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You are > Home > Wide range of reaction to Bord Pleanala decision on Terminal
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Wednesday, May 07, 2003
Wide range of reaction to Bord Pleanala decision on Terminal
There was lots of reaction last week to the decision of An Bord Pleanala to refuse planning permission for a Gas Terminal at Bellanaboy in North Mayo. Mayo County Council had earlier given permission for the development and appeals were lodged with the planning board by a number of groups and individuals.
Reaction to what was a surprise decision by the planning board ranged from “delight” that objectors had been vindicated to “shock” and “sadness” that a major development
proposal for Erris had been knocked.
There was considerable amazement that the multi-million Euro proposal should have been turned down solely on the grounds of containment of the
massive amount of peat (650,000 cubic metres) that would have had to have been removed from the
terminal site.
The Bord said that having regard to the contours of the area of the repositories, the amount and pattern of rainfall, the characteristics of the disaggregated peat, the method proposed for the moving of material and details of the system for retaining the deposited materials, the Board considered that the proposed surface drainage system would be ineffective in ensuring the integrity of the peat repositories as
permanent structures for the retention of peat and other unsuitable materials.
Partners in Corrib
The partners in the Corrib Gas Field are; Enterprise Energy Ireland, the operator, 45 per cent; Statoil Exploration (Ireland) Ltd., 36.5 per cent and Marathon International Petroleum Hibernia Ltd., 18.5 per cent.
In June 2002, the Royal Dutch/Shell group of companies acquired Enterprise Oil plc. and Enterprise Energy Ireland became a subsidiary of Shell.
Shell operate in over 135 countries and employ some 91,000 people. EEI has its headquarters in Dublin and employs almost 100 staff on the Corrib Gas
project.
Where it is
The Corrib Gas field is located 75 kilometres off the West Coast of Ireland in over 349 metres of water and was discovered by EEI in 1996. The gas is located a further 3,000 metres below the seabed.
Bringing the Corrib Gas Field into production would, according to EEI, require an investment of over E800m by EEI and its partners. To date over E185m. has been spent on exploration appraisal process.
Disappointed
Minister for Labour Affairs and former Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Frank Fahey, has expressed
disappointment at the
decision not to grant
permission to Enterprise Energy Ireland to build a natural gas treatment
terminal at Ballinaboy.
He said the fact the board was satisfied with the project in every respect with the exception of the storage of the peat was particularly disappointing. “One hopes that a solution to the problem can be found as quickly as possible,”” he said.
Wrong site
Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr. Tim Quinn said the decision made by An Bord Pleanala had to be accepted. He was disappointed that the
Company did not find a site that would have been
suitable and acceptable to people in the area.
He said he had never been in favour of the site selected and at various stages he had asked the Company to consider a number of alternatives.
He hoped the Company would now look at other sites in County Mayo. There were sites available to them that would not cause the same stress as the site at Ballinaboy.
Selection questions
On the question of site selection, and the Bellanaboy terminal proposal as opposed to a shallow water platform, EEI was very strong at the Bord Pleanala hearing in Ballina in saying the main consideration was economic costs and the distance that a pipeline would have to be laid
from well to reception
processing terminal.
Some of the costs given are as follows (the shallow water platform costs are in brackets); Drilling E165 m; (E165); Infield subsea
facilities E55m (E55m); pipeline E15km (E141); umbilical E38m (E25);
Platform E0 (E482);
Terminal E181 (E74) and Management E105 (E114).
The totals are E695 m. for an onshore terminal, with tieback to the gas wells
and, for a shallow water
platform, E1056m.
The proposal
The full site at
Ballinaboy comprises 165 hectares of which less than 70 hectares was proposed to be used in the provision of the terminal and associated development as follows:
24 hectares would be graded to provide a level base set at 32m. AOD for the proposed Terminal which would occupy approximately 15 hectares.
Some 39 hectares to the east of the proposed
terminal would be used for storage of excavated peat.
The options
Some of the options which were outlined at the oral hearing in Ballina were:
Full wellstation development and transfer of gas to shore at Bellanaboy. This was the option pursued by EEI and put through the planning process.
Subsea tie back to smaller water platform and then to shore. This was deemed not economically viable.
Deepwater fixed jacket on complaint tower. This, too, was deemed not
economically viable.
Floatation development. Also deemed not economically viable.
Landfall selection
Killala Bay, Rathfran, 140km tie back. This, according to EEI, was
outside the industry
experience.
Killala Bay, Rathlee, 140 km. tie back. Also outside industry experience.
Bunatrahir Bay, 120 km. tie back. The company said this tieback distance was also outside industry
experience.
Blacksod Bay, 80 km. tieback. In this case they said there was not viable on shore pipeline route.
Emlagh Point, Clew Bay, 105km. tie back. No viable onshore pipeline route.
Donoughmore Bay, Co. Clare, 240km. tieback. No viable onshore pipeline route.
A spokesman for the Pro Gas Group in Erris expressed surprise, shock and disappointment at the decision not to grant
permission for a gas
terminal at Bellanaboy.
Mr. Chris Tallott said he believed that most people were shocked at the
decision to refuse permission. “It is a setback for the region because the gas proposal, and the associated power station would have been major boosts to the area,” he said.
It was expected that if the gas came shore at Bellanaboy, it would be piped to a new power station at Bellacorick. That station was ready to go and people were looking forward to it.
The building of the gas terminal, the laying of the pipelines as well as the building of the new
generating station, as well as the jobs in it and in the gas terminal, would have been a major boost to Erris.
“It would definitely have been the next-best-think to the coming of the ESB Power Station and Bord na Mona to the area and it is definitely a big loss,” he said.
Mr. Tallott said he respected the decision by An Bord Pleanala. At no time did they say they wanted the development at the cost of any damage to County Mayo. With present technology he could not understand how the plans could not have been
progresses sufficiently to satisfy Bord Pleanala.
Mr. Tallott said the Pro Gas Group would be calling a meeting in the near future and they would be impressing on EEI that they should not leave the area.
Kenny urges Corrib gas investors to “persevere”
Fine Gael Leader Enda Kenny has said he is disappointed by the decision of An Bord Pleanála to refuse planning permission for the planned natural gas treatment terminal at Bellanaboy Bridge.
“While the grounds for refusing planning permission must be accepted, I would urge investors in the Corrib gas project to persevere,” the Leader of the Opposition said.
“Failure to develop the field will reduce the potential for development and employment in the West of Ireland and Bord Gáis have stated that the natural gas grid will only be extended to Mayo as part of the development of the Corrib project.
“As well as the loss of jobs during the construction phase, E1.5 million in commercial rates will be lost to the county as a result of the decision, and the power station at Bellacorrick – due to close next year – will not be replaced.
“While it is imperative the Corrib field be
developed with sufficient conditions to address the concerns of local residents, my hope is that investors in the project will not now walk away,” Deputy Kenny added.
Victory for
common sense and Mayo – An Taisce
The decision to turn down the proposal for the gas terminal has been described by a spokesperson for An Taisce as one of the most significant and progressive in the Board’s history.
An Taisce were one of the objectors to the
planning application. The spokesman said the decision by An Bord Pleanala averts what would have been a major unnecessary development in an inappropriate location, which would have been against the long term environmental and economic strategic interest of the region.
It added that the ruling spared the scenic North West coast of Mayo and Broadhaven Bay Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area` for Birds from a development which would have been prejudicial to its quality and integrity. While the decision related only to the gas processing terminal, the proposal formed part of an overall project requiring both offshore supply and disposal facilities with a pjipelink to the national gas grid which would now not proceed as a result.
An Taisce said when extraction schemes were proposed for natural gas they should work with – rather than against, the local environment; hence the locating of the terminal works was of key importance They added that the decision was a major vindication of the public interest, role and status of An Bord Pleanala as a decision making body.
An Taisce said that also considered as part of the decision was that although the proposed gas pipeline and terminal were going to be foisted on the locaility, none of the local communities or indeed the Mayo region, woud have been served by “this retrogressive scheme”.
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