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Aug 27 - GSD Says Government Have Failed To Consult Public In Run Up To Power Station EIA

The GSD Opposition says it has taken time to consider the outcome of yesterday’s DPC meeting to grant a certificate for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the LNG power station and believes that the ‘rubber stamping’ exercise “has only served to continue the series of flawed processes that have existed throughout this project.” The party says that it is unfortunate that the same information made available in advance to the committee had not been made available to the Opposition despite requests.

The  GSD believes that the fact that the EIA has examined the impact of the LNG power station in isolation without examining the impact and associated safety risks of LNG storage, despite the fact that LNG storage will be a fundamental necessity of the power station, “demonstrates the disingenuous way in which Government continues to try and conceal from the public the full extent of the risk to which they will be exposed.”

A statement continued: “The manner in which the concerns of the representative of the petitioners was dealt with was disappointing. Firstly, on being asked how many had signed the petition, the town planner stated ‘a few hundred’. GBC had reported the previous evening that 1,400 had signed, the least that should have happened is that an accurate tally of this figure, each signatory representing a concerned citizen, should have been made. The petitioner’s representative raised concerns about noise, pollution and safety. The first two issues were dealt with by comparing with current conditions of having the old power station in the area rather than with having no power station in the area; the GSD does not believe this to be a fair comparison. The third and most critical concern, that of safety, was dismissed as outside the scope on the EIA.

“The fact that residents in the area had not been a part of the consultation process during the drafting of the EIA, whereas businesses in the very same buildings had, goes to demonstrate how flawed this process has been and how Government have failed in their duty to consult the public.

“The ESG raised further reasonable concerns about the process and indeed whether the power station used best possible technology to clean emissions, particularly when running on diesel. Minister Cortes admitted that it did not as currently designed but that additional measures, specifically for the use of diesel, would be introduced ensuring compliance with regulations. This exposed the lie that Government has been peddling about the use of diesel for power production being environmentally unacceptable and triggering fines from the EU.

“Finally, it is clear from the meeting that the MoD has raised issues regarding the EIA, the town planner was at pains to highlight that these issues would be addressed directly between the Government and the MoD, this despite the fact that the MoD had a seat at the table. How is it possible for the DPC to approve the EIA without knowing what issues the MoD has raised? Another demonstration of how this meeting was simply a rubber stamping exercise.

“It remains clear that the Government is committed to building an LNG power station on the North Mole and will find ways to bulldoze this through all opposition, regardless of the legitimate safety concerns of organisations and people. No genuine public consultation has, or will take place, as required by EU legislation. The GSD remains committed to halting this project and would, if elected, revert to its plans to build at Lathbury.”



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