About sixty activists took part in a protest against gas extraction by Vermillion near Wapse today. The action started at the village hall in Wapse and ended at a gas extraction site of Vermilion Energy just outside Wapse. Fourteen participants held up letters near the derrick that together read the sentence ‘Enough = enough!’ formed.
The organization of the demonstration was in the hands of GasDrOvF, Milieudefensie Westerveld and residential group Zandroos. “Vermilion is working on two deep drillings. The company does not yet have a permit for that. We are surprised. As a citizen you have to comply with all guidelines and the law, but it seems that Vermilion can flout the law,” says Karel Jasperse of GasDrOvF.
According to Jasperse, the gas extraction causes a lot of nuisance in the area. “You can see an enormous scattering of light from afar. In addition, there is noise nuisance and the gas extraction location is also located next to a Natura2000 area, 100 meters away. There are cranes and otters and water is extracted. People, nature and the environment are all trampled underfoot.”
In the Diever and Vinkega fields in Wapse, there is accelerated extraction with greater soil subsidence than predicted, Alie Eiting of Milieudefensie Westerveld adds. “The State Supervision of Mines has established that there is a causal relationship between a high production rate and the increase in subsidence.”
With the necessary consequences. “The water board has indicated that it cannot guarantee that future damage to the Natura2000 area Drents-Friese Wold & Leggelderveld can be prevented. The water board also does not know whether the water management can be adapted to the situation. make the Vledder Aa climate-proof. For example, the stream must be organized differently. Gas extraction makes those adjustments more difficult,” says Eiting.
According to Milieudefensie, there can therefore be no further expansion of gas extraction. That should only be possible under strict conditions such as hydrological research and setting a maximum for soil subsidence, says Milieudefensie.
Activist Erika Euving from Diever participated because she is surprised that the permits are not in order and that the whole picture is not being looked at. Whether it helps? “Every little helps. A stone is eroded by one drop every time.”
Milieudefensie Westerveld has also submitted an enforcement request against light pollution to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. He indicates that he is not competent when it comes to assessing any adverse effects on the adjacent Natura2000 area. In addition, Milieudefensie Westerveld is going to court. On March 30, 2023, that case will be heard by the Council of State in The Hague.
Vermilion Energy declined to comment on the action.
