More mis-info "I" think!

national | environment | opinion/analysis Monday January 22, 2007 21:26 by confused local

Just a few points on S2S new health and safety document!

Who compiled the new health & safety document on the S2S website?
Shall we Take the "facts" one at time!
Firstly........"¨ His colleague, Mr David Ball an expert in the field of hydrogeology who was also employed by an board Plaenaela stated that Shell had utterly failed to consider the potential impact of bog bursts or bog slides in its plans for the terminal."
his comments were in relation to the plan to store the removed peat on site. (the peat is now to be relocated to Bangor and spread on bog previously used by board-na-Mona).

secondly......¨ "The table presented (Above right) has been taken from the Advantica report. The Advantica report is an independent report into the safety of the pipeline. This table indicates that a rupture at 144bar ""WOULD"" burn any house within a 166-metre radius and kill anyone within a 203-metre radius. This is a risk that Shell and our government are willing to accept. Considering that some of the houses in Rossport are just 70 metres away from the pipeline and considering the frequency of landslides in the local area it is a risk that the concerned residents of Rossport take serious issue with."

Have a look at the chart and see for yourself what Advantica stated!

Thirdly.......¨ Cold Venting- is essentially the release of gas that hasn’t been burned into the atmosphere. Pipeline standard gas is usually over 80% methane. The methane is lighter than air and thus floats up into the atmosphere. However the problem arises when heavier than air compounds and chemicals are dispersed into the air along with the methane. The fact that these toxic heavier than air compounds and chemicals come to ground within the proximity of the site poses an unacceptable health and safety risk to the local community."

All I ask is a incidence of this " health and safety risk to the local community" having been proven in similar cold venting anywhere on the planet?

Now have a look at the list of toxic chemicals below!

acetaldehyde (1.4+ mg) arsenic (500+ ng) benzo(a)pyrene (.1+ ng)
cadmium (1,300+ ng) crotonaldehyde (.2+ µg) chromium (1,000+ ng)
ethylcarbamate 310+ ng) formaldehyde (1.6+ µg) hydrazine (14+ ng)
lead (8+ µg) nickel (2,000+ ng) radioactive polonium (.2+ Pci)

No not a list of toxic emissions to air or water from a gas refinery.....
Just a partial list of the toxic chemicals in a cigarette!

And what about our family car?
And this is only the petrol engine (much cleaner than diesel)....

Exhaust chemicals - pathogenic possibilities.

Carbon monoxide
Nitrogen dioxide
Nitrogen monoxide
Sulphur dioxide
Suspended particles including PM-10, particles less than 10 microns
Benzene
Formaldehyde
Polycyclic hydrocarbons

I could go on and on and cover anything from household detergents to vapours from petrol stations but I think you get the picture!

Fourthly ....
"According to World Bank figures gas flaring in just one area (Bayelsa state) in the Niger delta has caused
49 premature deaths
4,960 respiratory illnesses among children, and
120,000 asthma attacks.

This is NOT from the world bank this data is from http://www.climatelaw.org/media/gas.flaring/report/section7
"friends of the earth Nigeria"

And finally ......"On the 30 of July 2004, the explosion of a gas pipeline killed 24 people and left 132 injured in the Belgian town of Ghislenghien 30 miles southwest of Brussels. The explosion melted or burned everything within a 400-metre radius. The Royal Dutch shell Company jointly owned this pipeline. "

Why would shell to sea use an example of an explosion of a "transmission" gas-pipeline carrying odorised natural gas to justify their (legitimate)concerns over the production gas-pipeline to bellinaboy?
This pipe exploded in Belgium it was at 60bar pressure (the transmission pipeline from corrib may be higher )
yet S2S say they want the refinery at sea and don't mind a transmission line passing through north Mayo!