Nord Stream to face environmentalists

TALLINN - WWF Deutschland and BUND have, within the required deadline, delivered their legal case against German approval for the Nord Stream Pipeline, arguing for cancellation of a permit given by the Mining Authority (Bergamt Stralsund) in December 2009, reports Estonian Nature Fund. The organization claims that Baltic nature would be much more affected by the pipeline than stated in the approval document, and suggested that compensation measures are insufficient.

The compensation measures prescribed for the German coastal area cover only 40 percent of the stated expected damage, and will cost approximately 7 million euros. For the remaining 60 percent the Mining Authority has asked for only 3.6 million euros to be set aside for compensation measures.

“The balance between created damages and compensation measures to improve the environmental situation, Baltic wide, has to be zero,” claims Jochen Lamp, Baltic Sea expert with the WWF. “The authorities and the company have to strengthen their efforts substantially to guarantee that the damage to the marine environment [caused] by the project will be fully compensated for.”
Large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus would be released by the construction work from the seabed of the Baltic, which are likely to cause massive damage to the Baltic Sea ecosystem, says the group.