Residents of east Antrim are invited to join a protest in Brown’s Bay in Islandmagee on Sunday over the planned underground gas storage caverns at Larne.
Organisers are asking people to gather at the beach at 2pm before the headland walk.
Islandmagee Gas Storage Limited proposes to create seven caverns within a rock salt interval beneath Larne Lough and this has created opposition within the community due to the environmental impact.
The proposed cavern construction will be undertaken by solution mining of the salt deposits with the disposal of the saturated brine solution via an outfall 450 metres out on the eastern side of Skernohan’s Point into (27 metres) of sea north west of Muck Island.
Each cavern will be 85m x 185m and store an estimated 50 million cubic metres. Seawater taken from the same area 100 metres off Skernaghan Point will be used and heated for this leaching process.
Planning permission for the deep underground gas storage system was approved several years ago.
The company, a subsidiary of InfraStrata, says this the process be carried out by using a ‘well-proven technique that represents the most environmentally-friendly, safe and efficient method of storing large volumes of natural gas.’
Posters have been put up in Islandmagee in opposition to the plans. Sunday’s protest will be family friendly and children are welcome, as are dogs on leads.