Western Romania Says No to Shale Gas
The beginning of February saw one of the most significant protests against shale gas in Romania.
Over 1,500 people gathered in Curtici, Arad County, to participate in a walk for clean land and water and to protest shale gas exploration and exploitation. The protest was supported by Dimitrie Musca of the Curtici agro-industrial platform, Curtici’s Mayor along with mayors from neighbouring communes and priests from the area.
The perimeter EX-6 Curtici is leased by the National Agency for Mineral Resources to MOL (Hungarian Oil and Gas Public Limited Company) and SC Expert Petroleum SRL. The perimeter has a surface of 550 sq. km and includes 12 communes.
In June 2013, Curtici issued a decision forbidding shale gas exploration and exploitation in its administrative area, a decision suspended by Arad Court House in November 2013.
Nicolae Anitei, Mayor of Curtici, said: “The local council has decided to issue this decision and to enforce it, but it is also a protest in the name of the inhabitants of Curtici.”
At the protest in Curtici, authorities supported citizens and surrounding communes joined forces.
“Nine mayors were present from Curtici, Dorobanti, Iratosu, Macea, Santana, Sofronea, Paulis, Olari and Simand, 15 priests, deputy mayors and local councillors and the protest was peaceful. The people do not want shale gas exploration or exploitation. We mention we have collected 1,144 signatures on Saturday evening and we are still collecting signatures,” said the deputy president of Arad county council, Adrian Tolea.
Dimitrie Musca is the director of the Curtici agro-industrial platform, which manages over 7500 hectares and is the main employer in the area. It will be directly affected if shale gas would be exploited in the area.
“In total we are talking about 55 thousand hectares of arable land, a surface on which hundreds of bores will be built. The main problem is the combination of substances used to blow up the rocks and release the gas. These substances can cause cancer, hormonal imbalances and affect the senses, in high percentage, over 70%,” according to Musca.
“In order to carry our message to many people we will organize protests in the city. And this is because not only the localities from perimeter EX-6 Curtici will be affected but also the neighbouring areas,” said Nicolae Anitei, Mayor of Curtici.
If prospecting works can be done on public roads and on state owned land, the access on the peasants’ land depends on their approval. This is the solution of the protesters to block the prospecting works. “We cannot stop the prospectors from traveling on public roads. But we can stop them from entering our lands, inherited from our ancestors, because the ownership right is a constitutional right,” added Dimitrie Musca.
Although they fight for the same thing as the inhabitants from Vaslui, they have learned from the experiences from Pungesti and Puiesti.
“We want to show we are civilized, that we know how to protest peacefully. I do not want our actions to be compared to Pungesti, where the villagers fought the riot police. We do not want violence, we just want to be heard,” said Anitei.
Doru Neacsu, President of the Arad Center for Civic Studies and Initiatives said: “It was impressive. We hope that the point of view of the mayors and local councilors will not change, as it was the case in Barlad where, after a year, the situation changed, although thousands went to the streets.”
No matter what party they are from, the mayors have denied the companies that requested permits for prospecting works. ‘No to Shale Gas’ said the Mayor of Olar, Stefan Musca, adding that the prospecting company came to Olari for the permit, but it was not granted. “I have a decision of the local council and the people are against it.”
The mayor of Paulis, Petru Nicoara, of the opposition Democratic Liberal Party, talked about the bravery of those who fought in the WWII: “The heroes died at Paulis so we may have peace and be able to works the land. They said: “you cannot pass.” We say: “we will not allow shale gas exploitation in Curtici.”
“Greenpeace Romania asks the Government to give up shale gas exploitation projects because they pose a threat to people’s health and to the environment and to encourage alternative sources of energy,” said Bogdan Grecescu, campaign assistant Greenpeace Romania.
Panfora Oil & Gas, which has concession rights over the lands in perimeter EX-6 Curtici, said that the prospecting works are for oil and natural gas: “The Company states it has no operation planed concerning shale gas in perimeter EX-6 Curtici and in none of the localities or surfaces included in this perimeter. This fact was certified by the National Agency for Mineral Resources.”
Panfora Oil & Gas also stated that prospecting works do not harm the environment: “We will not use explosives and we will not drill. The productive potential of the land will not be affected. The lands will not be occupied; we will travel through at a rate of 3 – 5 km a day with specialized vehicles and equipments. The agricultural works can be resumed immediately after the completion of the measurements.”
“We are prepared to start surface explorations in perimeter EX-6 Curtici with our partner, Prospectiuni. We are focusing on conventional resources, meaning oil and natural gas in conventional rock formations. In this stage of the exploration we will collect data that will be interpreted to identify existing conventional hydrocarbon resources. All these are included in the lease agreement and in the work schedule signed with the National Agency for Mineral Resources and it refers only to conventional oil and gas assessment,” said Gabor Zelei, GM of Panfora Oil & Gas.
Gehrig Schultz, CEO of Prospectiuni said: “The company Prospectiuni has worked in the area in the 1970’s, 1980’s, at the end of the 1990’s and even last year. We are ready to acquire data from here and the members of our teams have a good cooperation with the locals.”
Gabriel Petrescu