AMSTERDAM: Groningen’s provincial government has called on parliament to launch an inquiry into natural gas extraction from under the province.
‘This is about finding out the truth,’ provincial councillor Ankie Voerman told local broadcaster RTL Noord.’We want to get to the bottom of this.’ The Dutch safety board said in a report last year that the economic affairs ministry, drilling company NAM and the Dutch mining body ignored safety concerns in their pursuit of profit.
Thousands of homes have had to be shored up because of the risk they would collapse and 200,000 houses in the province have gone down in value. The right-wing VVD was the only party on the provincial council to vote against the motion to press for an investigation.