Hearing on Corrib Gas plans
Monday, 16 April 2007 20:55
A public hearing on the granting of an operating licence for the ¤200m Corrib Gas refinery opened in Belmullet, Co Mayo, this morning.
The hearing has been organised by the Environmental Protection Agency to decide whether the refinery should be granted a pollution control licence.
Submissions will be taken over the next two weeks.
13 groups including An Taisce, the Erris Inshore Fishermen's Association and members of the Shell to Sea campaign group are objecting to the terminal on health and safety grounds.
Some local residents and environmentalists will also be lodging objections at the hearing.
The EPA gave plans for the refinery a major boost when it announced in January that it intended to licence its operation subject to 85 conditions.
The EPA said it believed the terminal would not adversely affect human health or the environment.
One person was arrested for public order offences during a demonstration at the site this morning.
