Lies, theft and corruption- you can be sure of Shell

mayo | environment | other press

Tuesday February 17, 2009 13:45

by Mayo Echo Reader

company steals the electricity used to power destrcution

The Mayo Echo reports today, that local fisherman using the refrigeration services provided by Bord Iascaigh Mhara at Ballyglass were amazed to find that the bill for electricity had rocketed from around 300 euro per quarter to nearly 6,000. Worried that the BIM service might be withdrawn, they investigated and found that someone had illegally hacked into the electricity supply and run up a huge bill.

And guess who was to blame?

http://www.mayoecho.com/online_edition.htm
MAYO ECHO Wed 18th February 2009
Who’s Been Stealing the
Fishermen’s Electricity?

Those good folks at Shell have made
great attempts at becoming good
neighbours down Belmullet way. Splashing
out on local grants to community
groups, and scholarships for local
students, the intention is to undue some
of the damage that was done to their
reputation during the lengthy Rossport 5
dispute, and prepare for the laying of a
high-pressure gas pipeline later this year.

Local fishermen in the area weren’t too
impressed to learn that someone had illegally
tapped into an electricity supply
at Ballyglass Pier, north of Belmullet. The
electricity had been provided by Board
Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), the Irish Sea
Fisheries Board so that a refrigerated
container was on hand for fishing boats
to keep their catch cool, until delivery
could be organised.

The bill would usually run to €300 per
quarter, but management were astounded
to get a recent bill for €5,880. Questions
were asked, and local fishermen were
concerned that the service would be
withdrawn given the much-increased
cost.

On further investigation at Ballyglass, it
was discovered that someone had illegally
tapped into the supply, running a
cable underground from the ESB meter
at the pier. It has since been established
that contractors acting on behalf of Shell
had connected the cable without permission,
and had stolen the electricity for
the past nine months.

A BIM representative contacted Shell,
who immediately offered to reimburse
BIM for the total bill. Red-faced Shell
management claimed that they had
agreed to cover the cost of all electricity
usage on the pier, but they didn’t say
whom they had agreed this with. A BIM
spokesperson stated that Shell had
agreed no such arrangement with them.
The Mayo Echo also understands that a
complaint has been lodged with local
Gardai, although it isn’t known if Shell
will be prosecuted for the theft.

BIM confirmed that following a meeting with
Shell, the service should remain in place
for the foreseeable future, much to the
relief of local fishermen. BIM are currently
carrying out a safety audit of the
electricity supply, to ensure there is no
risk to local users of the supply following
the illegal connection.

(reproduced in full because no html version exists online)