Believe it or not, in Ireland’s County Mayo they’re still arguing over the route of the pipeline Shell E&P Ireland wants to construct from offshore Corrib gas field (OGJ, Nov. 20, 2006, p. 30).
Shell E&P Ireland has applied for direct planning permission to build a rerouted pipeline for the Corrib gas project in north Mayo. But Shell’s application has stirred bitter opposition from some sections of the local community.
According to local reports, Shell has sought planning permission for the construction of a 92.6 km gas pipeline, of which 9.2 km will be onshore. The gas field is 3,500 m below sea level. This follows a 12-month public consultation process, which led to a new route being proposed.
The original route was designed in 2000. The application was made directly to An Bord Pleanala, or National Planning Board, as the project is thought to involve strategic infrastructure. That means Shell E&P Ireland has bypassed the local authority.
Rossport Five again
While the new proposed route is similar, in parts, to the original route, the main differences are that it now passes through an area of commonage—of which two of the previously jailed Rossport Five protesters are shareholders (OGJ Jan. 15, 2007, p. 40).
The proposed pipeline also will raise the eyebrows of environmentalists as it crosses under the seabed of Broadhaven Bay, an area of conservation under European Union law.
Local resident and Shell to Sea activist John Monaghan said residents in the area still have major concerns about the new route.
Monaghan said Shell’s contractors are planning to drill at the foot of Dooncarton—a site of recent landslides which required evacuation of villagers—and they want to route it under special areas of conservation that are habitats for protected species.
He also said the pipeline is being built to withstand a pressure of 144 bar—three times what an average Gas Board pipeline is built for—and it crosses under public roads in three places near Rossport.
Concerns rejected
A Shell spokeswoman rejected the concerns voiced by the Shell to Sea group about the proposed pipeline, saying that it is twice the distance to dwellings and is half the pressure of the previous line.
A week or so ago, Shell rejected a plan by seven Rossport residents—and three local priests who helped mediate between the two sides—to move the current gas terminal at Bellanaboy, north Mayo, to the more rural area of Glinsk, near Belderrig, north Mayo.
So far, Shell E&P Ireland has spent more than €200 million on the project, and one third of its gas processing terminal is already built. According to Shell, about 600 people are employed on the site, and 40% of these are from the surrounding areas.
About the only thing Shell E&P Ireland needs now is a shamrock or, maybe, a shillelagh.