SYRIANA

I watched a very insightful and thought provoking film the other night. On the face of it, Syriana, an Academy Award-winning film starring American actor George Clooney, starts off about Oil, and ends up about Gas. But ultimately, maybe, it’s about Energy, and thus, Power, and who wields it, and the secret places they wield it from.

The film pans out across disparate locations around the globe, unconnected like random points of light viewed from space. Iran. China. Geneva, Switzerland. The United States (of course). Russia. Marbella, Spain. Holiday resort, or a good place to do deals? The film skips about and confuses the viewer, but maybe it’s just that we live in a confusing world, where the locus of responsibility is hard to pin down, and this film just embraces that reality.

Corporate mergers. Shell companies and dodgy accounting practices. Warring royal factions in the Middle East. CIA intervention. Hizbollah. Beirut. Assassinations and internal investigations. Derivatives trading. Peak Oil and Pipelines. Madrassas. Suicide Bombers. Take your shiny corporate coin and flip it to reveal the dark reality of our growing dependency on a world that even the Central Intelligence Agency doesn’t understand anymore…

And so on one level it may never make sense to us how “radical” Islam could drive a young Pakistani boy into seeking illumination in the path of an LNG tanker. And what use a double-hull against the best American-made weaponry? Is this what the intelligence community means by “Blowback”?

But squint your eyes and the vast, floating bomb you witness at the end of this chilling film could well be destined for, or even moored in Milford Haven, and then you’ll realise the real truth, tucked between the multilayered sheets of this revealing clever film.

That Syriana is here too. It’s everywhere.

Watch this film.

A River Runs Through It…

2007 is proving to be an unpredictable year on the weather front. After practically the hottest April on record, May has proved to be a bit of a wet blanket. The Environment Agency, in particular, must be breathing a sigh of relief.

April’s hot weather prompted them to urge the public to conserve water, amid fears of a drought this summer. In response to this, pipeline action group the Safe Haven Network were quick to point out their hypocrisy; National Grid’s contractor Nacap Land and Marine have an application lodged with the Agency to extract thousands of gallons of water from major Welsh rivers like the Tawe, Loughor and Lliw to “hydrostatically test” the pipeline.

In plain english, this means they will pump thousands of gallons of water from our rivers and run it through the pipeline at extremely high pressures. If any section of the pipe ruptures under this pressure (given the rust, this wouldn’t be surprising…) then National Grid have a problem. And their contractor Nacap Land and Marine JV (Dutch contractor Nacap BV now owns former partner Walter Lawrence) already has a dodgy reputation when it comes to polluting rivers…

Given April’s weather and the possibility of drought, rumours have abounded that maybe Nacap weren’t going to use water after all – one, rather far-fetched suggestion was that they would use Nitrogen instead – surely that would make it “Nitrostatic testing”? While it's true that an order has been placed for Nitrogen to be used in the pipeline - it's more likely to be earmarked for "Pigging", whereby a guage will be propelled through the pipeline to scan for any defects in the welds or inner lining. As another key safety check, Pigging will certainly be carried out on most, but not necessarily all of the pipeline, as we shall later see...

In light of this rumour, a supporter of the Network contacted the DTI for clarification. The response, now forwarded to yours truly, was as follows…

“Dear ----

As far as DTI is aware the pipeline will be hydrotested, as the name
indicates, with water. I have no idea where the suggestion for nitrogen
to be used to test the integrity of the pipeline originates. National
Grid nor its Works Contractors have sought DTI's agreement for another
means of testing of the pipeline.”

Regards

Gary

Gary Mohammed
Manager, Power Station and Pipeline Consents
Department of Trade and Industry.

As self-proclaimed champions of the Welsh environment you’d hope the EA will do the right thing when it comes to these applications. A company with a known pollution record has applied to extract water to test a pipeline which will only contribute to the huge problem of Climate Change. As last year’s Stern Report pointed out, Gas Transmission and Distribution is the single biggest source of Carbon Emissions in our economic system.

Unfortunately there’s another rumour going round (with a rather stronger basis in fact) – and that is that the EA’s dedicated pipeline team are being paid for by National Grid…

He Ain't Heavy, He's My "Sister"!

Phase 2 of the pipeline is well underway, and National Grid's heavy lorries are harassing the small villages of the Amman and Tywi valleys, causing much danger and distress to the local population.

And in the time-honoured spirit of an area renowned for the "Hosts of Rebecca", local Llandybie town councillor "Rebecca" Bowen took matters into his own hands last Friday.

For those of you who don't know "Plaid" councillor Bowen, he was campaign manager for a candidate who stood for campaign group Stand Your Ground in the recent Assembly elections, a group who have declared a "United War on White Collar Fraud, Corruption & Skullduggery".

Frustrated at being unable to obtain a copy of the local Traffic Management Plan from the local council, and suspecting Skullduggery was at play, Councillor Bowen laid under a heavy lorry in protest.

Two hours of this protest ended when Councillor Bowen was allowed to view the plan at the constructor's offices. Nevertheless, he was cautioned by the police.

You may think he was cautioned by the Fashion Police, but nay, it was Dyfed Powys Police. He was then free - to continue on his merry way!

Let's see if they print it...

Dear Editor,

I read with some dismay that yet again Neath Port Talbot councillors and planners have chosen to ignore the justified and real concerns of the people of Cilfrew and the surrounding area, and vote in a majority to approve National Grid’s application to build a gas pressure reduction station outside their village. As is well known by now, this station is part of a much larger strategic infrastructure project to bring LNG into Milford Haven and pump it under very high pressures to its ultimate destination – the main gas network in England.

To do this, another gas station is being constructed to the north of Swansea, next to the old steelworks site at Felindre. This station, known as a Compressor, will, when completed, be three times the size of its cousin at Cilfrew. It will be fed by not one pipeline, but three, and will sit next to a 400kilovolt electrical substation. It was put for approval before Swansea council at the end of last year and voted through, under very dubious circumstances. Members of the public were forbidden from attending the site visit for “security reasons”.

Given the fact that these stations are being fed by pipelines running at unprecedented pressures, members of the public have every right to be concerned. A few weeks ago, a fire in close proximity to a much smaller pressure reduction valve on an industrial estate near Basildon, Essex, saw emergency authorities and National Grid engineers cordon off the area and erect a 2 mile square exclusion zone. Such a zone, centred on the much bigger Felindre Station, would encompass the Swansea North substations (power supply for much of the Swansea area), the proposed Felindre Strategic Business Park site, Morriston Hospital, and part of the M4. Have planners and councillors in Swansea really thought through the implications?

There may or may not be a valid strategic justification for this whole pipeline project. But when safety concerns and inconsistencies about this project remain unanswered, and parts of this project pose a possible risk to key facilities of strategic value to us, the people of South Wales, we have every right to object, and in the strongest possible terms.

Your Sincerely,


Jim Dunckley.

The Madness of King George

Take a look at the picture above. It may look like an industrialised,
toxic nightmare. In fact it's a playing field. Children and adults relax
and engage in recreation here.

Parc Ynysderw was originally a tinplate works in Trebanos, in the heart of the Swansea Valley. In the 1970s and early 80s it was reclaimed, the remaining waste tip was "capped" and a new school was built on the site - Cwmtawe Comprehensive.

The remainder of the site was dedicated in 2003 as "King George V" Playing Fields, charitable trusts set aside for the enjoyment and social benefit of the community. As such it plays host to numerous sporting events, along with big cultural festivals such as the Swansea Valley Agricultural Show and the Pontardawe Festival.

It also now plays host to the biggest high pressure gas pipeline of it's kind in Western Europe.

200 years of industrialisation have deeply scarred the valleys of south wales, and the tender wounds of time are slow to heal. Now they are being torn open again - by a new wave of energy projects that will criss cross the once tranquil countryside of our nation.

As a King George V playing field, Parc Ynysderw is held in trust jointly by Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council and the National Playing Fields Association. It's now clear that Neath Port Talbot knew about this project at least 3 years ago. The NPFA, on the other hand, have never been consulted.

Enquiries from both local residents and the NPFA about the level of compensation recieved by Neath Port Talbot Council from National Grid have been met with silence. And because an alternative venue could not be found, 25 years of history have come to an end with the winding up of the Swansea Valley Agricultural Show.

Enquiries to the Environment Agency about the actual levels of contamination on the fields have also largely been met with silence. After 6 months of hassle from local residents the Agency finally coughed up and revealed that there was at least some contamination present. 6 months which by happy coincidence takes National Grid a large step closer to completing construction of their pipeline and burying it away from the public eye. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say.

There is only one thing that will force the EA to do it's job and ensure that all the necessary safeguards and consents are in place, and that's sustained public pressure. The EA have got to at least maintain the pretence that they care about people's health and cleanliness of environment.

So why not give them a shout? Hassle them. Ask them if NG have submitted a Risk Assessment for working on a contaminated site. Ask them if NG have agreed a Waste Management Plan with the Agency - and the Local Authority. Ask them if there is a Pollution Prevention Plan. Or an Emergency Response Plan? As them if Nacap Land and Marine have a license to work on the site.

With a new school term in progress, once again Nacap Land and Marine are busy at work on the fields, and once again children are playing and studying next to an unregulated site. Don't let Neath Port Talbot Council or the Environment Agency get away with it.

Contact;

Ged Davies, Environment Agency,

South West Area Office,

Maes Newydd,

Llandarcy,

Neath

West Glamorgan

SA10 6JQ

E-mail; ged.davies@environment-agency.gov.uk

Will Watson,

Director, Environmental Department.

Neath Port Talbot Council.

E-mail; <environment@npt.gov.uk>

Welsh Assembly authorises destruction in the Geopark.














An innocuous series of public advertisements in last Thursdays Western Mail reveals the Welsh Assembly's true level of commitment to protecting the land and heritage of Wales. The Assembly have issued a series of certificates authorising permission for National Grid to compulsorily purchase areas of common land in the Brecon Beacons.

One of these areas is Mynydd Myddfai, in the heart of a Geopark and UNESCO World Heritage site.

Under the Government of Wales Act, responsibility for "special types of land", including common land, was devolved to the Welsh Assembly. It's curious therefore that senior Assembly officials and ministers, including pro-devolution Carwyn Jones, are denying these powers exist.

No less than 7 areas of common land lie in the path of the pipeline. Many of them are designated nature reserves and open access areas, important resources of tourism and recreation for their localities. The Assembly had the power to open public local inquiries into National Grid's plans, but as with all else, it has chosen to bow to political expediency and push these proposals through with a minimum of fuss and enquiry. At every bend and turn of this project, senior AMs, including so-called "Social Justice" Minister Edwina Hart, have passed the buck to the DTI.

Yet the Assembly's real powers are quite clearly laid out in internal memoranda put out to advise the Assembly's own Ministers and officials. It's curious that Carwyn Jones of all people - a barrister by trade - should choose to ignore these memoranda, and risk running in the face of the law in the process.

After all, he signed them.

Heddlu'n Beio Pensiynwyr am Godiad Trosedd yn Y Sgiwen!

Os mae'r Heddlu yn mynnu ar actio fel ryw fath o gwmni ddiogelwch preifet i National Quid, falle dylse NQ yn talu am swyddogion ychwanegol - yn lle talwyr treth Castell Nedd Port Talbot...

If South Wales police insist on acting like National Quid's private security firm, then maybe National Quid should foot the bill for extra coppers - rather than the cash-strapped council-tax payers of Neath Port Talbot...

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/2000localinfo/neathguardian/news/tm_headline=pipeline-protesters--to-blame-for-rising-crime-&method=full&objectid=18694477&siteid=50082-name_page.html#story_continue

The Greenhouse Effect
















2007 marks the 10th anniversary of the narrow "Yes" vote by the Welsh people for the first democratically elected body to represent Wales since the time of Owain Glyndwr.

It's also marks a new year for people in Wales to go to the polls in May and vote on a whole range of issues, ranging from Health to the status of the Welsh language.

A key plank that this election will be fought on is the whole issue of climate change and the developing energy crisis that is forcing governments the world over to re-evaluate their dependence on fossil fuels and look to cleaner, renewable alternatives.

Yet we have a Labour Assembly administration in this country that refuses to discuss the single biggest and most important energy project ever undertaken in Welsh history. The Welsh electorate will be accorded the right to see the trees being cut down by National Grid for it's pipeline project, while the Assembly denies any responsibility for the wood.

Under Section 121 of the Government of Wales Act, the Welsh Assembly has a constitutional obligation to "promote suatainable development in all it does". It's one of only 3 government in the world to have such a requirement built in.

Yet all the way along the route of this pipeline, our National Assembly and it's Members have publicly denied having any responsibility for this project, while privately working to facilitate it. Footpaths have been closed, community-owned woodlands have been chopped down, common land is being compulsory purchased, and a Geopark and UNESCO World Heritage Site sits on the brink of destruction. So much for section 121.

You've gotta ask the question: when the sea level rises and drowns our beaches, where will these guys find the sand to bury their heads?

Time for National Grid to split?

Amazing to think that this camp started with a little black dog called Max! What you're looking at is a public footpath (part of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path) that National Grid rather foolishly forgot to close off. A local landowner regularly walked her dog along the path, and couldn't work out why the contractors hadn't bulldozed through it yet. Residents in the area, inspired by the Trebanos protest camp, took a chance and pitched up.

While Milford Haven hasn't hogged as much of the limelight as it's sisters up the line, it's probably the most strategically significant as it prevents National Grid from connecting the pipeline to the terminals. No connection, no gas. Simple.

GGATCHA!

Construction of the pipeline hit a small hitch last year when excavation uncovered a Bronze Age canoe, widely reported in the media. What the media conveniently omitted was the fact that the pipeline ploughed through an entire Bronze Age village in the process of retrieving this canoe.

Oddly enough, despite the fact that the canoe was discovered in Pembrokeshire, the canoe was donated to the Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological Trust, where it is held in Newport. As it turns out, GGAT is a statutory consultee for Phases 1 and 2 of the pipeline route. Maybe this would explain GGAT's silence over this act of wanton destruction...

Archaeologists are still uncertain as to whether the object is definitely a canoe, or maybe a trough of some kind. Well, if it's a trough, it's not hard to spot the snouts...

Residents of the small town of Amlwch on Anglesey may be gearing up to oppose plans by American energy multinational Canatxx to build an LNG terminal and pipe it undersea to Fleetwood in Lancashire. The company, which plans to store some of this gas in massive salt caverns, has already sparked local opposition in Lancashire. Check it out here:

http://www.thorntonactiongroup.co.uk/

No doubt arguments about this development will polarise into the usual "Jobs versus Environment" where locals in one of the poorest areas of Wales, let alone the United Kingdom, are forced to choose between the few jobs created by these massive developments, at the expense of a clean, safe environment to live in.

But given LNG is a specialist industry relatively new to the UK, how many of those jobs will be filled by local people anyway?

Talbotgate.

There are advantages and disadvantages to running a big pipeline project through a Labour-controlled council area. The advantage is that they'll happily toe the ruling party line, and seeing as this is the pet strategic project of a Labour government in London, aided and abetted by a Labour Assembly in Cardiff, it makes sense to fall into line. A few bungs and local contracts always helps to oil the wheels of co-operation.

However, there are disadvantages, too. The main one being that many Labour councillors are extremely twp.

Step forward Councillor Mike James, the Ward member for Pontardawe and member of Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council.

During the recent botched vote to approve blasting with explosives in Trebanos, Councillor James was nowhere to be seen. A new count was held, and the Labour group concocted the perfect opt-out - they passed the buck back to the Department of Trade and Industry in London. They approved the pipeline, after all. Councillor James even proposed the motion.

In the event, the DTI decided to ban the blasting, a vindication of months of local campaigining and detailed research. A new public meeting was held by local group CRAG (Cwmtawe Residents Action Group) to take stock of recent events. Councillor James turned up.

He had many interesting things to say. All of it recorded by an attentive local who had the presence of mind to bring a tape recorder. It's not often you get to savour the words of a Labour Councillor falling on his sword.

In particular, accusing the Head of Planning, Geoff White, and planning officer Nicola Pearce, of "blatantly lying" "incompetence" and "misleading councillors" has to be a first.

But why stop there? He then went on to accuse Head of Legal Services Carole John of having “cocked up wholesale and then trying to cement over it with all sorts of bullshit we were supposed to believe”. Really? Anything else?

Oh yes, and he adds “we have professional paid legal represenatatives and advisors to councillors, to tell them how to proceed and how not to proceed”. “The crux of it is that our officers were lying blatantly about safety features that should have been known about”.

The question has to be asked - are National Grid digging trenches for their pipeline - or mass graves for Labour councillors? With friends like these - does National Grid need enemies?

United we stand, Divided they fall.

3 years ago, a consortium of multinational giants - led by ExxonMobil - lodged an application to build a series of massive LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) terminals at Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire.

That was only the beginning, and what nobody told any of us about was the pipeline. Shrouded in secrecy, and then dogged by controversy, the pipeline cuts a scar of devastation across our fair land and constitutes a new phase in what can only be called "Rape of the Fair Country - Mark II".

It may be gas, but what it's fuelling are the flames of Welsh resistance. This blog is a small, personal, humble attempt to diarise and document a revolution in the making. A bit late in the day, perhaps, but then maybe this is just the end of the beginning, and not the beginning of the end. Read on!