Intensive Débat Public about the
Pegaz project in Bordeaux
Royal Haskoning and client 4Gas are involved in an interesting commission in France. 4Gas is developing an LNG import terminal to the north of Bordeaux. Ships from all over the world containing liquefied gas will be able to moor there.
The liquefied gas will be stored in tanks, then vaporized and fed into the mains as natural gas for consumers. Royal Haskoning is responsible for the permitting, with the focus on the environment and safety. Given the scope of the undertaking, this initiative (together with two other LNG terminal projects) is the subject of a month-long public debate. A Débat Public. What is unusual is that it is the first Débat Public involving private companies. What’s more, in the case of 4Gas the company behind the initiative is not French.
Environmental consultant Martine Leman and safety expert Arjen Kruithof have made a substantial contribution to this project. They were involved with the basic design for the plant, which has three large tanks and a huge amount of pumps, pipes and process equipment. Royal Haskoning saw to it that the basic design complied with French legislation on air quality, noise, water, soil, flora and fauna and safety. ‘A really important aspect for which we are also responsible is the ‘Débat Public’, in which people in the neighbourhood and others concerned are told about the aim of the project and what implications it has for the surroundings,’ explains Arjen Kruithof. ‘A debate like this takes a year and this is the first private project that is having to undergo the process. You must hold a Débat Public for large projects of more than €300 million that have an impact on the environment (things like motorways, airports, docks); it then gives rise to recommendations. The debate ends in February and by then we will have had ten sessions in the region, some of which were attended by as many as 2500 people. The next step is the application for the necessary permits. The recommendations from the Débat Public will be incorporated in this application.’
Distributing a lot of information
So far more than 2400 written questions have been answered as a result of the Débat Public. Martine Leman explains. ‘The challenge for 4Gas and Royal Haskoning is to convince people—both politicians and the people of the outlying region in which the project is taking place—of the positive aspects of this project. We have got to show the people that it will be a clean, sustainable plant and certainly not a refinery. That’s important, because the site is close to a vast nature reserve.’
Frank de Boer, Health, Safety and Environment vice-president at 4Gas BV, praises the multi-disciplinary collaboration with Royal Haskoning and the communication skills of the consultants involved, ‘We have been through proceedings like these in places like Canada, the UK and the Netherlands, but nowhere have the objectors reacted so fiercely as they have to the Pegaz project here in France. However thanks to the Débat Public we have been able to distribute a great deal of information about our plans and an unprecedented number of questions have been answered. We have been able to show that 4Gas has a clean, sustainable plant in mind.’
Contactpersoon: Arjen Kruithof
+31 (0)24 3284 244
a.kruithof@royalhaskoning.com
