ONE OF the Rossport Five who was jailed five years ago over health and safety concerns about the Corrib gas project has said there is “no significant change” to the community concerns.
Rossport resident Vincent McGrath, who is chairman of north Mayo community group Pobal Chill Chomáin, was commenting on Shell’s new proposal to run the last link in the gas pipeline through Sruwaddacon estuary, avoiding Rossport village.
The new 5,000 page submission by Shell and its Corrib gas partners to An Bord Pleanála was published on the internet yesterday.
Shell proposes tunnelling under Sruwaddacon estuary, which is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), from the Glengad landfall. Shell says the new routing is 234 metres away from the nearest occupied house – more than three times the original distance.
It is expected that an oral hearing into Shell’s revised submission will resume in early autumn, following the four-week public consultation which ends on July 28th.
Mr McGrath said there was “no significant change to the project” which would reassure the communities living on both sides of Sruwaddacon estuary.
“It’s still the same plan,” he added.
“We have a right and a duty to oppose this project because it threatens our health, safety and our environment,” he said.
