Corrib Gas : A "Terminal " Project of The Sick Boy of Europe.

galway | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Thursday September 07, 2006 22:03

by TD - Shell to Sea

Ireland is ranked bottom of a new 32 EU state league table after failing to meet key international targets, including Kyoto.

Today, in Galway, Shell to Sea activists took to the streets to distribute the four page info leaflet titled;
Corrib Gas : A “Terminal” Project. it quickly became self evident the travails of prisoners of conscience ; The Rossport Five hadn't disappeared without trace into the memory hole of Mammon Ireland as a healthy plethora of pedestrians stopped to let us know they were still incensed at what was wantonly done to the Five last summer. Below is the full text of our leaflet :
CORRIB GAS: A “TERMINAL” PROJECT

Stevo

The proposed gas refinery in north west Mayo would be responsible for discharging a cocktail of dangerous substances into the surrounding environment. Mayo County Council, the North-Western Regional Fisheries Board, the EPA and the Irish government are fully behind big business. Ignoring the inhabitants of an unspoilt landscape. This is the number one danger to the people of Erris.

Environmental Pollution
Radon gas, Lead, Nickel and Mercury would be knowingly released in the vicinity of the proposed refinery, along with oxides of Nitrogen, particulate matter (soot), Volatile Organic Compounds, explosive Methane, poisonous Sulphur Dioxide, numerous greenhouse gas emissions, and the Carbon Dioxide output equivalent to over 10,000 cars every year. Flaring (burning off) of perfectly usable gas is planned to help satisfy the operating demands of the oil companies involved, and cold venting of raw gas into the air is a regular event at these facilities. All this adds up to noise pollution, acid rain and contaminated drinking water, when the wild winds and heavy rains of the region spread the pollution over a wide area.

Health Problems
The short-term effects on marine and human life will be clearly negative. An immediate reduction in air and water quality will increase difficulties for anyone suffering from respiratory problems and allergic conditions. Shellfish and micro-organisms will dramatically suffer, disrupting the food-chain and in turn destroying the indigenous fishing industry. The long term effects are impossible to predict accurately, and known problems from some of the substances involved include bio-accumulation of heavy metals and numerous forms of skin and lung cancers. The well documented case of Minamita in Japan, and the prolonged human exposure to mercury (causing fits, mental conditions, birth effects and death) highlights the problems caused by industrial eco-vandalism. Seveso in Italy has lent it’s name to guidelines designed to prevent dangerous activities from being carelessly conceived and operated. The mass destruction visited upon the people of Bhopal, India, not only indicates the horrific dangers posed by careless industry, but show the human and environmental cost of not being prepared for “accidents”.

Future Developments
The Department of Communications, Marine& Natural Resources has given the people of the west a glimpse of the future, through it’s touting in January 2005 of more exploration licences in the Slyne, Erris and Donegal basins, stating “The infrastructure of the Corrib Field could significantly reduce the development cost of any further commercial discoveries in the vicinity”. The proposed gas pipeline would be just the beginning. It is a fundamental fact of hydrocarbon exploration; where there is gas, there is oil. With Shell, Statoil, Marathon and Providence already operating in Irish waters in the area, the vastly oversized Bellanaboy refinery site would soon become an industrial complex to rival that of Aberdeen, housing in the cleanest part of Ireland one of the most polluting businesses in the world.

Emergency Measures
The planning process applied to the project has totally undervalued the need for readiness in case of an emergency. The recent Bunce-field disaster in England highlighted the need for a rapid and co-ordinated effort in accidents involving oil and gas. The Erris region is devoid of any real infrastructure, with sub-standard roads, no rail link, and the nearest fire station some 18km (11 miles away). The County Emergency Plan (unlike the hastily amended Mayo Development Plan 2003-2009) does not include any specific instructions for dealing with a major incident in the remote barony of Erris.

Shell’s Record
Shell have been guilty of environmental damage for decades. The ignorance shown in Sakhalin and the outrages of Ogoniland are just two ongoing examples. Very often Shell find themselves operating in countries that are economically dwarfed by their presence. If planning laws are bypassed, Shell are fined, if environmental laws are breached, they are fined, if the environment is polluted, they are fined, if people die, they might even pay the fine. This behaviour is typical of all oil companies, and with an over-eager, money conscious government in Dublin, there are no indications things would be different in Ireland. In fact, history shows that oil companies, especially Shell, are very slow to comply with local laws or financial penalties; as has already been the case in Mayo, with kilometres of pipeline built without governmental consent, and only dismantled (as ordered by the minister responsible) after intense pressure from the local community.

Ireland’s Record
It should be no surprise that oil companies feel at home in Ireland. Marathon Oil has been operating the Kinsale gas field for nearly thirty years, making healthy profits from what should have been an Irish reserve. Massive concessions have since been created to accommodate the further extraction of our natural resources, solely for the benefit of multi-national Goliaths, with no return for the Irish people. Most recently Ireland has come under severe criticism from the European Environment Agency, in their report ”The European Environment : State and Outlook 2005”. Ireland is ranked bottom of a new 32 state league table after failing to meet key international targets (including Kyoto) with the main areas of concern being municipal waste, acidifying substances, ozone, urban sprawl and greenhouse gases.

If the proposed Corrib project and its like are allowed to proceed, our quality of life and international standing will both be severely damaged for generations to come.

“Putting an offshore platform is much less environmentally friendly and much less sustainable” – Andy Pyle, MD, SEPIL, comparing offshore with onshore processing of the Corrib gas field (Business& Finance Magazine, Nov 2005)

“ … from the perspective of Government policy … this is the wrong site … from the perspective of minimising environmental impact, this is the wrong site … from the perspective of sustainable development, this is the wrong site” – An Bord Pleanala Senior Inspector, Kevin Moore, describing the Bellanaboy onshore option (Inspector’s Report April 2003)

If you want to talk face to face with someone about the issues raised here, why not call in to : Corrib Gas Information Centre. Main Street, Bangor Erris, County Mayo (097 83955) or contact Des Mahon, Mayo County Manager (who fully supports the Bellanaboy refinery option) at Aras an Contae, The Mall, Castlebar, Co. Mayo?.