EDWARD MORAN,
Sir, - David Rooney's cartoon of August 23rd gives a simplistic and lop-sided message regarding Mayo people's stance on this sorely neglected issue of national significance.
As a member of PEGG (Pro Erris Gas Committee) I'd like to make a few crucial points.
Onshore cleaning of gas is unacceptable because of the hazards and pollution it poses. It was not tolerated in the development of the Kinsale field 25 years ago, and it would represent a major step backwards now because:
1. It involves removing condensate (akin to crude oil) from the gas. Disposing of this condensate is an extremely dirty business as currently proposed, that is by incinertion on-site resulting in 60,000 tons of emission to air each year.
2. It requires injection of methanol (akin to anti-freeze, flashpoint 11 degrees C) into the gas at source.
This requires colossal storage, separation and re-circulation facilities at the onshore terminal, 70 kilometres distant from the gas field.These in turn must be supplemented several years down the line with equally colossal refrigeration cum compression facilities.
Offshore cleaning, by contrast, eliminates both of those fundamental problems: the condensate would simply be pumped back into the well or tankered off to an oil refinery; while methanol would not be needed at all since clean gas does not need a dilutant.
Consequently, these major sources of hazard and pollution would be avoided while the benefits would remain.
The Troll gas field, which is by far the largest in the North Sea, is the same distance offshore and lies in the same depth of water (350 metres) as the Corrib Field but, at a latitude of 60 degrees North, has a much harsher climate. Offshore cleaning presents no problem there and in fact since 1998 it has led the world in on-site sea-bed cleaning, which is generally agreed to be the future standard for such operations.
Consortium partners Shell and Statoil are major operators in the Troll field and there is every reason to believe that they will implement those high standards in the Corrib field. - Yours, etc.,
EDWARD MORAN,
Chapel Street,
Belmullet,
Co Mayo.