8 Killed in Gas Pipeline Explosion In Indonesia
The safety of the Shells controversial gas pipeline in Erris, Co Mayo has once again been called into question following yet another fatal pipeline rupture and explosion, this time in Java, Indonesia. The explosion on November 21st which killed at least eight people, sent flames soaring over 500meters into the air. The rupture has been attributed to shifts in the ground surrounding the pipeline which have occurred as a direct result of gas exploration works in the area.
For those involved in the Shell to Sea campaign the parallels are frightening. One section of route of the proposed Shell pipeline crosses ground that is prone to landslides while another section is composed of deep bog. Already Shell has hit major construction problems, both along the pipeline route and at the proposed refinery site in Bellanaboy where machinery is regularly sinking into the bog. Three years ago there was a massive landslide in Pollatomish which is located directly across the Bay from Rossport.
Speaking in relation to the explosion Éirígí chairperson Brian Leeson drew parallels between the Shell to Sea campaign and the anti-nuclear campaign of the late 1970’s and the early 1980’s -
Landslide Near the Pipeline
“It’s interesting to look at the anti-nuclear campaign of twenty years ago and note the similarities with today’s Shell to Sea campaign. The anti-nuclear campaign was focused around Carnsore point in co Wexford, an isolated coastal community like Rossport. The issues involved were environmental and community consent as they are today. The anti-nuclear campaign consisted of many localised groups across the country working together for a common objective as is Shell to Sea. That campaign saw mass mobilisations to the site of the proposed nuclear plant with Dessie O’Malley threatening to use the Twenty-Six County state army to remove “20,000 hippies”. Today it his old friend McDowell who is sending in the troops.
He continued “But most importantly, in light of the recent fatal pipeline explosion in Indonesia, it was a major international failure of the proposed technology with the near melt-down of the Three Mile Island nuclear power station in the United States that put the final nail in the coffin of the Carnsore project. The proposed pipeline in Rossport crosses the levels of acceptable risk and this explosion in Indonesia demonstrates what happens when pipelines rupture. The final parallel between Shell to Sea and the anti-nuclear campaign; they won!”