ORAL HEARING PROPOSED LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS (LNG) REGASIFICATION TERMINAL LOCATED ON THE SOUTHERN SHORE OF THE SHANNON ESTUARY IN THE TOWNLANDS OF RALAPPANE AND KILCOLGAN LOWER, CO. KERRY HEARD BEFORE THE INSPECTOR, MR. ANDREW BOYLE ON TUESDAY, 29TH JANUARY, 2008 AT THE BRANDON HOTEL, TRALEE, CO. KERRY - DAY 7 I hereby certify the following to be a true and accurate transcript of recordings of the evidence in the above-named action. 7 APPEARANCES KERRY COUNTY COUNCIL: MR. T. SHEEHY FOR THE APPLICANT (SHANNON LNG): MR. HUGH O'NEILL SC MR. JARLATH FITZSIMONS BL INSTRUCTED BY: NICOLA DUNLEAVY SOLICITOR MATHESON ORMSBY PRENTICE OBJECTORS: MR. J. McELLIGOTT MS. GRIFFIN MR. NOEL LYNCH MS. JOAN MURPHY MR. DONNCHA FINUCANE MS. EILEEN O'CONNOR MR. E. McELLIGOTT MRS. LILY O'MAHONY MR. RAYMOND O'MAHONY MR. TIM MAHONY MR. THOMAS O'DONOVAN MR. MICHAEL FINUCANE MR. RICHARD O'SULLIVAN MR. DES BRANIGAN COPYRIGHT: Transcripts are the work of Gwen Malone Stenography Services and they must not be photocopied or reproduced in any manner or supplied or loaned by an appellant to a respondent or to any other party without written permission of Gwen Malone Stenography Services. INDEX WITNESS EXAMINATION PAGE MR. BIGGANE - SUBMISSION 5 - 13 MR. RUSSELL - SUBMISSION 15 - 16 MR. BIGGANE - CROSS-EXAMINATION 17 - 45 MS. LYDEN - SUBMISSION (AIR QUALITY) 45 - 61 MS. LYDEN - SUBMISSION (CUMULATIVE IMPACTS) 62 - 80 MS. LYDEN - CROSS-EXAMINATION 81 - 103 MR. LYNCH - SUBMISSION 107 - 131 MR. SHEEHY - SUBMISSION 134 - 151 - CROSS-EXAMINATION 152 - 187 MS. C. GRIFFIN - CLOSING SUBMISSION 198 - 206 MS. McMULLIN - CLOSING SUBMISSION 206 - 210 MR. FOX - CLOSING SUBMISSION 211 - 212 MR. MICHAEL McELLIGOTT - CLOSING 212 - 214 MS. J. MURPHY - CLOSING SUBMISSION 215 - 217 MR. O'DONOVAN - CLOSING SUBMISSION 217 - 219 MR. SHEEHY - CLOSING SUBMISSION 219 - 220 MR. OGIE MORAN - CLOSING SUBMISSION 220 - 221 MR. NOEL LYNCH - CLOSING SUBMISSION 221 - 223 COPYRIGHT: Transcripts are the work of Gwen Malone Stenography Services and they must not be photocopied or reproduced in any manner or supplied or loaned by an appellant to a respondent or to any other party without written permission of Gwen Malone Stenography Services. 1 THE HEARING RESUMED AS FOLLOWS ON TUESDAY, 29TH JANUARY 2 2008 3 4 5 INSPECTOR: Good morning everybody. 10:03 6 This is day 7 of the 7 Shannon LNG oral hearing and I would just ask that you 8 take your seats. Just to remind we have had several 9 episodes of the lone ranger riding across the stage so 10 if people could please turn off their mobile phones. 10:03 11 12 Yesterday we left off during the Applicant's 13 presentation on other matters and those were to include 14 roads and traffic, noise, vibration, dust etc. and when 15 we left off we just completed the roads and traffic 10:04 16 section, Mr. Tony Lynch had finished speaking and he 17 has left us today I think so we now want to go on with 18 the Applicant's next speaker please. 19 MR. O'NEILL: Good morning, Sir. The 20 next speaker is Mr. Michael 10:04 21 Biggane who is going to deal with community and 22 employment issues. 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 4 Gwen Malone Stenography Services Ltd. 1 MR. MICHAEL BIGGANE ADDRESSED THE ORAL HEARING AS 2 FOLLOWS 3 4 MR. BIGGANE: Good morning, 5 Mr. Inspector. My name is 10:04 6 Michael Biggane and I am head of Human Resources and 7 Corporate Affairs with Shannon LNG. I hold a Diploma 8 in Industrial Engineering, a Higher Diploma in 9 Management Engineering and an MBA from UCG. 10 10:05 11 Prior to joining Shannon LNG in 2006, I held senior HR 12 positions for 25 years including that of Group HR and 13 PR for Irish National Petroleum Corporation, which 14 Whitegate Oil Refinery and Bantry Oil Storage Terminal. 15 Earlier positions included that of Personnel Director 10:05 16 with Sara Lee in Killarney and HR manager with 17 Burlington Industries in Tralee. 18 19 I have been responsible for setting out and managing 20 Shannon LNG's offices in Listowel which coordinates all 10:05 21 site related activities and community liaison. I have 22 worked closely with Shannon Development and the 23 Steering Group established by Ballylongford Enterprise 24 Association and Tarbert Development Association under 25 the chairmanship of Shannon Development to liaise with 10:05 26 Shannon LNG. 27 28 To keep the legal community informed of developments, 29 Shannon LNG held a number of meetings with the steering 5 Gwen Malone Stenography Services Ltd. 1 group, published a number of newsletters and held 2 information days. A number of visits to LNG terminals 3 were arranged. I participated in the preparation of 4 the Environmental Impact Statement, in particular 5 section 22 volume 1 and section 15 volume 2. 10:06 6 7 My principal points of evidence will cover: 8 1. Community information and consultation; 9 2. Employment. 10 10:06 11 Following the announcement of the proposed LNG terminal 12 in May 2006, the Ballylongford Enterprise Association 13 and Tarbert Development Association formed a steering 14 group under the chairmanship of Shannon Development to 15 ensure close communication with Shannon LNG. Meetings 10:06 16 with the steering group were held in June '06, October 17 '06 and March '07 and August '07. Newsletters on the 18 proposed LNG terminal were published in May '06, 19 December '06, May '07 and December '07. The 20 newsletters were distributed directly by Shannon LNG to 10:06 21 the householders immediately adjacent to the proposed 22 terminal and through the Ballylongford and Tarbert 23 associations to the wider community. 24 25 To promote community understanding of the project, in 10:07 26 March 2007 the Steering Group visited an LNG terminal 27 under construction in Milford Haven. In May '07 the 28 Steering Group visiting an operating LNG terminal in 29 Zeebrugge. In July '07 a group, including some of the 6 Gwen Malone Stenography Services Ltd. 1 residents close to the site, visited an operating LNG 2 terminal in Barcelona. 3 4 In April 07 Shannon LNG held two information days in 5 Ballylongford and Tarbert to inform the local community 10:07 6 about the plans for the project and to show 7 illustrations of the development on site during 8 construction and operation. The information days, 9 which had been advertised in the local newspapers, were 10 attended by 450 people over the two days. An 10:07 11 information day display boards booklet was produced for 12 the information days. Copies of the booklet were 13 distributed directly to immediate householders in 14 advance of the information days and on the information 15 days that those who attended. 10:08 16 17 In October '07 a public meeting arranged by the 18 steering group of the Tarbert and Ballylongford 19 Associations and chaired by Shannon Development was 20 held in Tarbert. The meeting was attended by 10:08 21 approximately 200 people and Shannon LNG addressed all 22 questions raised. 23 24 Employment. The proposed development will be of 25 significant economic benefit to the North Kerry region. 10:08 26 During the construction phase, profitable business 27 opportunities will arise for contractors. The 28 construction work force will average 350 for four years 29 with a peak of circa 650 personnel. Shannon LNG will 7 Gwen Malone Stenography Services Ltd. 1 employ approximately 50 permanent staff. Additional 2 contract staff and service personnel will be engaged in 3 the terminal as needed. 4 5 Senior management in the terminal will be people with 10:09 6 considerable experience in the LNG natural gas or 7 energy industry. Shannon LNG will recruit and train 8 staff for shift supervisor and terminal operations 9 roles. It is expected that a high proportion of staff 10 will be recruited from the North Kerry region. The 10:09 11 arrival of approximately two LNG ships per week will 12 increase shipping activity on the estuary with 13 increased demand for the services of tugs, line 14 handling crews, pilots and Shannon Foynes Port Company 15 staff. It is anticipated that at least 50 jobs will be 10:09 16 generated in the wider economy in service and supplier 17 companies in addition to the 50 staff directly employed 18 by Shannon LNG at the terminal. 19 20 In addition to the direct employment during the 10:09 21 construction phase, there will be substantial offsite 22 employment and economic activity associated with the 23 supply of construction materials and services during 24 the construction phase. 25 10:10 26 In the longer term, the terminal will become the anchor 27 development on the Shannon Development land bank, 28 potentially attracting other industries and investment 29 to the region. 8 Gwen Malone Stenography Services Ltd. 1 Response to Submissions. 2 3 Property values and home insurance. A number of 4 submissions have expressed a concern that the proposed 5 LNG terminal would diminish property values post 10:10 6 construction and one submission has expressed concern 7 that home insurance could be negatively impacted. 8 9 Response: There is no credible evidence to suggest 10 that there would be any negative impact on property 10:10 11 values as a result of this development. Neither is 12 there any credible evidence to suggest that the 13 proposed development could impact in any way on home 14 insurance in the vicinity. 15 10:10 16 Experience in Whitegate in Co.