The gas tank is on a fault - The País.com (Spain)

Vinaròs gas store (Castellón), which geologists linked to more than 320 earthquakes have occurred since September, was built on a fault 51 kilometers perfectly recorded by the Geological Survey of Spain (IGME). In the vicinity there are two major flaws, 18 and 35 kilometers, and many more smaller size that are not mapped. UGS Scales Company, developer of the project, not only sees no risk in it, but explains that failure is part of the closure of Castor warehouse structure, which allows the sealed storage. The Socialist administration, which authorized the project, was no stranger to the concerns of different actors, such as the Ebro Observatory or hundreds of individuals, who expressed during the processing of the environmental impact study their fears of possible earthquakes. The environmental approval, completed by the Ministry of Environment, no allusion at all to seismic hazards.

through new earthquakes, the last most important of magnitude 4.1, the Government announced yesterday that it was suspending “indefinitely” the injection of gas into the underground warehouse located off the coast of Vinaròs (Castellón). This cessation, previously called “temporary” residence acquires overtones. Both Industry Minister Jose Manuel Soria, such as Environment, Miguel Arias Cañete, agreed that the activity will not resume until there technical guarantees of safety for people and property. For the first time, Soria dared to link with a “high probability” of earthquakes with first gas injection in the store, but said they still do not have “scientific evidence”.

Castor

platform just above-sealed part of the store-pit Amposta, says the professor of Geology at the University of Zaragoza Jose Luis Simon. However, the epicenters of earthquakes have been located southeast, about 10 or 12 miles from the point where it has been injecting the cushion gas. The tremors, therefore, could have caused the failure uncharted smaller. The fact that the earthquakes of greater magnitude were recorded days after the end of the injection may indicate that the response was not immediate, but a kind of “chain reaction”. How far can you get this chain reaction? “Do not know” answers Simon. “We lack information, fine mapping of all failures, but I hope someone learns from this,” he adds. “Information about the existence of larger failures there for some time, about 20 years, government agencies,” he adds.

The suspension last few days of “temporary” to “indefinite”

The probability that the cause of earthquakes is very high, says Soria

Beaver promoter ensures that all necessary studies did even more than was required in the regulations. It explains, for example, that a study commissioned by the French Petroleum Institute found that could increase the pressure in the subsoil to 50 bar without risk of waking the fault. According to company sources, the pressure has only increased six bars during gas injection.

One report Escal UGS company, project, says a study made in 2005, endorsed two years later, it found no seismic hazards. The consultant URS was responsible for making environmental impact studies for escal Castor UGS project. In one of his reports seismic risk rule. After explaining that in 2005 became “a seismic survey in the 140 square kilometers” exploitation, concludes that “all these works performed have confirmed the feasibility of using Castor structure to store natural gas, and define , basic engineering level, wells and offshore installations and land required for this purpose. ” And notes that “the Geological Survey of Spain validated the technical feasibility Castor reference in its report IGME / JGH of January 23, 2007″.

environmental impact statement (EIS) approved by the Environment in November 2009, did not include the “seismic hazard”, but referred to the concerns of the Observatorio del Ebro, which requested an examination of the frequency and magnitude of seismic activity, and collected 141 letters from individuals and organizations concerned who felt insecure against possible explosion or earthquake, among other effects. The statement, with which the Ministry of Environment gave the green light to the project, did include the need for an environmental monitoring program in order to “control and minimize the impacts” in the course of the project.

The company says that the Geological Survey validated the technical feasibility

Teresa Ribera, then Secretary of State for Climate Change and head of environmental impact assessments, ensures that this concern was taken into account and it appeared exactly reflected in the monitoring plan, since 2008, before the adoption of environmental impact statement, established a “seismic monitoring obligation”. “In the annual reports of the Ebro Observatory, referred to in a paragraph at Castor project, and I think they are those who have sounded the alarm” contemplates. The former Secretary of State urges caution, because the DIA is part of a “much more complex procedure” always guided by the Ministry of Industry. “In part that I can rebuild apparently has worked under what was to be done, this does not mean that there could be complications or other things that have not been properly executed, and that I do not know at this time,” said.

Several experts consulted say the geological report was due to the nuclear project is something that should be given utmost importance. “They make lengthy studies, 10 to 15 years, with many parameters, and often discarded because the project is not viable,” he explained in a company in the sector.

The Government claims that twice warned of earthquake risk

Politically, the president of the council of Castellón, Javier Molinero, announced that the provincial corporation take legal action “against former ministers responsible for the processing and awarding of the project.” Aiming at Narbonne Cristina, Elena Espinosa, Miguel Sebastian and Joan Clos for their various responsibilities then.

Government ensures

warned twice, in 2007 and 2008, of the need to analyze the seismic consequences of project implementation Castor. This is stated in two reports of the Directorate General for Environmental Policy and Sustainability, which recommended that “because of the uniqueness and magnitude of the project, the Geological Institute of Catalonia issue a report in relation to the various aspects associated with the project in the field of geology and related disciplines. ” The Government did not heed this request, as reported yesterday by the Catalan Minister of Land, Santi Vila. “Surely it was not mandatory, but was not,” he said, shortly after reporting on a new 4.2 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Tarragona.

neighboring populations close to the gas store tremor living with uncertainty. “I was sleeping and moved the closet door that I have right behind me suddenly panicked and woke up, it was very strange, I had never felt anything like it,” said Ricard Fuster, Alcanar resident. “I spent half the night. In my house we have noticed the two strongest earthquakes and all trembled on my street, “he said Subirats.

Elena Espinosa, Minister of Environment (PSOE) when it granted the environmental impact statement, claimed transparency. “I am available to the government if you want to check the record, which now I have no access. You can not make accusations without analyzing well what happened, and you can not look only to the environmental impact assessment. There are many other departments involved, “he said. “One thing is approving projects and over how they run,” he said.

Mari Ángeles López

Lax, Network for Environmental Defense attorneys believe that these environmental reports should include all the possible effects on people and the environment. “The law does not go into detail about if necessary a seismic study or not. The first have to do is the promoter and the administration is responsible for control “contemplated.

information Dani Lamb, Merce Pérez, Rachel Vidales and Emilio de Benito.