The proposed gas terminal for the Corrib Gas Field off north Mayo is to be constructed and operated in such a way as to have minimal environmental impact on the surrounding area, according to representatives of the applicant company, Enterprise Energy Ireland (EEI).
Speaking in Ballina yesterday at the first day of an oral hearing by An Bord Pleanála into the granting of permission by Mayo County Council for the facility, which was attended by up to 200 delegates, EEI speakers stressed that efforts taken to limit its visual impact would be so strenuous as to make the completed project practically imperceptible.
Mr John Easey, terminal project manager, said because the gas itself was so pure, it would require no treatment other than the removal of water and small amounts of impurities.
The terminal would be built to the highest environmental and safety standards on an optimum 15-hectare level site of cleared blanket bog situated in the middle of a 165-hectare site.
Subject to planning permission, EEI was also prepared to purchase an adjacent wooded Coillte site which would further conceal the plant.
The buildings themselves, occupying no more than three fields, would be painted in earthy and sky blue tones, lending even greater camouflage.
Additionally, care would be taken in the operation of the terminal to ensure minimal air, light and sound emissions while the impact on the existing drainage discharge system would be negligible and dust-suppression techniques would be used as required.
Completing his presentation, Mr Easey provided a virtual reality on-screen video tour of the proposed facility.
Mr Brian O'Cathain, managing director of EEI, said the development of the terminal would assist in the economic and social regeneration of Mayo and the north west. The region had been shown in a Western Development Commission survey to be lagging several years behind the rest of the country. The facility would contribute to "sustainable development in the area".
Nationally, the tapping of the gas would increase Ireland's supply of secure and indigenous clean energy and would lower the dependency on foreign fuel imports by feeding into the national electricity grid primarily for domestic use. The Corrib Oil Gas Field is a 230-million-year-old gas reservoir located 70km off north Mayo. The reservoir is 3,000 metres under the seabed and has a life supply expectancy of up to 20 years.
Under the proposed plan, the gas is to be drilled directly from the seabed, in waters described as harsh and more hostile than those found in the Gulf of Mexico.
From there it will flow through a pipeline into Broadhaven Bay and from there to the proposed reception terminal at Bellanaboy, north Mayo, where it will be treated for onward distribution to Craughwell (subject to the granting of planning permission to Bord Gáis Éireann for a pipeline to Craughwell which is awaited from an oral hearing held before last Christmas) and into the Bord Gáis national grid.
Chairman of the oral hearing Mr Kevin Moore, senior planning Inspector with An Bord Pleanála, emphasised that the oral hearing is essentially a fact-finding mission and not an assessment of the terminal.
If delegates were unhappy with his method of procedure, they could seek remedy outside, he said.
Mr Peter Sweetman, on behalf of concerned residents in Belmullet, had minutes previously objected to the exclusion of EIS evidence.
He added that there were seven appellants on record, (including An Taisce, Dúchas, Bellanaboy Concerned Citizens, Friends of the Irish Environment and the Erris Fishermen's Association) who will be allowed to address the hearing tomorrow, and 10 submissions from observers.
A total of 13 issues have to be investigated and while two weeks has been allotted for the hearing, he was hopeful the matter could be concluded within a week.