State Secretary Hans Vijlbrief spoke in Schoonebeek on Tuesday with supporters and opponents of the NAM plans to extract oil again and inject the polluted wastewater into the soil. He also signed a controversial list of commitments from NAM. That company also signed, but representatives of the area did not.
One of the commitments on the list is that NAM will stop wastewater injection in the event of an earthquake greater than 3.0 on the Richter scale. Others concern the monitoring of damage, the way of measuring and communicating about this.
“We really want to get back to work here, but under conditions that are acceptable to the population,” said NAM general manager Johan Atema. “We are guests here and as a guest you have to listen to the people who live in the area.”
The commitments were made at the so-called Relief Table. In fact, these should be agreements between NAM and the stakeholders involved. However, De Ontzorgtafel did not sign on their behalf, which was the original intention. “There are still too many questions, for example about the claims settlement, and what it means if I sign on behalf of everyone,” says chairman Bert Bouwmeester, former mayor of Coevorden.
Protest slogans
Those ambiguities are exactly what opponents of the plans, united in Stop Afvalwater Schoonebeek (SAS), warn about. According to them, the legal value of the document is nil and local residents have no use for it in court. Prior to Vijlbrief’s arrival, they had hung black balloons and protest slogans at the front of ‘t Aole Gemientehuis with texts such as: ‘We are not being heard’ and ‘The government is looking away’.
They had also set up a scaffolding with boxes for waste paper. Because, according to them, that is the true value of the signed document: old paper, with promises that cannot be enforced in court.
Unfair to the NAM
Vijlbrief does not think this is justified. “I think this is really unfair, also towards NAM. If a company says: I make agreements and I stick to them, then that is not worthless. And I also see to it that NAM keeps its promises.”
Initially, a footnote stated that the Secretary of State would sign only as a token of appreciation for the process. There would be no rights and obligations for the state. This footnote was changed at the last minute and now states that the token of appreciation also applies ‘to the non-binding commitments arising from the document’ and that ‘by signing the State Secretary also wants to mark that he will hold NAM to the commitments’.
Vijlbrief promised to include NAM’s commitments in the permits where possible, so that they become legally enforceable.
‘We have something here’
He seems to have taken the sting out of the commotion somewhat. SAS member Henk Vredeveld says in a reaction: ,,It is a small step in the right direction. If things are laid down in permits, the NAM can also be held to them. Here’s something for us. Vijlbrief means what he says. I trust him more than some predecessors. And it is simply a fact that the NAM has a permit without an end date.”
It does need to be adjusted. Until the end of 2021, NAM transported the polluted wastewater to Twente for injection into empty gas fields. Vijlbrief put a stop to this when a too high level of the chemical toluene was found. In the period before that, there had been several incidents, such as a leaking transport pipe and a ruptured, underground outer pipe.
The plan now is to resume oil extraction in Schoonebeek from 2024 and to inject the wastewater into depleted gas fields nearby. The villagers are divided on the plan. Besides the SAS, which fears earthquakes and leaks, there is also the group Naoberschap Oliedorp (NOD). He is in favor and wants the village to benefit as much as possible financially.
“This is democracy!”
“I don’t mind opposition and criticism,” Vijlbrief responds. “That is actually good. Isn’t it nice to talk about it? That such things happen and that Dorpsbelangen is now going to conduct a survey? This is democracy! Now it is up to me to weigh everything up and to determine whether there is support. Because without support there is no mining.”
Vijlbrief said it before: without support it will not happen. But when asked how he is going to determine the support base, he is unable to answer. “I will think about that. For example, how many people complete the survey and how representative is this? And how good are the agreements that will soon be made with regard to the benefits for the region? Support does not mean that 100 percent of the inhabitants are in favour. That is not possible. But they can decide. It’s up to me to weigh everything. But there is no measure of support.”
‘NAM has a permit for oil extraction’
It will take at least six months before Vijlbrief makes a decision. Which way is it going? “Look, there is a permit for oil extraction. I can’t tear it up, then the NAM will take me to court. It is only about the precise design and what should be done with the waste water.”
Incidentally, he says about the NAM commitment that in the event of an earthquake heavier than 3.0 on the Richter scale, the water injection in the field in question will be stopped: “That will be even stricter in the permit. There are all sorts of rules for that. I also know of earthquakes that were less severe and still caused damage. So I’m going to take a good look at that and seek advice from SodM, the State Supervision of Mines.”
NAM wants to accommodate people who do suffer damage with the option of using the so-called Limburg method. A contractor repairs damage immediately. Victims therefore do not receive a sum of money, but can choose from a number of companies. ,,With the ghost image of Groningen in mind, the idea behind this is that it relieves the victims”, explains Vijlbrief.