Shell E&P Ireland is expected to take legal action over the Corrib gas onshore pipeline route following further unsuccessful attempts to gain access to private property in north Co Mayo.
Gardaí were called to Rossport yesterday when 10 representatives of the multinational sought to carry out preliminary work on the lands.
However, after protracted discussions with a group of seven landowners and neighbours, the company withdrew, and a spokesman said it was now "considering all options left to it".
In a separate development, the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey, has acknowledged that the onshore pipeline for the €900 million project has design considerations which are "unusual and unique both within Ireland and also within Europe".
Mayo Independent TD Dr Jerry Cowley has called for an independent risk assessment of the onshore pipeline given residents' concerns about safety.
The safety issue has prompted seven of 34 owners of property on the pipeline route to refuse written consent for access to a way leave, which has already been granted by former marine minister Frank Fahey.
The landowners, who own 50 per cent of the property required for the route, have questioned the validity of the consent orders, and have sought details of the conditions attached.
Other landowners who have signed up are now questioning the amount of information given to them at the time.
Monica Muller, one of the seven, said the company representatives had been "very intimidating" yesterday, and she believed they were trying to provoke a row. The landowners had sought copies of a map outlining the co-ordinates of the way leave, but this was refused.
A Shell E&P Ireland spokesman said the company had all necessary permissions for the way leave, and could still legally proceed.
The company has said a British standard had been employed for the pipelines, which would be 1½ metres underground, have a 20-inch diameter and a thickness of 27m, as against the 10mm average for Bord Gáis pipelines.
However, Dr Cowley has called for an independent risk evaluation of the pipeline after it emerged in the Dáil last week that the only risk assessment available was commissioned by the former owners of the gas field, Enterprise Energy Ireland.
