Groningen quake case legally unprecedented

Conference and meeting centre Het Kasteel was the venue for the second edition of the Groninger Gaswinningscongres (a conference on gas extraction in Groningen) on Wednesday 18 April. Chair of the Special Committee on Mining Damage, Professor van Ravels, was a speaker: ‘No case compares to the Groningen case.’

Text: Elske Kroondijk / Communication

The conference, which was organized by the Faculty of Law, was devoted to the theme of living in the quake area and the specific consequences that the effects of gas extraction have on mortgage funding and notarial practice. In addition, an update was given of the latest developments in the rules on settling claims.

Topical programme

Whereas the first edition of the Groningen gas conference was about technology and safety in the quake field, the theme this time was living and housing there. And this soon means compensation for damage to people’s homes. As developments in legislation in this field are happening so fast, a full update was essential. The conference programme was only decided at the very last minute to ensure that the content was as up-to-date as possible.

Special Committee on Mining Damage

Illustrative of recent developments was the presence of Bruno van Ravels. Van Ravels is Chair of the newly appointed Special Committee on Mining Damage in Groningen (Tijdelijke Commissie Mijnbouwschade Groningen) in March. This committee is the new point of contact for residents and business owners in Groningen whose property has been damaged by quakes. Last week, it announced its temporary procedure for damage under EUR 10,000: roughly 80% of the claims. Van Ravels explained how the method was developed and shared his experiences of his first weeks in the new job. Although he believes that the Netherlands is extremely generous with compensation in comparison with other countries, he admitted that it will be very difficult for the Committee to wade through the 11,500 dossiers that it has taken on from Centrum Veilig Wonen, the organization that previously dealt with the damage claims.

Tradable earthquake certificates

Speakers from various disciplines gave their view of the latest developments. Although Van Ravels emphasized the generosity of the Netherlands, UG professor Fokko Oldenhuis noted that the situation in Groningen is unprecedented when it comes to the extent and complexity of the problem. ‘The problems concerning Schiphol, for instance, are nothing in comparison. This is significantly more complex’ said Oldenhuis. Professor of Markets and Regulation Edwin Woerdman looked at the bigger picture and the market principles behind gas extraction. He too took a closer look at how difficult it is to compensate people for damage, because although the Netherlands is generous with its compensation, there are many types of damage that are not covered because they cannot be measured, for instance. This could include psychological damage or invisible damage to foundations. In addition, Woerdman presented the experimental idea of a tradable earthquake certificate as a market-based alternative for damage compensation.

Homes and mortgages

The rest of the afternoon was spent looking at issues for the notarial practice relating to existing and planned buildings, the decreasing value of houses in the quake area and as a consequence the growing number of home owners with significant negative equity. One of the speakers was Nico Visser, commercial director of Rabobank North-Groningen. He explained how Rabobank has established its Earthquake Taskforce to find solutions to mortgage problems caused by the effects of gas extraction.