Important Update from Erris.
The word is – Shell are pulling out of Glengad and suspending work till early Spring. Shell ‘consultants’ are informing local residents that the beach is being ‘reinstated’ and the work will take a number of weeks.
The Solitaire has moved on and is ‘off hire’ to Shell.
No press release has issued from Shell and they are behind in their weekly ‘progress’ reports to the PAD (Petroleum Affairs Divison) of Minister Eamon Ryan’s Department of Communication, Energy and Natural Resources, which can normally be read here: http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Natural/Petroleum+Affairs+Division/Corrib+Gas+Field+Development/SEPIL+Weekly+Progress+Reports+to+PAD.htm
It appears that Shell are wrapping up operations at the proposed landfall site in Glengad. The trench excavated through the cliffs into the protected areas is being backfilled, and the causeway built out into Broadhaven Bay is being removed. Also one side of the site fencing on the beach has been removed. And the cable drum has been removed from the winch.
Unfortunately the commencement of removing the causeway will not be able to remove the hundreds of tonnes of fine material, which has been washed away, polluting the local sea area for miles. Fishermen have said they can see the discolouration in the water 5 or 6 miles away from the Shell beach compound.
Various materials which Shell were supposed to have kept stored and separate in the compound, have in fact been mixed and stored on the beach and much of this, as well as unsuitable causeway materials, has been washing away for months now, through high tides and rain.
Broken concrete and steel have also been added to these material heaps, which I would assume will be dumped or buried on site, whether on the beach or inside the compound in the SAC/SPA. It appears that this ‘foreign rubble’ is now being used to fill the trench which was dug through the cliff to take the pipe.
The Solitaire has left Scotland for the Spanish port of Algeerias, near Gibraltar, a main bunker port, several days ago.
For unknown reasons Shell continue to employ boats to sit in the bay a few hundred metres from the landfall site, with 3 boats there this morning, including a small tug / winch boat. Its not clear what if anything they are doing.
The road widening and upgrades to facilitate Shell have continued, with Mayo County Council closing or blocking the road for long periods despite vehement local objections to these upgrade works, with people living along the route being forced to block the sides of the road at their properties to prevent the Council stealing their margins to widen the road for Shell.
I would remind people who are interested that AFRI are holding a Hedge School, which looks to be even better than last year’s with a weekend of talks from some very relevant people, http://www.corribsos.com/index.php?id=515&event=1 or http://www.afri.ie for details. That’s the 24th, 25th & 26th Oct.