After an eight-week summer break, the parliamentary inquiry into gas extraction in Groningen kicked off on Monday with the interrogation of CDA member Albert Rodenboog (69). As mayor of the former municipality of Loppersum, he was the first administrator to sound the alarm about possible earthquakes as a result of gas extraction in the area.
After the earthquake in Huizinge of 2012, the heaviest to date, Rodenboog was fed up. He felt that gas extractor NAM should quickly come up with a proper settlement of claims for the houses in the area. But NAM did not thank him for that statement. “They called me that we had such a good relationship. But that didn’t interest me at all,” Rodenboog said. A few hours later, the former mayor said, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Affairs and party colleague Maxime Verhagen even protected the gas extractor. According to him, NAM had excellent claims handling. But he didn’t know what was going on at all.”
Even after the blow in Huizinge, there was no rapid settlement of claims. “Thousands of damage reports came in, residents were afraid,” said Rodenboog. But Minister Henk Kamp, Verhagen’s successor and Minister of Economic Affairs between 2012 and 2017, chose to save time by having fourteen investigations carried out. “That was outrageous, because we had a major security problem. Week after week we had severe tremors.”
Also read this reconstruction about Groningen gas extraction: Even when the farm was already leaning on 63 struts, the cabinet turned the gas tap further open
Purely for money
And the “drama” became even greater when gas production was increased after Huizinge. “Extra natural gas was knowingly extracted from the ground because it was possible. It was purely money driven.” It was not until 2018 that it was decided to close the gas tap in the future. But if Rodenboog had known at the time that this would put the fortification of houses on hold, he would not have been happy with that decision. “People had been waiting for years, had received the message that they would get a new house and then heard: we have to reconsider whether it is really necessary. You can’t do that to people.”
An increase in gas extraction in Groningen due to the current high gas prices is also out of the question, according to Rodenboog. “It is still unsafe. This realization is not widely shared in the Netherlands. People still live in unsafe houses, with kids. That’s impossible.”
This article is also part of our live blog: Former mayor Loppersum: ‘it is still unsafe in Groningen’