Safety and jobs head questions at LNG day (From Western Telegraph)

Safety and jobs head questions at LNG day

THE LNG open day held last week has been hailed a great success by organisers, Milford Haven Town Council, and industry representatives.

Some 80 members of the public turned up at the Pill Social Centre, Milford Haven, to have their questions and concerns dealt with by industry experts.

The Mayor of Milford Haven, Phyllis Williams, said: "The day went really well. Most people seem positive about what the project will do for Milford."

These sentiments were echoed by John Constable, senior economist at Exxon Mobil, who said: "We had a lot of questions about safety, but I think we managed to put a lot of people's minds at ease.

"We also had a lot of enquiries about the employment prospects LNG will create - lots of people asking if their sons and daughters would be able to find work at one of the projects."

Representatives from Exxon Mobil, Dragon LNG, Milford Haven Port Authority, Transco and the town council were on hand with models and projected images to help explain the safety aspects.

Key benefits emphasised to the public were employment and economic regeneration. Although Health and Safety Executive representatives could not attend, the hosts promised to pass on any written queries.

John Cutting, of Milford Haven residents' group Safe Haven, which is campaigning against LNG projects in populated areas, said: "Independent experts in the USA consistently say that LNG facilities should be cited a minimum of two miles away from population centres and yet the multi-nationals present on Wednesday, who stand to make billions, are putting the largest facility in the world within hundreds of yards of densely-populated Milford Haven."

THE deputy leader of Pembrokeshire County Council, Councillor John Allen-Mirehouse, hit back at Liberal Democrat Dewi Smith's statement, in which he described plans to install LNG terminals in the Milford Haven Waterway as creating an 'unsightly time bomb'.

Cllr Allen-Mirehouse, council cabinet member for economic development and regeneration, called the comments 'absurd and unfounded allegations' that appeared to throw logic out of the window. He said: "He seems to want to destroy all prospects for the creation of well-paid jobs and economic growth in the county."