Latest news with #decommissioning
BBC News
16 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
NI Troubles: US space surveillance suggested during peace process
Surveillance from space by the USA was suggested as a way to verify that the IRA was decommissioning weapons during the peace idea was described as "off the wall" but "worth exploring" by a British details are contained in the note of a phone call contained in newly-released government papers from the National papers include files from the then Prime Minister Tony Blair's office on Northern Ireland and Ireland from the year 2000. At the time, there were discussions on the decommissioning of IRA idea that the US could use satellites to monitor whether IRA weapons dumps had been concreted over was raised in a meeting between Irish and US details were recorded in a note by an official in the Northern Ireland Office (NIO).According to the note, it was also suggested that satellites could "replicate the functions of the South Armagh towers". "But we were pretty clear that would not work," the NIO official said that when the idea was suggested, a senior diplomat had "laughed it out of the room". There were a number of army observation towers in south Armagh during the towers were later scrapped as part of the peace was not the only example where potential help from the USA was late Ulster Unionist Party leader and First Minister David Trimble suggested a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Louis Freeh, be appointed to "look into" racketeering and gangsterism in Northern Trimble made the suggestion during a meeting with NIO officials, according to the state papers. A number of papers also mention the early development of proposals by the UK government to deal with those known as On the On the Run letters provided assurance to over 100 people that they did not face arrest and prosecution for IRA the details were only made public during a court case involving a suspected IRA bomber in 2014. The papers also reveal tense meetings between British officials and Ulster Unionists over symbols, like the use of the Royal coat of arms in courtrooms and a redesign of the PSNI badge."Lord Kilclooney and Trimble complained at length about what they saw as the relentless diminution of Britishness in Northern Ireland," the note of a meeting from November 2001 said."Trimble said the publication of the proposed designs for a new police badge had 'ignited one hell of a row' within the UUP," a subsequent note NIO official also described a letter from Trimble to Blair on the situation within unionism as "singularly graceless and ill-timed".
ABC News
21 hours ago
- Business
- ABC News
Taxpayers face $500m clean-up bill for Chevron's Barrow Island oil and gas project
Taxpayers face a potential $500 million bill to clean up aging oil and gas infrastructure left by Chevron off Western Australia's Pilbara, newly released state government documents reveal. The oil and gas giant is preparing to decommission its "WA Oil" project on Barrow Island, 50 kilometres north-west of Karratha, which ceased production in May after 60 years of operation. The process requires Chevron to cap 900 oil wells and rehabilitate the areas of the island impacted by the project. The exact cost of safely closing down the facility was previously unclear. But documents released after a Freedom of Information request by independent energy and climate journalist Peter Milne, and seen by the ABC, indicate state and federal governments will contribute at least half a billion dollars of the estimated $2.3 billion bill. The growing taxpayer liability stems from a 1985 agreement, allowing Chevron to be refunded royalties to cover 40 per cent of the cost of the first four years of decommissioning the project. Since operations began at Barrow Island in 1967, Chevron has paid more than $1 billion in royalties to the federal and WA governments, in a 75/25 per cent split. Milne's request led to the release of several 2022 emails from within WA's Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration (DMPE), as well as briefing notes to then-mines and petroleum minister Bill Johnston. All of the documents have been heavily redacted. One email revealed that total clean-up and rehabilitation costs at Barrow Island were expected to surpass $2.3 billion. But a separate email showed the department had not calculated how much of that WA would have to pay, and only made efforts to do so after being alerted to the situation by media reports. In 2022, Milne reported that an internal Chevron document put the cost of the first four years of the Barrow Island clean-up — which the company is eligible to be compensated for — at $1.3 billion. It is this figure that the department referenced in the email. "[The department] intends to approach Chevron directly to request cost estimates," the email read. "Until we are able to glean such details, we only have what has been reported in the media. "Based on that, the 'refund' from the State govt is: $1.29 billion x 0.4 x 0.25 = $129 million." Under the 75/25 split between the federal and state governments spelled out in the 1985 agreement, the Commonwealth would be required to refund $387 million to Chevron. Shadow Mines and Petroleum Minister Shane Love has questioned the fairness of the deal. "You'd have to question the intergenerational fairness of a government of the day taking the royalties and then asking the generation of the future to pay for the share of the cost of the rehabilitation," Mr Love said. The criticism was echoed by progressive think tank The Australia Institute. Principal advisor Mark Ogge said it was an outrage Chevron could access state and federal funding to meet its environmental liabilities. "It's a massive giveaway of Australian taxpayers' money to a company that's already on an unbelievably good deal," Mr Ogge said. A spokesperson for the Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration said it still did not know the total cost the state government may need to pay in the decommissioning process."The total amount of any potential refund will not be known until West Australian Petroleum Pty Ltd submits its final royalty returns and the department has reviewed and audited the company's rehabilitation and decommissioning costs," the statement said. Chevron declined to be interviewed but provided a statement. "Under relevant state legislation, which has been in place for the past four decades, costs for eligible WA Oil decommissioning activities can be partially refunded from previously paid royalties," the statement read. "While costs may be partially refunded, Chevron Australian and its WA Oil joint venture partners will continue to pay the vast majority of the decommissioning costs, given the strict rules outlined in the legislation. "We will continue to engage with state and federal governments in relation to the WA Oil decommissioning project and the administration of the royalty regime."
CBC
a day ago
- General
- CBC
Leaking historic gas well in Bonnyville, Alta., being decommissioned due to safety concerns
The Orphan Well Association has begun decommissioning a leaking historic gas well in Bonnyville after methane was found in several homes. A drilling rig has been set up in the area of the 4500 block of 46th Avenue of the town about 240 kilometres northeast of Edmonton. "[The well] was decommissioned in 1954 but the standards have changed, and so we've purchased a number of homes. They've been demolished, and we're bringing in a drilling rig to do the repair," association president Lars DePauw told CBC in an interview on Tuesday. As part of the process, two single-family homes and one duplex were demolished, DePauw said. "Methane obviously has some safety issues regarding to the explosive nature of the gas, and so we wanted to make sure that this was repaired adequately for the long term." A well leak was found in 2024 by Apex Utilities workers. After locating the leak, the wellbore was found and excavated, and a monitoring and mitigation program was put in place to check gas levels regularly. The association says it monitors methane levels in soil and homes near the well on a weekly basis. Mitigation systems have been installed in eight homes to capture any methane and vent it to the atmosphere. "When this issue came forward, we moved on it very quickly," DePauw said. The decommissioning involved the collaboration between the Alberta Energy Regulator, Apex Utilities, Alberta Health Services, The Town of Bonnyville and its fire department. CBC requested further comment from the Town of Bonnyville on the impact of the work on residents, but the town has not yet given a response. The well in Bonnyville was drilled by the now defunct licensee Trican Petro-Chemical Corporation in 1954. Shortly after, Alberta's Energy Regulator declared it to be an orphan well and tasked the association with decommissioning it. There are about 470,000 non-producing wells across Canada, most in Alberta but also in B.C. and Ontario. According to the association, there are 3,874 wells lined up to be decommissioned in Alberta. The rig in Bonnyvillie is expected to be on-site for two to three days to complete the work. Residents are being asked not to park along 46th Avenue during this time. Once work is completed, the association says it will monitor to see when methane is no longer detected in the soil near the well. Sean Carnahan is mayor of Calmar, Alta., about 50 kilometres south of Edmonton and said the town has dealt with its share of well clean-ups. Three homes in Calmar were demolished in 2010 after a leaking gas well was discovered in the community. Imperial Oil, the owner of that well, temporarily sealed it and negotiated with homeowners to buy their houses. "We have to be patient with one another. We have to recognize that the cleanup is necessary for the future of the community," Carnahan said.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Former US ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith turned against Sinn Féin after 9/11, British files claim
Jean Kennedy Smith, the former United States ambassador to Ireland, turned against Sinn Féin after the 9/11 attacks over delays in IRA decommissioning, according to UK files released on Tuesday. In a May 2003 letter to British prime minister Tony Blair's chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, the historian Alistair Horne relayed details of conversations that 'our very old friend' had when she visited him. 'I thought I should perhaps pass on, in confidence, a piece of information that I feel might be of interest, and even some use, to the upper reaches when the PM goes to Washington,' Mr Horne wrote in the letter, which is heavily redacted. 'Recently, we had our very old friend, Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith, to stay. I always try to keep off Ireland, but was quite taken aback when she – and with no prompting – came out with the following two remarks. READ MORE 'One, Tony Blair should be much tougher with the IRA – and with all paramilitaries. The British should stop 'pussyfooting around' with Gerry Adams , etc, and the United States would support this. 'Two, Tony Blair should tell Congress, using his enormous current authority there, that Americans should stop sending any money to the IRA. 'I was quite staggered, knowing how close she was to Gerry Adams, but this seems to be just one more example of how American views have changed so radically since 9/11. 'Although Jean was very explicitly speaking as a private person, she does of course have the constant ear of brother, Teddy, who she telephones at least once a day. 'I assume these two sentiments would represent him, too. If you know this already, please forgive me; it just came to me as quite an eye-opener.' Mr Horne, who died in 2017, worked for British intelligence in the 1950s and 1960s and he was extremely well connected in top British circles. The IRA had destroyed some weaponry 18 months before Mr Horne's letter. In October 2001, the International Independent Commission on Decommissioning's head, Canadian general John de Chastelain, reported that the IRA had put weapons 'completely and verifiably beyond use'. This timing – coming just six weeks after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States – has been linked by some commentators to Sinn Féin and IRA concerns about US support. The tranch of UK files, most of which cover 2005, contain numerous instances of officials and politicians struggling to overcome logjams blamed on the pace of decommissioning or on the demands for it. In May 2003, according to the files, Mr Adams told Mr Blair during a meeting in Chequers, where he was accompanied by Martin McGuinness , that British demands for a definitive IRA statement were impossible to meet. 'Adams said of course republicans had said some stupid things, and in private he could say so, but we could not get the IRA to say words that were dictated to them,' Mr Powell recorded in a note sent to a Northern Ireland Office official. The letters bears an instruction that no further copies should be made of it, with Mr Powell saying that the two Sinn Féin leaders 'were very keen that we keep the fact of our meeting quiet'. In one of the files, the Belfast priest, Fr Alec Reid , who along with the former Methodist moderator, Harold Good, later witnessed the IRA's final acts of decommissioning, suggested that IRA weapons be stored in an Irish Defence Forces base 'north of Dublin'.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
US government offered to use spy satellites to verify IRA arms dumps were decommissioned
The US government offered to use its satellite surveillance systems to verify whether IRA arms dumps had been concreted over during discussions about decommissioning. According to new government files released by the national archives in London, a White House official put forward the idea to the British in 2000 when the issue of putting arms beyond use was one of the most contentious topics between all sides. In a phone call with Bill Jeffrey, the political director of the Northern Ireland Office, the idea was put forward by Dick Norland, a senior US diplomat. 'Norland said that he had raised with [Irish civil servant] Dermot Gallagher whether US satellite surveillance could conceivably have a part to play in verifying that IRA weapons dumps had been sealed, eg by concreting over,' said Mr Jeffrey in a memo of the call. READ MORE 'This might be a bit off the wall, but seems worth exploring.' At the time, Mr Gallagher had also raised the idea of using satellites to replace surveillance from security towers in south Armagh. 'We were pretty clear that would not work. Norland agreed,' wrote Mr Jeffrey. 'When Gallagher had raised the idea with [deputy national security adviser Jim] Steinberg, 'Jim laughed it out of the room'.' The newly released documents contain substantial correspondence about decommissioning and illustrate how the British became increasingly frustrated at the slow pace of the process. About 14 months after the Norland call, the British ambassador to Ireland, Ivor Roberts, said he was sceptical of decommissioning and 'wish we had never got into the game'. 'As Sinn Féin have reminded Fianna Fáil, the latter never decommissioned, they merely buried their arms and stood down their army,' he wrote in a memo. Republican graffiti in east Belfast referring to IRA decommissioning. Photograph: Paul Faith/PA 'I actually believe that it would be more productive if we had been on that tack and if we, the Irish government and the US had been at one in getting the IRA to transmogrify themselves into a retired serviceman's league.' His note came in February 2002 when there were worries that a failure of the IRA to make a move on decommissioning would prompt another crisis in the peace process. 'We do indeed seem to be drifting towards the shoals without a clear idea of how to keep ourselves afloat,' wrote Mr Roberts. British civil servants had argued that they needed to see a significant move towards decommissioning by the IRA in response to demilitarisation in Northern Ireland. John Sawers, prime minister Tony Blair's foreign affairs adviser, wrote in another memo the British had to retain the ability to crack down on racketeering and smuggling, and highlighted the role that prominent republican Thomas 'Slab' Murphy played in it. 'The Irish are better placed to pursue the Al Capone route against PIRA and RIRA on their side of the border (though whether they would ever put Slab Murphy in the dock on smuggling charges is doubtful),' he wrote. Murphy, whose farm at Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, Co Louth, straddles the Border with Northern Ireland, was found guilty in 2016 of nine charges of failing to comply with tax laws in the Irish Republic for the years 1996-1997 to 2004. He was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.
