Landscape and livelihoods in a tiny, under-populated, corner of north-west Mayo will change when the first gas from the Corrib Field, 70 km out in the Atlantic, is brought ashore in early 2003.
Unease over possible pollution and the visual impact of chimneys on the gas terminal building at Bellanaboy Bridge, Glenamoy, has given rise to a raft of objections and submissions.
As a result, Mayo County Council has put back a decision on whether to grant planning permission to Enterprise Energy Ireland Ltd for the refinery pending the receipt of further information from the company.
Fears of a prolonged planning wrangle, which would eventually have to be adjudicated upon by An Bord Pleanala, has led to a warning from an Erris-based county councillor, Mr Frankie Leneghan, that the £100 million project could be lost to the region.
Mr Leneghan claimed at the weekend there was more at stake than 200 construction jobs and 50 permanent posts in the completed terminal. He said proposals for a gas-powered electricity generating station, close to the ESB power station in Bellacorick, were well advanced. A development company based in Texas is the main promoter of the Bellacorick project but there are Irish interests involved, he said. Representatives of 100 inshore fishermen, most of whose livelihoods rely on the availability of crabs, lobsters and salmon, added their voice last week to the growing litany of dissatisfaction.
Mr Eddie Diver, chairman of the Erris Inshore Fishermen's Association, says he wants impurities to be removed from the gas onshore and not discharged into the bay.
"If the proposal to dump waste water into the sea goes ahead it could sound the death knell for inshore fishing," Mr Diver said.
He said there was also concern about the shellfish industry. There were natural oyster beds in Blacksod Bay; an experimental shellfish project in Broadhaven Bay. Also there were plans to develop an abalone (high-class limpet) farm in the area.
Fishermen are also concerned about the route of the pipeline and the fact that trawlermen might have to go through the time-consuming process of lifting their gear in order to avoid the pipeline. The fishermen suggest the pipe should be routed along the hard rock area where trawling is not conducted.
Ms Maureen Murphy, a director of Erris Tourism, said there were concerns that the terminal building might be visually unattractive and that effluent might be discharged into Carrowmore Lake, the source of the water supply for a wide area.
Ms Murphy said a cost-benefit analysis should be carried out on the project and she would have liked to have seen information provided on what impact, if any, the Kinsale Field had on the Kinsale area of Cork when the gas was brought ashore there.
Meanwhile, farmers in Rossport South are angry over a decision by Enterprise Oil to choose a "green land" route to a reception terminal rather than a passage through non-productive bog commonage.
The smallholders involved have written to Enterprise Oil pointing out they are opposed to the "green land" route and requesting an immediate meeting with the company to try and come up with a mutually acceptable alternative.
An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prepared by the developers of the Corrib Gas Field, claims that the landfall installation will not affect any of the species which winter over in Sruwaddacon Bay, such as light-bellied brent geese and dunlin.
However, the EIS acknowledges there may be potential for disturbance to breeding and feeding birds. Enterprise has promised to ensure that its contractor take "all possible measures" to ensure as little disturbance as possible to bird populations.