New Social Contract (NSC) also wants an area contribution for gas storage at Langelo, just like for oil extraction in Schoonebeek and gas extraction in Ternaard. NSC also wants the Dutch Petroleum Company (NAM) not to extract the ‘cushion gas’ under the gas storage.
This was what NSC Member of Parliament Harm Holman from Roden said in the parliamentary debate on mining. He will have State Secretary Hans Vijlbrief on his side for the most part.
Holman wants an area contribution for Langelo and the surrounding area, but differently than in Schoonebeek. Holman wants NAM to give a standard 1 percent of the proceeds from gas storage to the population to resolve any damage and as a contribution to the area as compensation for mining activities.
According to Holman, there is no doubt that there is damage. “The Langelo gas storage facility is a mining experiment. It is like a balloon. Gas in, gas out, and if necessary, even more gas in at higher pressure.” According to the Roder MP, it is easy to guess where damage to houses in the area comes from: the moving soil.
According to Holman, the damage also occurs outside the area where the ‘reverse burden of proof’ (the NAM or the government must prove that damage is not caused by mining) applies, as in Een. SP Member of Parliament Sandra Beckerman warns Holman, 1 percent is too little, “that is a tip. Not the NAM but the government must deliver.”
State Secretary Hans Vijlbrief of Mining is interested in a contribution from NAM and will discuss it with the natural gas and oil extractor. He does not want a contribution from the government for Langelo: According to the State Secretary, NAM will receive a substantial compensation to keep Langelo in the hands of the state.
With regard to the reverse burden of proof, Vijlbrief is clear: “As of January 1, the area around Norg will again be included in the impact area for damage and I will check whether this can be done retroactively. Because many people feel unequally treated and rightly so, the state is delivering that way it contributes to the area.”
The Mining State Secretary is also not in favor of a permit for the extraction of cushion gas under Langelo. “On the one hand, because I still really need the gas storage in Langelo due to the closure of gas extraction in Groningen and on the other hand, I don’t want to talk about new mining in an area that has already been affected.”
NSC Member of Parliament Holman is happy with the State Secretary’s attitude, but wonders “is it not now or not ever?”