Poignant stories from Groningen residents, scientists who did not feel heard, government lack of knowledge and close links between the State and the oil companies with the aim of extracting as many billions as possible from the Groningen field. The harvest of the first week of public hearings of the parliamentary inquiry into gas extraction.
“In the evening, as a child, I could read the whole series of The Chameleon read by the glow of the flame,” Herman de Muinck said on Monday morning.
He was the first to tell his story. After him, the victimized Sijbrand Nijhoff moved up. Every now and then he had to contain his anger and sadness, but that didn’t always work. “How is it possible that we as Groningers have not been heard for so long? The Hague does not know us. They only come if there is money to be made.”
With this first week, the committee of inquiry wanted to map out the “scale, urgency and complexity” of gas extraction and its consequences.
Scientists marvel at lack of knowledge
Scientists also visited for this, including Hans Roest (TU Delft) and Hans de de Waal (Shell). They later went to work at the State Supervision of Mines (SodM).
They rang the bell but were ignored. They were seen as troublemakers, according to the stories. “I was once called to order: I didn’t have to look up the media, while I had a fundamentally different vision of the whole,” Roest said. According to the scientists, tunnel vision led to the safety risks being underestimated for years.
The two are still amazed that the government has so little geological knowledge in-house. “Hundreds of billions have been earned. If you look at what has been invested in independent knowledge development, that is very little,” concluded De Waal.
When asked whether SSM had enough instruments to intervene, Roest replied: “Changing something about gas extraction in Groningen, that was quite a thing. Gas extraction was actually above the law.”
Turning the tap was not an option in 2013
The fact that the crane was not quickly turned was also apparent from the interrogations on Wednesday and Thursday.
The interrogation with the former CEO of Shell, Pieter Dekker, focused on gas extraction in 2013. Production peaked in that year, while the Huizinge earthquake had just occurred.
The NAM (a subsidiary of Shell/Exxon) saw no reason to win less, because that would not help to reduce severe earthquakes. Dekker referred to a film: if you play it faster or slower, the content will not change. The quakes would come anyway.
In the course of 2013, production turned out to be even higher. There was consultation at the ministry, Dekker said, but production was not limited. In the meantime, the Minister had already received an advice from SSM for almost a year. The regulator urged a production cut because of the earthquake risks.
Difficult interrogation of former minister Annemarie Jorritsma
The first week of interrogations made it immediately clear that it was really only about one thing: money. The interests of the oil companies were enormous. The Groningen field was the largest field in Shell and Exxon’s portfolio.
And that while the State obtained by far the most: hundreds of billions of euros. “The machine had to run as effectively as possible,” said former senior civil servant George Verberg.
In order to properly safeguard all those interests, the State and the oil companies were very closely intertwined. They consulted through various gears to coordinate production and sales.
The committee also invited former minister Annemarie Jorritsma to find out more about the role of the ministry. The question is whether she has really become much wiser from her answers. Jorritsma could not remember several things and was not there “to give her opinion”; as a result, the hoped-for reflection did not materialize.
‘These cracks are also in the people of Groningen’
On the last day of the week, the inhabitants took center stage again. Victim Annemarie Heite told about the legal battle she waged with Shell after her farm was declared unsafe.
Researcher Tom Postmes explained the fears and insecurity of the people of Groningen. His words were reminiscent of those of the scientists: he too felt unheard and sometimes opposed.
These stories again showed the enormous impact that the earthquakes have on the lives of the inhabitants. As the victim Nijhoff said on Monday: “These cracks are also in the people of Groningen.” He held up a photo of damage to the beams of his shed.
Public hearings will continue after the summer. The committee then wants to go deeper into everything that has happened this week. There will be a total of about sixty witnesses, including former ministers, the current State Secretary for Mining Hans Vijlbrief and Prime Minister Mark Rutte.