In his witness statement Robert Burns (an employee of Shell) talked about cold venting and flaring and addressed objections made to the EPA's proposed determination on these issues. In his opening remarks he stated that, from the perspective of the cold vents and flares, the Corrib terminal at Bellanaboy is similar to many other gas plants and as such presents no unusual technical issues.
James Garvie, an air quality specialist and Associate Director of RSK Limited (RSK) Consultancy, addressed the issue of air emissions. James Garvie spoke about the detailed air dispersion modelling that has been carried out to analyse the impact of emissions from the Bellanaboy Bridge terminal. Mr Garvie concluded by saying that assessments have been carried out that demonstrate emissions generated from the Bellanaboy Bridge Gas Terminal, including those from cold venting will not have a significant impact on human health, animals or plants.
On the important issue of climate change Mr Garvie noted that the benefits of a secure, indigenous source of natural gas outweigh the effect of emissions with global warming potential generated from the site itself. He finished by saying that based on the impact assessment studies carried out for the Bellanaboy Bridge Gas Terminal and his own experience of other sites in the UK, where not one but three terminals operate side by side, he is confident that the Bellanaboy Bridge Gas Terminal can operate without significant impact on air quality.
