Swedish ex-diplomat: Alternatives for undersea gas pipeline must be found

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The environmental effects of the planned natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany along the bottom of the Gulf of Finland have to be investigated more thoroughly, demanded retired Swedish diplomat Krister Wahlbäck, speaking at a seminar at the University of Helsinki on Wednesday.
      Wahlbäck’s argument is based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which entitles the coastal states to demand that "reasonable steps" be taken to prevent pollution of the marine environment prior to the construction of such a pipeline.
     
The planned pipeline is to be routed across the Baltic Sea from Vyborg, Russia, to Greifswald, Germany. It would be laid largely on the continental shelf of Finland and Sweden.
      The Baltic Sea is a very sensitive inland sea which is already polluted. Even Finnish environment officials were critical on Tuesday that the environmental impact assessments prepared by the constructor of the pipeline, Nord Stream AG, are insufficient.
     
According to Wahlbäck, the Russian-German company should investigate further whether or not an overground pipeline through Belarus or Latvia for instance would be more environmentally friendly than the planned routing along the bottom of the Gulf of Finland.
      Wahlbäck noted further that Sweden has the right to study the potential use of the seabed for its own purposes first, before allowing the construction of such a pipeline.
     
Furthermore, if Nord Stream still insists on building the pipeline in the Baltic Sea, after an overground pipeline had been assessed to be a more ecological option, Sweden could take the dispute to the Hague International Court of Justice, Wahlbäck speculates.
      "At that point, the precise meaning of the expression 'reasonable steps' [to prevent pollution of the marine environment] should be defined", Wahlbäck concludes.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish environment officials criticise plans for undersea gas pipeline (28.2.2007)
  Sweden and Lithuania do not accept planned routing of gas pipeline (20.2.2007)
  Environmental impact of Baltic Sea pipeline greatest in building phase (15.11.2006)

Links:
  United Nations: Oceans and Law of the Sea

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