The Curious Case Of The Minister And The Missing Safety Valve.

National Grid are happy as larry. Pipeline Tsar David Mercer claims today that their "tremendous engineering achievement" is now finally complete. As usual with National Grid, this claim is true, and then it's not true. A testament to Mercer's finely honed ability to twist and wriggle around the real issue, kind of like a worm on a sharp hook.

It may well be true that the pipeline is complete. The stations - without which the pipeline is useless - are another matter. They are far from complete. And when Malcolm Wicks happily flicked his safety valve at Felindre this afternoon, we can only hope that the safety valve in question was the same one that was raised by a Swansea councillor at a planning meeting at the end of last year.

At that farcical planning meeting, during which the Felindre Compressor Station was discussed and "approved", a local Labour Party councillor raised a concern about the amount of safety valves at the proposed station. This concern was based on observations made at a site visit 3 weeks previously. Exactly what was discussed on this site visit is hard to ascertain, as members of the public were excluded. The inference was that there may be a valve missing.

These valves, known in the industry as "block valves" work to isolate sections of pipeline in the event of a leak, or worse, a full blown rupture.

And while the good Councillor was concerned to clarify that there was a valve to protect the Swansea area, he inadvertedly touched on a larger issue. Many concerned residents have raised concerns about the number of safety valves along the pipeline. It's not hard to intuit that, given the length of the pipe and the tremendous pressure it operates at, there should be more than 2 valves along 314 kilometres of pipeline. This concern has never been adequately addressed.

A report commissioned by Ofgem at the end of 2005, for example, costed 2 safety valves along the 196 kilometre length of Phase 2. As it stands, there's only one, at Llanwrda. So what happened to the other one? At a cost of 250,000 quid apiece that's not even half of the cool 600,000 Chief Honcho Steve Holliday was paid last year.

With an estimated 120 tonnes of gas sitting in every mile-long stretch of pipeline, these valves are kind of important...

To put this issue in perspective, consider that Murphy pipelines, the contractor working on the eastern half of Phase 2, constructed another pipeline between Belfast and Derry in Northern Ireland a few years ago. This smaller 112 km pipeline had no less than 5 valves along it's length, even though it was contracted to operate at a lower pressure.

This issue of safety valves, while it certainly perplexed Councillor Roger Smith (Clydach), didn't stop him doing what so many other Labour councillors have done over the last 4 years. Having queried a planning officer who had just told him that the Environment Statement was a "wonderful document" even though "he hadn't read it all" he went ahead and voted for the application anyway.

Go figure.

Euro Petition Handed In...

Jill Evans (Left) and Irish MEP Kathy Sinnot hand in a joint petition to Chair Marcin Libicki

Plaid Euro MEP Jill Evans has now handed in a petition to the European Committee on Petitions. The Welsh petition has been handed in jointly with another one by Irish campaigners who are fighting a planned terminal on the Shannon Estuary.

A Terminal Problem

Gordon Brown yesterday announced new anti-terror measures, including plans to erect safety barriers around major facilities and also ensure new buildings are made from blast-proof material.

Maybe he'd like to start with the perimeter fence around the Dragon LNG terminal...

Currently winging it's way to a number of press outlets - but you heard it here first...

Ymgyrchwyr yn Erbyn y Beipen Nwy LNG yn Baratoi i Fynd i Ewrop.

Mae ymgyrchwyr yn erbyn y Terminalau a beipen nwy LNG sy’n torri trwy cymru yn baratoi i gymryd eu hachos i’r Undeb Ewropeaidd, gyda cymorth yr Aelod Seneddol Ewropeaidd, Jill Evans.

Mae Ms Evans wedi ymgynghori ymgyrchwyr o ardaloedd Penfro, Abertawe a Gastell Nedd fod nhw’n gallu gosod deiseb gyda’r Pwyllgor Deisebion ym Strasbourg, ac ei fod yn bosib y fydden nhw’n gael ymchwiliad mor gynnar a Mis Rhagfyr.

Meddai llefarydd ar ran yr Ymgyrchwyr, Jim Dunckley, "Mae Jill yn Aelod Seneddol Ewropeaidd gyda record dda o gymryd lan achosion grwpiau cymunedol ac amgylchfydol dros y flynyddoedd. Roedd hi’n mwy na hapus i siarad gyda ni a helpu ni cymryd ein hachos i Ewrop. Mae hi wedi ymgynghori ni am y bosibiliad fod y brosiect, neu rhannau o’r brosiect, yn redeg yn erbyn nifer o Directives yr Undeb."

"Er mai’r brosiect hon yn gael ei gomisiynu ar hyn o bryd, mae dal lot o gwestiynau sydd heb eu hateb gyda ni, yn arbennig am ddiogelwch a’r ffordd mae’r brosiect wedi cael ei roi trwy’r drefn cynllunio. Gan mai’r awdurdodau yng Nghaerdydd a Llundain wedi methu ni yn gyfangwbwl, teimlai fod gyda ni ddim dewis ond i fynd i Ewrop. Mae gyda ni lot fawr o dystiolaeth nawr a’r bosibiliad o gael y gyfle i dystio.

"Mae’n siom fawr i ni fod ein llywodraeth etholedig cyntaf yng Nghymru wedi methu sefyll lan i National Grid er mwyn diogelu ein cymunedau . Mi wnaethon ni ysgrifennu at y cyn Ysgrifennydd yr Amgylchfyd, Carwyn Jones i galw arno fe i "Galw Mewn" y Brosiect hon a wnaeth e anwybyddu ein llythyron. Mae’n eitha glir i ni erbyn hyn fod y Blaid Llafur yn hapus i roi Brydain yn gyntaf a werin bobl Cymru yn ail."

--Diwedd--


Pipeline Campaigners Take Their Fight to Europe.

Local campaigners from communities affected by the giant LNG pipeline project crossing Wales have teamed up with Plaid Euro MEP Jill Evans to take their case to the European Union.

Local campaigners Liz Whomsley and Jim Dunckley and other affected residents are preparing to lodge a petition with the European Committee of Petitions, and have been advised by Ms Evans and her team that the LNG pipeline project may be in breach of certain EU directives.

Jim Dunckley said: " Jill Evans is a Member of the European Parliament with a long-standing history of representing community and environmental groups, and she was more than happy to meet with us and take up our case. She has advised us that we can now lodge a formal petition, and that the Petitions Committee may invite representatives over to testify to the Committee as early as the middle of December, which is great news."

"Many of us feel that the democratic process in Wales and the rest of the UK has let us down badly, and that we are given no option but to try outside the UK. We attempted to get the relevant parts of this project "called in" by former environment minister Carwyn Jones, who refused to even meet with us or respond to many of our letters."

"There are still many unanswered questions around this project, and with the prospect of further pipeline and energy projects in Wales, a public enquiry is urgently needed. National Grid have trampled on many of our communities and ignored legitimate concerns. We need to make sure it never happens again."

--Ends--