December 5st, 2019
Calls for
the annulment of plans to import liquefied natural gas to Cork became more
prominent this week following the passing of a Green Party motion urging the
Port of Cork to cancel plans to provide fracking infrastructure in the harbour.
The Green Party pushed for the passing of
the motion in Cork County Council after it became aware that an American
company was in talks to import LNG into Ireland through the Port of Cork.
Speaking to The Green News, Alan
O’Connor the Green Party’s Councillor for Cobh, who authored the motion, said
it would be “hypocritical” to ban fracking in Ireland while using the
Port of Cork as an LNG terminal.
Emphasising that we should not forget that
the LNG that is going to be imported to Ireland is formed through potentially
dangerous fracking activities in the United States, Mr O’Connor described the
plans as “selfish”.
“Yes, we have banned fracking, but we
can’t turn our backs on the effects of fracking on communities elsewhere,”
he said. “It’s removing ourselves
from a situation that is not affecting us. I think it is selfish. I think this
line of thinking pervades our approach to environmental crises.”
Mr O’Connor said that American company
NextDecade had signed a “memorandum of understanding” with the Port
of Cork in 2017 “which opened up the possibility of developing LNG
infrastructure” in the harbour.
Stating that the Port of Cork is a “semi-state”
company, Mr O’Connor urged Minister for Transport Shane Ross TD and Minister for
Finance, Paschal Donohoe TD to use their ambit of influence to annul the
proposed plans.
“Still we don’t have the absolute power,
to tell the Port of Cork to do this or that, but we hope that this motion would
bring the public’s dissatisfaction to the Ministers attention,” he said.
Mr O’Connor added that Minister for Climate Action and Environment Richard Bruton TD must also feel obliged to voice his concerns about the issue, and intervene to stop the plans.
Save Rio Grande Valley from LNG
Eco-campaigners of Rio Grande Valley as
well as other communities in South Texas where NextDecade runs the Rio Grande
LNG project are also opposing the company’s prospective plans with the Port of
Cork.
The group has urged the Port of Cork to
“cut its ties” with NextDecade. The American campaigners have
spearheaded a campaign against fracking and LNG export and fracking activities
in their area for years.
The citizen environmental group, Save RVG
from LNG, has been in contact with Irish campaigners upon learning about the
prospective plans with the Port of Cork.
Green Party Councillor Oliver Moran told The
Green News that the party’s representatives in Cork were encouraged to
draft the motion after speaking to American activists in South Texas. Around one million American wells have been fracked since the 1940s.
The Port of Cork Company declined to comment at this time and NextDecade did not reply to requests for comment.
The Environmental Cost of Fracking
Many sandstones and shales, far below the
earth, contain natural gas, accumulated through the decomposition of dead
organisms in the rocks.
Fracking or hydraulic fracturing is a
process for extracting that gas by drilling into rocks and injecting
pressurised water, sand and various chemicals to force out the gas.
The chemicals added to the pressurised
water are meant to kill the bacteria and dissolver minerals. The formula, known
as “fracking cocktail” often includes acids, detergents and poisons,
prompting concerns for water pollution and other environmental contaminations.
Both methane gas and carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere as a result of fracking significantly contribute to the global climate crisis.
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