Worries about the expansion of Bellanaboy Refinery Site

mayo | environment | news report

Tuesday April 17, 2007 13:30

by Shell to Sea

dublinshelltosea at gmail dot com

134 Phibsborough Road Dublin 7

0871323369

How big will Bellanaboy get?

People around the country and abroad have expressed concern at the news that Statoil are considering using the Bellanaboy gas refinery to process gas found in blocks they've licensed off the west coast of Ireland.

Campaigners against the Irish government-backed pipeline and refinery scheme have always said that the huge amount of Coilte land that Shell got hold of indicated that the refinery site would grow.

If the initial scheme is allowed to be forced through, then planning for a "brownfield" site would be easy to get , so expansion of the refinery, and addition of more dangerous pipelines, is inevitable.

The article in the Mayo news below, finds that the no-one in the government, Shell or Statoil is refuting this anymore.

Protests against peat removal from refinery site at Bellanaboy site

Statoil plans heightens concern

Anton McNulty

CAMPAIGNERS opposed to the controversial Corrib gas pipeline and refinery at Bellanaboy have said that possible plans by Statoil to use the pipeline to transport gas from a field four times bigger than the Corrib field have reaffirmed fears that the site will be used for further development.
Statoil, who are one of the partners along with Shell in the Corrib gas project, have begun searching for gas in an adjacent area off the Mayo coast and they have confirmed that if any gas is found it is possible that Statoil could use the Corrib gas pipeline being built by Shell to transport it.
Statoil co-owns the exploration rights to the two areas it plans to explore with Shell, but unlike the Corrib gas project, Statoil are the senior partner and are solely responsible for the exploration work. The companies have held on to one of the two areas since 1994 and secured the rights to explore another area last year. The size of the two areas totals 1,970 square kilometres compared to 467 square kilometres for the area that produced the Corrib gas find.

The news of the gas exploration work and the possibility of using the Corrib gas pipeline came as little surprise to the opponents of the Corrib gas project who said they have constantly raised the issue of further development of the site. re is the development of a site with the capacity for expansion,” said Mark Garavan.

Here is a link to the rest of the article: http://tinyurl.com/3yp5qg

A spokesperson for Shell to Sea, John Monaghan told The Mayo News that at all the planning stages they have always tried to highlight the issue of expansion at Bellanaboy, but this was refuted by the developers, who said it was a once-off. He said the news that Statoil would look to use the site is confirmation that the site will not just be about Corrib and will lead to the increase in the industrialisation of a rural area.

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Comments (6 of 6)

re N word

by dirty mittens

Wed Apr 18, 2007 13:50

Well spotted CK... veterans of Carnsore point must remember the whys and wherefores of proposing to put the first proposed nuclear plant in Ireland in Wexford. Thinking very far ahead is one of the privileges shared by both precarious misfit & inbred aristocrat. It's a privilege which comes from either giving up on the need and stress of a mortgage & life insurance or just hoping enough middle class oiks will pay to see your furniture collection to pay the roofing bill. I'm not a nuclear plant expert, I know nothing about them - I can't even recognise them. About twenty years ago sitting on the back seat of a car driving through the midlands at dusk I remember the shadow of the cooling towers of one of the turn burning ESB plants come slowly over the flat horizon & I remained convinced for many months later that there was a secret nuclear plant between Dublin and Athlone just because of the outline. I suppose you need a large supply of fresh water, proximity to sea, secure rail or road or port links to get your uranium in - and solid enough ground. You'd also need a workforce just like the ones whose bodies were illegally kept in storage and cut up into little bits by BNFL at Windscale/Sellafied/Thorp (a factoid reported in today's english times :- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1668686.ece
Imagine that - they cut their workers' hearts out without telling their families and put them in petrie dishes. Does that strike you as a Union Issue?

Mayo [¿sits (I believe I'm not a geologist) on the oldest rock strata or type of rock (¿pre-cambrian?)?]in Ireland. It would have a workforce, water, proximity to sea - but the logistics of getting the ingredients in - uranium, heavy water all that stuff.....

Is there an expert in the house? Where would you put an Irish nuclear plant?
Last thing for moment directly related to Mayo and the expansion of the site - we all now know that IrlGov has succeeded in expanding its shelf zone. That wasn't done for the fish or fairies. Mayo is honestly at a geopolitical level much more important than many people are getting. How you stop Shell has a bearing on the strategies which will be used by both states and multi-nat-corps in the future in other places "coming online with demand". Don't stop till you stop Shell.

The N word

by CK

Wed Apr 18, 2007 12:51

IBEC is pushing hard for the building of a nuclear reactor.
Guess where it will be situated now that N. Mayo has a reputation for dirty industry?

Tribune article

by Tribune reader

Wed Apr 18, 2007 10:30

There was an article in the Sunday Tribune last week speculating on Statoil's plans:

http://indymedia.ie/publish?story_id=81993

"STATOIL, one of the partners behind the Corrib gas project, has begun searching for gas in an adjacent area off the Mayo coast which is four times the size of the original Corrib field..."

dept of marine plans for more refineries

by Eve

Tue Apr 17, 2007 18:43

For along time the suspicians about more refineries and or the expansion of the Bellanaboy site were just well informed speculation, but there are actually documents on the dept marine website (PAD publications section) speaking about "facilites adjacent to the existing Corrib gas terminal" and expanison of the currently planned refinery.

Terry wrote a good article about this, its at http://www.indymedia.ie/article/80242

So much gas, so much hot air

by Andy Pyle

Tue Apr 17, 2007 14:40

Oh yes. They'll train you up instead of bringing in their own guys from Aberdeen (where they have too many trained staff). Shell have the best interests of the people of Mayo at heart. It's not like Nigeria, or South Africa, or the North Sea, or Venezuela, or the United States, or Russia...

Good news for Mayo

by Mayo Man

Tue Apr 17, 2007 14:06

I would like to welcome the news that more gas could be brought ashore in Mayo. This will in no doubt lead to increased Jobs for this employment black spot and Mayo in general.

Let's hope the 'Few' have not put off Statoil from bringing the Gas ashore in Mayo. It would be a great shame if the gas was piped to Donegal or even further a field.

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Worries about the expansion of Bellanaboy Refinery Site

Comments (6 of 6)