Corrib Gas Development
Project Monitoring Committee
Minutes of the Project Monitoring Committee Meeting held on 12th May, 2010 in Áras an Chontae, Castlebar, at 11.00am.
Present: Mr. Joseph Beirne, County Manager (Chairman)
Mr. Peter Hynes, Mayo County Council
Mr. Padraic Walsh, Mayo County Council
Mr. Mark Carrigy, SEPIL
Mr. Tony Doyle, SEPIL
Mr. Brendan Butler, SEPIL
Mr. Richard Cosgrove, Bord na Móna
Mr. Maurice McDonnell, National Parks & Wildlife Service
Mr. Seamus Gaughan, Community Representative
Mr. Chris Tallott, Community Representative
Mr. Patrick Barrett, Community Representative
Garda Sgt. James Gill
Mr. Michael Hughes, NWRFB
Mr. Dick McKeever, DoEHLG
Mr. Ciarán Ó hÓbáin, Dept. CENR
Garda Sgt. James Gill
Apologies: Ms. Agnes McLaverty, SEPIL
Mr. Ray Smith, EPA
Mr. Denis Strong, NPWS, DoEHLG
In attendance: Ms. M. Finnerty, Mayo County Council.
At the commencement, the members of the Committee congratulated Mr. Hynes and wished him well on his new appointment as Mayo County Manager.
1. Minutes
The Minutes of the Meeting of the Project Monitoring Committee held on 10th March 2010 and already circulated, were agreed, having been proposed by Mr. Cosgrove and seconded by Mr. Carrigy.
2. Matters arising
The Chairman thanked SEPIL for hosting the recent visit by Members of Mayo County Council to the Terminal Site, which he stated was very informative and worthwhile.
3. Water Quality – Carrowmore Lake
Mr. Walsh outlined the position in relation to the water quality as set out in report circulated to the Members, copy of which, together with analysis results is available on www.mayococo.ie In relation to biological water quality monitoring, Mr. Walsh indicated that results were similar to the last number of years, which indicated a healthy aquatic environment.
4. Updates:
§ Roadworks/Transportation:
Mr. Walsh informed the meeting that road reconstruction works have been carried out on the N59 at Main Street, Bangor at a cost of €100,000 and that no other works were ongoing at present.
§ Bord na Móna:
Mr. Cosgrove updated the meeting on the Srahmore Peat Repository indicating that there were no non-compliances, no complaints received or no incidents recorded at the site since the last meeting. A copy of the Bord na Móna report is available on www.mayococo.ie
5. Update on Terminal
Mr. Butler gave an update on the Terminal Site as set out in report circulated – copy of which is available on www.mayococo.ie. He indicated that work on the project is currently in excess of 90% complete and on target for the introduction of backfeed gas from the BGE network by late summer 2010.
6. Environmental Issues
Mr. Doyle updated the meeting on environmental issues on site as set out in report circulated, copy of which is available on www.mayococo.ie He indicated that no complaints or incidents were recorded since the last meeting. There were two surface water exceedances during the months of March and April, which were due to a short period of intense rainfall. However, conditions quickly returned to normal after the rainfall subsided.
7. Local Issues
Mr. Hynes outlined the concerns of local people which were raised at the recent North West Community Forum Meeting regarding evacuation measures in the event of an emergency. These concerns were noted by Mr. Carrigy who indicated that SEPIL have emergency arrangements in place in the event of an emergency on site in the operations phase. He also indicated that liaison will take place with the Emergency Services and local community well in advance of the backfeed of gas, regarding emergency procedures during that phase.
8. Any other business
The members of the Committee thanked Mr. Beirne for his chairmanship of and contribution to the Project Monitoring Committee over the past number of months.
It was agreed that the next meeting of the PMC will take place in Castlebar on 14th July 2010 at 11.00am.
This concluded the business of the meeting.