Noord-Holland residents worried about continued gas extraction, new earthquakes

The residents of the Noord-Holland village of Hobrede are uneasy about the NAM’s plans to continue gas extraction from a field located under it. They fear that this will only lead to more earthquakes. “We don’t want a Groningen situation here,” Ed WIlms of the village council told NH Nieuws.

The village council has drawn up its own vision in which it states that NAM should stop gas extraction in the area instead of extracting more gas faster than it’s done in recent years. Almost all 160 village residents have signed it, as well as people from surrounding villages and towns.

The NAM - the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij - told the newspaper that it would not increase gas production and Hobrede. “The gas rises naturally via the gas well, and the pressure will continue to decrease over the years. However, NAM will continue to extract gas from these fields longer than described in the current extraction plan.”

Hobrede falls under the municipality of Edam-Volendam. The municipality and the province of Noord-Holland are also against NAM’s plans, citing locals' concerns about earthquakes. It is not only the damage earthquakes do but also the fact that people live with the fear of another one every day, a local told NH Nieuws.