New pipeline route will be announced within weeks

http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3469&Itemid=38 Taking it all in?Journalists are given a guided tour of the Corrib gas processing plant at Bellanaboy.?Pics: John O’Grady New pipeline route will be announced within weeks Áine Ryan THE announcement of the new Corrib gas pipeline route is due in the coming weeks. Speculation that the final route will be the most direct corridor down Sruwaddaccon Bay has been dismissed by RPS Director, Mr PJ Rudden. He told The Mayo News at the weekend that such rumours were ‘pure speculation’. “As I’ve said before, we have to achieve a sensible balance between the social issues involved while minimising the impact on the environment,” said Mr Rudden. All three routes are within designated environmentally sensitive areas under the EU Habitats Directive. There are also nearby single houses and clusters of houses. The Government Mediator, Mr Peter Cassells – appointed in the aftermath of the Rossport Five jailings in 2005 – recommended the modification of the original route in the vicinity of Rossport, where he observed the route ran just 70 metres from the nearest occupied house. Mr Rudden also told The Mayo News that RPS will this week fix controversial boreholes inadvertently made in a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) last October. “The Minister’s [John Gormley] order required that we make a proposal on the manner in which we intended the holes to be repaired. We made that proposal before Christmas and they then sought clarifications. The procedures were agreed upon last week and we now plan to carry out the [restorative] work this week,” said Mr Rudden.