The economist and former senior civil servant, Dr T. K. Whitaker, has sought assurances from Mayo County Council over the safety of Shell's new plan to build an onshore terminal for the Corrib gas field.
Dr Whitaker confirmed yesterday that he had contacted the company, and had submitted his reservations on aspects of the project to the local authority.
The former Department of Finance secretary said that he did so in a private capacity as a part-time resident in the Glencullen area of north Mayo.
Dr Whitaker's principal concern is over the company's proposal to transfer peat from the gas terminal location to a Bord na Móna cutaway bog 11 kilometres away.
Dr Whitaker owns a house - formerly a 19th century school building - on the route Shell proposes to take when trucking 450,000 cubic metres of peat and 50,000 cubic metres of mineral soil to Srahmore, close to Carrowmore lake.
He said he feared that such an enormous quantity of peat could be unstable and liable to sliding and silting, with serious consequences for the Muinhin river linking Carrowmore lake to the Owenmore river. Salmon pass from the Owenmore by the Muinhin into Carrowmore lake, he pointed out.
He is also concerned about the impact on his house and its foundations of over 100,000 truck movements over a half-year period. He has developed a lay-by opposite his house for his own use.
Dr Whitaker told The Irish Times yesterday that the area was one in which unpredictable weather events could occur - as had happened with the Dooncarton landslides last September.
He said he met Mr Andy Pyle, managing director of Shell Exploration and Production, and the company's Mayo area manager, Mr Mark Carrigy.
