Plans by Shell Exploration & Production to move a mountain of peat in order to provide a solid base for the Corrib gas terminal in north Mayo will be revealed to local residents tomorrow.
The scheme involves Shell working closely with Bord Na Mona in transporting more than 600,000 tonnes of peat - the biggest operation of its kind ever seen in Ireland - about 12 kilometres from the proposed terminal site at Bellanaboy to a cutaway bog near Bangor Erris.
Mayo County Council has pledged to play its part by improving the road from Bellanaboy to the T58 national secondary route near Bangor Erris so that it can accommodate heavy vehicles.
A renewed planning permission application to construct the terminal building at Bellanaboy is likely be lodged by Shell with the council in the coming weeks.
There are, however, likely to be objections from residents who successfully appealed to An Bord Pleanála the decision by Mayo County Council to grant the plant planning permission for the terminal last time around.
One concern is the impact the heavy vehicular traffic would have on the narrow road linking Bellanaboy to Bangor.
There would be severe inconvenience for residents living in townlands such as Muingingaun, Glencullin and Cloontakilla for a period of about two months while the road was being reconstructed.
Earlier this year, An Bord Pleanála granted an appeal by local residents against a decision of Mayo County Council to grant planning permission for the terminal complex which would process gas from the Corrib Field, about 40 kilometres off Achill Island.
An Bord Pleanála's main concerns related to the safe disposal of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of peat which would be excavated to make way for the terminal complex.
It is understood that under revised plans, the site for the terminal building would be smaller and an arrangement would be entered into with Bord Na Mona to move the excavated peat to the townland of Srahmore, near Bangor, where it would be spread over a 150 acre area.
Shell will unveil its new plans at an exhibition in Teach Iorrais, Geesala tomorrow and on Saturday. Representatives of Shell and Bord Na Mona will be available to local residents to discuss the revised proposals.