Shell Exploration and Production is submitting its new planning application for the Corrib gas field refinery to Mayo County Council next week.
The decision has been welcomed by the Council for the West, which says it will bring "enormous benefits" to the west and northwest regions.
The new application will be similar to the original, but proposes removing 450,000 tonnes of peat from the site at Bellanaboy in north Mayo to a cutaway bog at Srahmore, near Bangor Erris, 11 kilometres away. The transfer will take place under a financial arrangement reached with Bord na Mona, Mr Andy Pyle, managing director of Shell Exploration and Production, said yesterday.
The company hopes this transfer will address An Bord Pleanála's main concerns about safety of peat storage on site.
Mayo County Council has already given tacit support to the new submission by offering to improve the road from Bellanaboy to the T58 secondary route near Bangor Erris.
An environmental impact statement will be submitted to the local authority as part of the new application, Mr Pyle said.
The company expects the application will be appealed, and anticipates a final decision by the middle of next year. If the decision is favourable, it hopes to have gas ashore by 2006.
The delay in securing planning approval has already cost the company €100 million, Mr Pyle said. Shell remained "confident" that the original selection of a site near Bellanaboy bridge was the right choice. "Other terminal locations were thoroughly evaluated, but were found to be less favourable," the company said.
Nine days will be added to the period for dealing with the new application in compensation for time lost over the holiday season.
