Shell announce new route for Corrib gas pipeline

Shell announce new route for pipeline


Edwin McGreal

Shell have confirmed that they are to re-route the Corrib gas project under Sruwaddacon Bay after An Bord PleanΡla requested that they do so.
In a revised environmental impact statement (EIS), Shell E&P Ireland Limited (SEPIL) is seeking planning permission to build a tunnel under Sruwaddacon Bay to carry the onshore pipeline from the landfall at Glengad towards the Bellanaboy Gas Processing Terminal.
Shell state that by building the pipeline under the bay, the nearest house is now 234 metres away from the line. SEPIL Managing Director Terry Nolan stated yesterday that the decision to bring the line under the bay will have ‘the least environmental impact’.
“An Bord PleanΡla asked us to alter the pipeline route and to bring it through Sruwaddacon Bay. We believe a tunnel under Sruwaddacon Bay will have the least environmental impact on the bay. The proposed Corrib onshore pipeline meets or exceeds all relevant international and Irish pipeline codes and standards. It also meets the safety criteria established by An Bord PleanΡla,” said Mr Nolan.
However opponents of the Corrib gas project have expressed their reservations about the plan to route the pipeline under the bay.
Pobal Cill Chomain’s spokesperson John Monaghan said that while he would wait until he saw the exact plans before accepting or dismissing the proposal, he still had concerns.
“We’ve been sceptical from the start on this solution. We have concerns about the valve system and we all saw in the (BP incident in the) Gulf of Mexico how important a proper valve system is. And we want to know are the people of Glengad going to get the same protection that the (An) Bord (PleanΡla) said the people of Rossport received.
“There still remain environmental concerns. It is a large scale operation and there will be a lot of vessels and a lot of truck movements in the area. If there are problems with the tunnel, it will have to be worked on from the top and the bay will have to be dug up - which defeats the whole purpose of the underground tunnel. A lot of concerns still remain.”
Shell previously dismissed as ‘conjecture’ reports that An Bord PleanΡla’s decision to reroute the pipeline through the bay would cost up to €100m and delay delivery of the project by up to two years.