Environmental assessment of proposed undersea gas pipeline to be assessed by adjacent countries

print this

An environmental impact statement of the planned gas pipeline that is to run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany is to be evaluated by the countries that the pipeline would pass.
      Seija Rantakallio, an official at the Finnish Ministry of the Environment, says that Nord Stream, the company setting up the pipeline, still needs to add to its impact statement before it can be seen to be technically adequate.
      The key issues to be considered in the international environmental assessment include the effect that the pipeline would have on the entire Baltic Sea region, and the cross-border environmental effects.
     
Nord Stream has added to its environmental impact assessment a few times already. The countries bypassed by the pipeline, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Russia and Germany, did not accept the previous draft impact statement, and called for additional reports, including an assessment of the cross-border effects.
      The statement will next be assessed among Baltic Sea countries on February 13th.
     
If the Baltic Sea countries approve the final assessment statement, citizens and representatives of various interest groups in the various countries will be given the opportunity to give their views on the adequacy of the report.
      In Finland the process of evaluating both the international and national environmental implications will take two months.
      If the countries involved do not reject the project outright, the environmental assessment process will be followed by detailed planning, and applications for national licences.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Coastal states in Baltic Sea region reject tight schedule of planned gas pipeline (6.6.2008)
  Baltic Sea gas pipeline project facing big difficulties (10.3.2008)
  Swedish government sends back Nord Stream gas pipeline application, demands clarification on environmental impact (13.2.2008)
  Old sea mines to be detonated to make way for Baltic Sea gas pipeline (25.11.2008)

See also:
  Russia-Ukraine gas conflict could boost Nord Stream gas pipeline project (7.1.2009)

Links:
  Nord Stream

Helsingin Sanomat