Shell backs down in Ros Duach - but not enough, yet!
Shell boss tells of his regret as pipe route is revised By Paul Melia Friday April 18 2008 THE head of Shell in Ireland has admitted the company didn't do a "very good job" addressing local people's safety concerns over plans to put a gas pipeline in Co Mayo. Announcing a revised route for the controversial pipeline yesterday, managing director Andy Pyle said gas pipelines were "normal practice" in many countries and the company had "probably" failed to explain that to local residents. The modified route for the onshore section of the Corrib gas pipeline is twice as far away from homes and will operate at half the pressure of the previous line. The revised route was decided after 11 months of consultation with local people. Stiff local opposition, including the jailing of the so-called Rossport Five in 2005, led to mediator Peter Cassells being appointed in an attempt to break the deadlock between the company and locals. He recommended that it be moved from the vicinity of Rossport because of concerns about its proximity to housing. Gas pipelines were "well tested" and "used extensively" throughout the world, Mr Pyle said, adding that people not "implacably opposed" to the pipeline would see it as a compromise. A planning application seeking permission to build the pipeline would be lodged with An Bord Pleanala within weeks. "Pipelines are pretty common technology and that caught us on the hop," he said. "We would see this as very normal practice. We probably didn't do a very good job explaining that. Pipelines have a very good record, safety wise. The end result, I think, will be acceptable. We definitely feel we have the right balance." The 9.2km pipeline will carry raw gas from a field 83km off the coast. It will come ashore at Glengad before crossing Sruwaddacon Bay into Rossport. Refinery It skirts around the village and along the boundary of the Glenamoy Bog Complex Special Area of Conservation (SAC) before recrossing Sruwaddacon Bay and continuing onto the Bellanaboy gas refinery, currently under construction. But the Shell to Sea group said a small village at the centre of the controversy would be sliced in half by the new route, with a spokesman saying it would worsen relations between Shell and locals. "They are literally dividing a community now,'' John Monaghan said. "They are now actually physically dividing the village of Rossport itself and that is not going to make them any friends.'' "If they were to get an acceptable route the refinery itself still poses a threat. If this is the only way that they see a solution to this problem then it will never go away.'' - Paul Melia

From Indymedia: It's still an unprecedented high pressure raw gas pipeline, it still has no local community consent, the refinery is still in the wrong place, the route cuts through a number of supposedly 'protected' Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protected Areas, the disastrous effects of burning fossil fuels are clearer every year, Corrib Irish gas is owned by foreign multinationals that have 100% tax write off, people are facing prison sentences for trying to protect their community land and livelihoods... and the Government and Gardai wonder why people will continue to protest?! When everything you treasure is threatened, you are left with no choice but to resist. There are already rumours of Compulsary Purchase Orders on the lands and more people have pledged to go to prison if necessary. Support the community in Mayo. A Victory for Shell to Sea is a victory for the people of Ireland. Unite to fight the raw gas pipe. Shell to Sea! More about the route can be found here: http://www.shell.com/home/content/ie-en/exploration_and....html

Today's Shell Versus Mayo News
New gas pipeline route likely to be as controversial as original GARDAÍ CALL it the "golden mile" because of overtime opportunities, while locals refer to it as the "Shell highway". A mile-long stretch of road along windswept bogland in north Mayo has been the focus for continuous opposition to the Corrib gas project since work on the €200 million refinery resumed in October 2006, writes Lorna Siggins . The road borders the "largest construction site in Ireland", as Shell calls it, and it says the refinery is 30 per cent complete. State approvals are being sought for an essential component - a modified onshore pipeline route. "The Corrib gas partners recognise that this project can only succeed in partnership with the local community," Shell EP Ireland's chief executive, Andy Pyle, has pledged. The difficulty for Pyle and his colleagues in Statoil and Marathon is that securing this pledge is proving far more elusive than he may have imagined after the September 2005 release from prison of a group of protesters known as the Rossport Five. The five, and the Shell to Sea campaign that was formed around them, gained much public support. Marine minister Noel Dempsey commissioned a safety review of the pipeline, which recommended that its pressure be halved. He also appointed a mediator, Peter Cassells. Cassells's efforts proved unsuccessful, partly because he was precluded from dealing with the project in its entirety. In his report of July 2006, he recommended modification of the pipeline route. Work resumed on the refinery later that year, early-morning protests began, and there were several clashes with up to 200 gardaí deployed in Erris to provide security for the developers. Ironically, television images of elderly people being manhandled into ditches did nothing for the Shell to Sea campaign. The bill for Garda deployment has been running at €800,000 a month, based on figures supplied by Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan. Shell's modified pipeline route runs through commonage and Special Areas of Conservation, and is set to prove as controversial as the original. The decision to issue compulsory acquisition orders may result in further protests. Hence last weekend's significant decision by key Mayo Shell to Sea supporters to drop that "refine at sea" demand, and suggest a compromise proposal on the coast that would not require an onshore pipeline and would be away from drinking-water supplies. Shell, which reported record earnings again this year of $27.6 billion (€17.7 billion), can write off all expenditure against tax. It secured planning approval and an integrated pollution prevention control licence for Bellanaboy, and believes it still has full State support. The continuing spectre which has haunted all this activity - and now haunts Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan - has been the wording of Bord Pleanála inspector Kevin Moore in his report on the first, unsuccessful, planning application for the refinery in April 2003. Moore described Bellanaboy as the "wrong site" from strategic planning, environmental, regional and sustainable development perspectives. He noted that there was a "failure in understanding the community and environment into which this large industrial development seeks to be sited" and "this emphasises how out of context this proposal is". Shell's subsequent successful planning application modified some of its plans but did not change the location. That inland location requires one of the longest high-pressure pipelines of its type in Europe. It also lies within three water catchments, including a public drinking-water supply for some 10,000 people at Carrowmore lake. (c) Irish Times Shell rejects proposal to move gas terminal The Corrib gas terminal in north Mayo. The bill for Garda deployment there has been running at €800,000 per monthSHELL EP Ireland has rejected a proposal by Erris residents that it should move its gas refinery to a coastal, rather than offshore, location. "Moving the terminal is not an option," the company said in a short statement. "The issues raised in 2005 were around the perceived safety of the onshore pipeline - not the location of the terminal. We believe we have taken every reasonable step to address genuine safety concerns around the pipeline," it said, adding that it "has at all times been willing to meet and discuss with anyone their concerns about the Corrib project" and "this remains our position". The rejection came just hours after a call yesterday by Bishop of Killala Dr John Fleming on the Corrib gas partners to "consider carefully" the compromise proposal made by Erris residents in relation to the €900 million project. Welcoming the proposal made by seven Kilcommon residents - Mary and Willie Corduff, Philip and Vincent McGrath, PJ Moran, Pat O'Donnell and Caitlín Uí Seighin - Dr Fleming described it as "an important and significant attempt to resolve the ongoing difficulties which have surrounded the Corrib gas project in north Mayo". Fine Gael Mayo TD Michael Ring and Labour Party president Michael D Higgins have already welcomed the move and have urged Shell and Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan to engage and "not let the opportunity slip". Mr Ryan was making no official comment yesterday. However, Shell EP Ireland submitted an application to Mr Ryan's department yesterday for its modified onshore pipeline. A department spokeswoman said that his statutory role in relation to this may preclude any wider involvement. Shell EP Ireland is also submitting its application to An Bord Pleanála and is seeking a direction from the board on the modified pipeline's qualification under the Strategic Infrastructure Act. Dr Fleming said he appreciated the courage of the seven in "dropping their demand that the refinery be located at sea and agreeing that it be sited onshore", and he invited the Corrib gas partners to "consider this proposal carefully". The alternative refinery site at Glinsk, proposed by the seven, was first identified last year by RPS, acting as a consultancy for the Corrib gas project. "Since then an increasing awareness of the suitability of the site has grown," he said. The priests of the parish had recommended it to Mr Ryan and it had now been given further support. Dr Fleming suggested, therefore, that the Glinsk proposal be examined carefully as a viable alternative, with the potential to bring closure to this issue. "I accept that substantial investment has already been made in the site at Bellanaboy and I realise that relocation to a new site will increase the overall cost of the project. "However, I believe that the benefits of relocation will far outweigh the financial considerations involved," the bishop said. "Importantly, a decision to relocate could significantly allay the fears that have plagued the people of this area in recent years. The process of healing the deep hurt felt within the parish of Kilcommon and the wider community in Erris could also begin. "Furthermore, it is my hope that this may allow the Corrib gas partners to open a new and more peaceful chapter in their relationship with the local community," Dr Fleming added. LORNA SIGGINS © Irish Times