It was very easy to inflame public opinion about safety issues surrounding liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals, the president and chief executive of the US corporation Hess LNG told a planning hearing in Tralee yesterday.
However, Gordon Shearer said the industry had "an impeccable" safety record.
The corporation is the ultimate parent company of Shannon LNG, applicants in the €500 million proposal to build the State's first regassification terminal on the Shannon estuary in north Kerry.
The sheltered Shannon estuary with its deepwater channel was a major shipping route and had been selected over 17 other sites, including Cork Harbour, the applicants disclosed.
They also pledged "open access" to the gas pipeline for the Kerry region.
Mr Shearer, who has co- authored a non-technical guide to LNG, said in the course of almost 2½ hours of evidence that it was easy to stir up public emotion with comparisons to nuclear explosions and terrorist attacks and it was difficult to allay fears because LNG was a complex and very technical issue. However, the industry had "an impeccable" safety record.
The Kilcolgan Residents Association, the townland alongside the proposed terminal, submitted that permission should be denied because Hess LNG's application for a terminal at Weaver's Cove near Boston in the US had been denied because of "disregard for safety" .
Mr Shearer said that proposal stalled because of a "narrow issue" arising from an old bridge blocking the shipping lane and this was being addressed.
The project was found to be safe and secure by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency charged with approving US import terminals, and was expected to be approved in a year or so.
Hess LNG had no operating terminal, Mr Shearer said, but was similar to most major oil and gas companies in this fact. However, Hess staff and Shannon LNG staff had "extensive experience" in the area.
"There is no question that LNG terminals are broadly opposed in most of the United States outside of the Gulf of Mexico.
"That does not mean they are unsafe."
Paddy Power, managing director of Shannon Development, said ports and bays around Ireland had been examined to identify a suitable site for the terminal, which would cater for 125 large ships a year.
However, only the Shannon estuary had the required deepwater channel combined with shelter from adverse winds and nearby links to gas infrastructure and high-voltage electricity transmission grids. Shannon estuary was "an ideal site".
Mr Power said one of the primary purposes of the proposal during discussions with Shannon Development, which owns the 280-acre site, was to encourage regional development.
The hearing chaired by senior Bord Pleanála inspector Andrew Boyle continues.