State Secretary Hans Vijlbrief (mining) spoke strongly in his interrogation on Wednesday about the attitude of the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM). Shell and ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit earlier this year over the costs of the claims settlement and reinforcement operation.
“I was furious, in fact I still am,” Vijlbrief told the commission of inquiry that is investigating the gas extraction in Groningen. “I just think they should pay.” Both the state and NAM shareholders “enjoyed” the extraction of the gas. “So we’re at the bar together.”
There has been disagreement between the ministry and NAM for a long time. The company refuses to pay the costs that are not directly caused by the earthquakes.
NAM director Johan Atema testified before Vijlbrief. When he took the helm in 2018, it had already been decided that the reinforcement operation would pass into public hands. NAM too was already a long way from handling claims and it was clear that the gas tap would be closed.
NAM Director: “Don’t confuse responsibility and generosity”
According to Atema, the ministry does not adhere to the agreements made. He stressed that NAM is and remains responsible for the consequences of earthquakes.
“You shouldn’t mix responsibility and generosity,” says Atema. The NAM wants the reinforcement operation to be performed for security reasons. “It is also an area renovation and I know it has become everything,” the director said. As a result, he says, it has become “almost impractical”.
According to Vijlbrief, this is the crux of the disagreement. The NAM only wants to pay for security, but not for all the “other frills”. “My position is that those frills are part of the problem.”
NAM disagrees with an area-oriented approach
Atema’s interrogation made it clear once again that NAM is not in favor of the government strengthening approach. Work on the area is currently underway. This means that not the most dangerous houses scattered around the region are tackled first, but that entire streets or neighborhoods are reinforced in one go.
NAM would rather see security first. Furthermore, the ministry would use standards that are too old for security. Atema believes that the new insights would mean that far fewer homes need to be strengthened.
“The villages are small, people know what they got from each other.”
Hans Vijlbrief, State Secretary for the Mining Industry
Vijlbrief does not share NAM’s opinion. According to him, too great differences arise in a village if you always work to different standards. “Then you will only cause enormous misery in social cohesion. The villages are small, so that people know from each other what they have received and what not,” said the secretary of state.
In addition, acute and dangerous situations that can arise after an earthquake are dealt with immediately, he explained.
NAM wants to meet with the ministry before paying the bills
“You can send me an invoice about the safety of the reinforcements. You cannot send me an invoice about the renewal of the area without new agreements. So I want to sit down first,” Atema said. Vijlbrief said he was open to this. Exploratory talks are currently underway between civil servants and NAM.
In addition to the lawsuit over the payment of costs, there is also disagreement between the state and NAM as to how the presumption of proof is applied. In a given area, if they have suffered damage, victims no longer have to prove that it is a consequence of earthquakes. The NAM believes that this regulation applies to too large an area.
“This also makes me furious,” Vijlbrief said. “We introduced it to give people a firmer stand. So is it inappropriate to start complaining as the cause of the damage on where it is applied? It is surprising that a lot of cracks appeared after the gas was extracted and not before that. I’m kind of done with it. “
NAM director Johan Atema during his interrogation.
NAM director Johan Atema during his interrogation. Photo: ANP
