired by Martin Nolan, into the modified pipeline route for Shell E&P Ireland’s Corrib gas project.
On the penultimate and eighteenth day of the hearing, in Belmullet on Wednesday last (June 24), Minister for Energy, Eamon Ryan was also accused of incompetence, of ‘ignoring’ the Advantica Report, while his officials were told they were trying to ‘deceive the hearing’ by changing a key recommendation of Advantica – an Independent Safety Review commissioned by his predecessor Noel Dempsey.
In his closing statement, Ed Moran, a retired teacher, said the parading of small Naval Service vessels through Belmullet on Wednesday night, coupled with the earlier arrival of the Garda Water Unit and a north-west forum meeting – held on Monday last and attended by four Government ministers – was ‘a show of force’ ahead of the arrival of the Solitaire pipe-laying vessel.
“The extent to which this is being orchestrated and media-fed while a hearing is being conducted and a decision has yet to be made by An Bord Pleanála [about the onshore pipeline] means that it has prejudiced itself,” said Ed Moran.
Rossport Five’s, Micheál Ó Seighin observed that the work of the board had been compromised by ‘the ongoing implementation of other and overlapping aspects of this split project, accompanied by statements and activities by Government ministers and official spokespeople that indicate loud and clear that this is a done deal’.
“The contradiction headlined by the work being progressed at a rapid pace by SEPIL (Shell) at Glengad lent or bestowed a surreal element to the hearing … The offshore and the onshore overlap above the high water mark: An Bord says it is dealing with a planning application from the HWM but work on this is already completed or being progressed,” said Ó Seighin.
He also observed the hearing had not clarified how former Minister Frank Fahey had issued a consent for a project straddling the HWM without ‘an initial extant planning permission’.
Responding to a Department of Energy closing statement, John Monaghan, for Pobal Chill Chomáin, said official Bob Hanna ‘at the eleventh hour’ was attempting to ‘deceive’ the hearing ‘with a new submission’.
In his earlier remarks, Mr Hanna said the developer ‘will be obliged to verify to the minister the integrity of the design, construction, installation commissioning and maintenance of production facilities’, which will then be audited by the minister ‘prior to giving his consent to first production’.
However, Mr Monaghan pointed out that Advantica recommended that ‘a formal integrity management plan is established prior to construction’ and not to commissioning.
He also revealed that retired army bomb disposal expert, Comdt Patrick Boyle had told Minister Ryan that the remote Glinsk option – proposed by local priests – was the safest one.
Earlier, environmental consultant, Peter Sweetman said: “We now have an incompetent minister running an incompetent department. Minister Dempsey commissioned Advantica and this minister [Ryan) is ignoring it.”
In her closing remarks, Monica Muller observed that , after eight years of the community trying to help Shell make Corrib safe, she has no expectations or trust that this applicant would comply with any conditions that the board may impose’.
“I have no expectations or trust that this applicant’s private security force will ever act and behave in compliance with legislative requirements or act as law-abiding citizens. I have lost all hope in An Garda Siochána who have refused to come to the assistance of local people when requested to protect us from this applicant’s actions but provide ample support and assistance to this applicant,” Ms Muller continued.
Speaking on behalf of Pobal le Chéile, Ciaran Ó Murchú observed that ‘the rights of the receiving community’ had been totally ignored since the conception of the project. He urged Mr Nolan to consider the remote and onshore option for a refinery at Glinsk.
Parish Priest of Kilcommon, Father Michael Nallen said the project was underpinned by ‘political motivation’ and that its essence, despite the apparent modifications, was the same as when first proposed. He criticised the manner in which the media was portraying his community.
“In my opinion the acrimony will increase,” said Father Nallen. “One worries sometimes of the likelihood of people losing their lives.”
In her closing remarks, Maura Harrington of Shell to Sea dismissed the Department of Energy’s contention that the Corrib gas was intrinsic to the country’s future “security of supply”.
“In his evidence to the hearing Mr Stuart Basford confirmed that the maximum flow rate of Corrib (350 million standard cubic feet per day) would only last to Year Three. Mr Basford further confirmed that, given the country’s current energy requirements, even the maximum flow rate in the first three years would not provide 60% of these energy needs,” said Maura Harrington.
Observer, Maire Bhreatnach asked how could Shell’s ‘social investment fund, however large or potentially beneficial, compensate for the permanent disturbance and degradation of people and place’.
Terence Conway of Shell to Sea said that the consultation process had been with ‘the boot and the baton’, while Colm Henry, whose family lives beside the Glengad landfall, spoke of the ‘intimidation’ and ‘brutal threats of gardaí and foreign security personnel’.
Last day of hearing Shell’s closing statement SHELL E&P Ireland defended the ongoing security operation at its Corrib gas sites in north Mayo and revealed that the EPA this week categorised an application by the company for a modification of the project’s Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Licence – to fulfill an aggreement with the Erris Inshore Fishermen’s Association about discharge to Broadhaven Bay – as ‘a license review’ rather than ‘a technical amendment’.
In a closing statement, on the last day of the Bord Pleanála hearing into the modified pipeline route, Esmonde Keane, counsel for Shell, also observed that the ‘current pipeline application must be seen in the context of the developments which it serves and its strategic importance’.
He said that the large security presence was justified in light of threats to Shell personnel.
“Repeated references have been made by objectors to security. It must be pointed out that the necessity for security and the presence of the Garda Siochána has been to keep the peace in the light of numerous attempts by individuals to cause damage and injury to persons lawfully working on the site,” he said.
Alluding to the long history of the project, Mr Keane said this application was before the board ‘against a background of a previously approved route which had met intractable opposition from one section of the community and which had resulted in significant efforts to alleviate concerns which were held by certain members of the community’.
He cited the various permissions and consents and noted that ‘no other development proposal has been subject to such an amount of study and surveys over such a period of time’.
Responding to ‘inaccuracies’ in other submissions, Mr Keane argued that all of ‘the development which has or is currently being carried out has been properly assessed and is in compliance with all national and European legislation’.
Addressing the alternative onshore proposal for a terminal at the remote Glinsk site, Esmonde Keane said ‘not only would the landfall at Glinsk involve tunnelling through significant cliffs but the corridor commencing at Glinsk would traverse the Glenamoy Bog Complex for approximately 5.5 km and would involve impacting on extensive areas of undisturbed blanket bog’.
He dismissed a contention by retired teacher, Ed Moran, that the Quantified Risk Assessment (QRA) only related to ‘third party interference’.
Mr Keane also defended the ‘extensive’ level of public consultation and also cited the establishment of the north west development forum by two government ministers last November
A decision by An Bord Pleanál is expected later in the summer.
