County Mayo - Ireland  Refinery and pipeline in vulnerable area

Shell occupies a large part of the Corrib gas field in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately  70 kilometres off the westcoast County Mayo, Ireland. The oil company has conceived a plan to construct an enormous high-pressure pipeline and gas refinery in this extremely beautiful and vulnerable coastal area. The pipeline will cut through protected dune areas, run along farms and villages and finally emerge on a hill where the gas will be refined. Inhabitants are afraid of explosions and fear negative effects on their health. The toxic waste will be dumped in Broadhaven Bay, a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), designated for it's important bird population. Two other SAC's, Glenamy bog and Carrowmore Lake, are also potentially at risk from the pipeline.
Local protest is substantial: demonstrations have been organised and court cases filed. Residents are campaigning for the gas to be refined at sea and brought ashore at a lower, safer pressure. Local fisherman, worried about the impact on marine life and hence their livelihoods, are opposing the pipeline. Last year, when Shell tried to enter the land of the farmers and residents they were denied entrance. As a result, five of the residents and farmers were sent to jail for 90 days.
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