Domestic Economy
For years, there were no safety along, if decisions were taken on the gas extraction in Groningen, according to the Safety Board in a report published today. To change that, Economic Affairs should not be the only relevant ministry, says the council
The main conclusion of the research council last month was already leaked:. For fifty years, the government has ignored the safety of Groningen – the treasury always went for
So far, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which Henk Kamp (VVD) is now minister, the only government party who was involved in the decision-making on gas,. in addition to private parties such as NAM, Shell, ExxonMobil and GasTerra. The Ministry was in charge of looking after all the public interests “where security is one of them.” The Research Council:
“The Ministry of Economic Affairs, however, was such a part of the closed bastion where the importance of mining prevailed, that the security interest in practice played a subordinate role.”
Also, the regulator, the State Supervision of Mines, joined a long time what would the gas parties. Because of the closed nature of the “gasbolwerk” there was no room for criticism and counter pressure, not even from other ministries or the outside world, according to the research council.
In a statement to the NRC says Tjibbe Joustra, President the research council that Camp “too many hats” has.
“Everyone within the gasgebouw claims to have much knowledge, corporate social responsibility, but that is not happened. EZ had the parties need to account. That has not happened. “
honest
In addition to the safety much more needs to be taken into account, the Board also considers that the communication of the risk should be much better. To drill under the ground are indeed uncertainties. In recent years, the risks were just becoming trivialized by proclaiming the reassuring message that the strength of the earthquake and the damage would be covered with it.
The council now makes the following recommendation to the Ministry and to companies that drill:
“Be in communication and in the dialogue with citizens transparent about uncertainty, explicit part and motivate the place given uncertainty in the decision on exploration and exploitation of minerals. This communication must not be narrowed down to education. “
To begin the” gasbolwerk “violated relationship with the population of Groningen try to recover, the researchers found.
“condition, according to the Council that the parties acknowledge that they 2013 are not careful enough to deal with the security of citizens in Groningen.”
In order to remove the uncertainty the companies involved in gas extraction should further more be required to investigate the consequences, says the council. To improve the surveillance must finally the State Supervision of Mines to operate more independently from the Ministry and the gas industry.
Lower production
The government decided earlier this month, after draining the conclusion of the investigation board, to limit gas extraction being. Following the release this summer of another study, of the State Supervision of Mines, the government wants then finally decide what happens to the gas.
The research was led by Erwin Muller, Professor of Safety and Law at Leiden University. The investigation was launched a year ago and covers the 1959 period (the discovery of the gas field) to January 2014 (when Camp presented a package of measures). The Research Council of the gas kept however already been monitored, after the warning of the State Supervision of Mines in 2013 that more gas would lead to more and heavier earthquakes
The public version of the report.
Read NRC Q: Five questions about Groningen gas that you never dare to have. Read NRC Handelsblad this afternoon about the report of the investigation board. And read on nrc.nl reactions to the report
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