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Shell expert witnesses address local pipeline fears

Petroleum company Shell Ireland is expecting local resistance over the last section of the controversial Corrib gas pipeline. An Bord Pleanála hearing into the project, which opened in September, has been extended for another week due to lengthy questioning by objectors.

At the hearing in Co Mayo, Shell expert witnesses addressed questions put by locals about design, stability and safety of the project.

Esmonde Keane, senior counsel for Shell, hoped the oral hearing process would help to assure people the pipeline was safe. The resumed hearing is deliberating on a revised application by Shell, which involves tunnelling a section of the pipeline route under the Sruwaddacon estuary, an area of conservation.

The local community is also concerned about compulsory acquisition orders by Shell for access to lands along the newly modified route, the third proposed by the developer.

Gerry Costelloe, for Shell, said the codes of practice for safety to be applied to the project had been set by a technical advisory group under the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

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