Petition: Coastal area under threat from oil pipeline

August 23, 2007

Irish Community calls for support in struggle against Shell

[Friends of the Earth]

For over seven years a small community in a Gaelic speaking area on the west coast of Ireland has been fighting against plans by Shell oil and the Irish government to build a gas refinery and high pressure pipeline near their homes and an area of outstanding beauty. May 2007.

welcome to Rossport

For over seven years a small community in a Gaelic speaking area on the west coast of Ireland has been fighting against plans by Shell oil and the Irish government to build a gas refinery and high pressure pipeline near their homes and an area of outstanding beauty.

The proposed refinery site is situated on an area of blanket bog in the middle of a rural community and in the catchment area of Carrowmore Lake: a special area of conservation (S.A.C.) and the drinking water source for 10,000 people. The pipeline, with a capacity of up to 345 bar, is planned to run through a special area of conservation, under public roads and near homes through an area of unstable bog land. The outfall pipe from the refinery would pump polluted water into the pristine Broadhaven Bay, a special area of conservation, breeding ground for whales and dolphins and basis of the local fishing industry.

If built the proposed refinery and pipeline would have a detrimental effect on the local environment and the community it sustains. The resulting pollution of currently clean air and water would adversely affect health, wildlife and livelihoods based on fishing, farming and tourism. The high-pressure gas pipeline would pose an unacceptable risk to the health and safety of the people in the area.

The community and campaign organising against the project have called themselves 'Shell to Sea' because they are calling for the gas to be cleaned in a clean safe manner at sea on a rig or using 'twister technology'. In June 2005 five men from the community were jailed for 94 days for refusing to allow Shell engineers to stake out the route of the pipeline without guarantees of the pipe’s safety. From June 2005, when the ‘Rossport 5’ as they became known were jailed, until October 2006 residents in the area maintained pickets at all Shell’s work sites effectively stopping work for sixteen months. On the 3rd October almost two hundred police were drafted into the area to facilitate Shell in restarting work. Since October large numbers of police have remained in the area. Police have a policy of non-arrest and have instead used violence to deter protesters. On 10th November 2006 local campaigners and their supporters were baton charged whileconducting a peaceful protest at the proposed refinery site.In April 2007 Willie Corduff a local community activist won the Goldman Prize, 'the Nobel Prize for the environment' in recognition of the struggle of he and his neighbours against Shell. The prize has bolstered our campaign but the struggle is far from over.

What you can do:

*Sign petition:

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/shelltosea

*Get informed: http://www.shelltosea.com, www.indymedia.ie/mayo for regular updates. Thereare several short films on www.youtube.com, (type in 'rossport' or 'shell to sea').