NAM won't be prosecuted for creating life-threatening danger with Groningen earthquakes
The Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) will not be prosecuted for intentionally damaging buildings resulting in “a significant risk to life,” the Leeuwarden Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday. The court rejected the claim filed by the Groninger Boden Beweging (GBB) and two locals and upheld the decision of the Public Prosecution Service (OM) not to prosecute, NOS reports.
NAM is the company behind the decades of gas extraction in Groningen and the resulting earthquakes. According to GBB and locals, the earthquakes have made their homes life-threatening to live in.
This case has been dragging on for a decade. GBB and several Groningen locals first filed a complaint against NAM, alleging a significant risk to life, in 2015. The OM dropped the case. GBB filed an Article 12 procedure, and a court ordered a criminal investigation in 2017 into possible life-threatening situations resulting from fracking earthquake damage.
The OM investigated, but concluded that there was no evidence that Groningen residents had been in mortal danger. In 2022, the Court of Appeal ordered that one case be investigated further. According to the OM, this investigation also failed to yield hard evidence.
The Leeuwarden Court of Appeal now agrees. The court ruled that the circumstances do indicate that life-threatening circumstances existed, but this is not sufficient for successful prosecution.
The GBB called the appeal court’s ruling incomprehensible. “There was indeed mortal danger. This is evident from the large-scale reinforcement operation set up by the government and costing billions. In our opinion, the OM systematically adopted NAM’s arguments without critical review, and they dragged their feet.”
According to the GBB’s lawyer, the court set the legal bar too high and dealt another blow to the victims in the earthquake area. The GBB will review the ruling and consider whether an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights is a possibility.
NAM told NOS that it was pleased that the case could be closed.
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