April 1, 2021
The company in charge of gas extraction in Groningen is disputing thousands of claims for damages by homeowners because it says the government’s criteria are too strict.
The NAM, a joint venture set up by Shell and Esso in 1947 to exploit the Netherlands’ natural resources, said the risk to safety had been exaggerated ‘by a factor of one to ten thousand’ in some cases.
It said the vibration limits used to assess if damage to homes was the result of earthquakes were too low and also queried the costs of processing the claims.