Shell Pulling Out of Glengad.

mayo | environment | news report

Friday October 17, 2008 14:51

by A - Rossport Solidarity Camp / Shell to Sea.

Important Update from Erris.

The word is – Shell are pulling out of Glengad and suspending work till early Spring. Shell ‘consultants’ are informing local residents that the beach is being ‘reinstated’ and the work will take a number of weeks.

The Solitaire has moved on and is ‘off hire’ to Shell.

No press release has issued from Shell and they are behind in their weekly ‘progress’ reports to the PAD (Petroleum Affairs Divison) of Minister Eamon Ryan’s Department of Communication, Energy and Natural Resources, which can normally be read here: http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Natural/Petroleum+Affairs+Divis...D.htm

It appears that Shell are wrapping up operations at the proposed landfall site in Glengad. The trench excavated through the cliffs into the protected areas is being backfilled, and the causeway built out into Broadhaven Bay is being removed. Also one side of the site fencing on the beach has been removed. And the cable drum has been removed from the winch.

Unfortunately the commencement of removing the causeway will not be able to remove the hundreds of tonnes of fine material, which has been washed away, polluting the local sea area for miles. Fishermen have said they can see the discolouration in the water 5 or 6 miles away from the Shell beach compound.

Various materials which Shell were supposed to have kept stored and separate in the compound, have in fact been mixed and stored on the beach and much of this, as well as unsuitable causeway materials, has been washing away for months now, through high tides and rain.

Broken concrete and steel have also been added to these material heaps, which I would assume will be dumped or buried on site, whether on the beach or inside the compound in the SAC/SPA. It appears that this 'foreign rubble' is now being used to fill the trench which was dug through the cliff to take the pipe.

The Solitaire has left Scotland for the Spanish port of Algeerias, near Gibraltar, a main bunker port, several days ago.

For unknown reasons Shell continue to employ boats to sit in the bay a few hundred metres from the landfall site, with 3 boats there this morning, including a small tug / winch boat. Its not clear what if anything they are doing.

The road widening and upgrades to facilitate Shell have continued, with Mayo County Council closing or blocking the road for long periods despite vehement local objections to these upgrade works, with people living along the route being forced to block the sides of the road at their properties to prevent the Council stealing their margins to widen the road for Shell.

I would remind people who are interested that AFRI are holding a Hedge School, which looks to be even better than last year's with a weekend of talks from some very relevant people, http://www.corribsos.com/index.php?id=515&event=1 or http://www.afri.ie for details. That’s the 24th, 25th & 26th Oct.

Backfilling pipe trench

Mixed materials and concrete dumping

Shell’s eye spy overlooking Glengad beach

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Comments (4 of 4)

More details re materials, please?

by Lemuel

Fri Oct 17, 2008 15:43

Thanks for this report, A.
I hadn't realised how big this fence was, or how much damage had already been done to the shoreline to prepare for the pipeline. Any more pictures to show the extent of the digging into the cliff and such? And the full extent of the fence? Has all of this fencing and digging been done without planning permission for the on-shore work?
Also, it might be useful to document exactly what different materials have been left to pollute the shore and bay in the supposed EU Special Area of Conservation. (Is this how much the Irish government respects the EU?) No harm to upload some close-ups of the materials on the beach and/or in the water, if you can.
In other words, I'd like to see both wider and closer shots, if you can get them, please.
Beir bua agus beannacht.

hard to tell

by Chrissie

Fri Oct 17, 2008 22:33

It's not possible to tell what all the stuff they've left is - certainly rocks, silt, concrete & oil & grease have polluted beach & sea. A young boy on the beach got some black grease on his leg which started to give a burning sensation till it was cleaned off with butter.

Thanks, but ...

Wed Oct 22, 2008 15:30

Thanks, Chrissie.

I don't have any great difficulty believing that all of these things have been left behind, but your comments may not be adequate documentation to generate further coverage in conventional media or outrage by concerned citizens who have not seen all of this pollution first-hand. One of the reasons I'm asking for more pictures is because they may help other people to identify stuff that you can't name, and this may give this story legs in international media. e.g. in Norway, the land of the Statoil = state oil company.

Black grease can be found on many Irish beaches, probably oil from all kinds of motor-boats, tankers out at sea, etc. And even ordinary petrol causes a burning sensation on the skin if you spill it on yourself. (Whatever you do, don't spill it down your crotch when you are filling up!) Fortunately, ordinary soap and water provides relief. So this detail, alarming as it is in the context of a supposed Special Area of Conservation, is unlikely to generate widespread outrage, unless the stuff is spread over a large extent of the beach, or killing seabirds or fish, etc.

So I'm still asking for further pictorial documentation, e.g. close-ups of different kinds of construction materials, oil slicks, etc. Preferably in sunlight, if possible. The more, the merrier.

What does off hire to shell mean?

by tim

Thu Oct 23, 2008 17:34

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Shell Pulling Out of Glengad.

Comments (4 of 4)