20 june 2003
Environment ministers and the European
Commission must stop violations of Helsinki
Convention at oil extraction project in the
Baltic Sea
At the upcoming Ministerial meeting of
Helsinki Commission, (25-26 June, 2003 in
Bremen, Germany), environmental groups from
the Baltic Sea region will urge the European
Commission to take immediate action
concerning environmental impacts of oil
extraction in the Baltic Sea.
Russia plans to start offshore oil
extraction near the Curonian Spit National
Park which is part of a UNESCO World Heritage
Site in the Baltic Sea in 2003. The Russian
LUKOIL company is preparing to open the D-6
oil deposit (Kravtsovskoje) [1] , situated 22
km from the coast in the Kaliningrad region,
very close to the Lithuanian-Russian border
(EU-Russian border since 2004) on the Baltic
Sea shelf. This project will cause negative
environmental impacts for Lithuania, Russia
and possibly other countries in Baltic Sea
area.
At a meeting of the Helsinki Commission,
where Environment Ministers from the Baltic
Region and from European Union members states
will meet, environmental groups from the
Baltic Sea region will express serious
concerns about the planned D-6 offshore oil
extraction and violations of international
agreements by the Russian Government. The
groups state that there is a high danger of
environmental pollution, permanent oil
leakage, accidental oil spills and other
negative impacts during the exploitation of
the D-6 project. Both the Curonian Spit and
the Baltic sea, an exceptionally sensitive
ecosystems, are facing serious threats.
Both the Lithuanian and Russian parts of
the Curonian Spit are important and valuable
recreational places with large tourism
potential. Millions of euros have already
been invested in the development of
sustainable tourism, nature protection and
environmental projects by local
municipalities, national governments and
international donors. But due to Russia's
controversial plan for oil extraction, all
these investments and achievements are
seriously being endangered. The future of the
whole region could be altered from an
attractive sustainable tourism spot to a
devastated area.
Gunnar Noren, Executive Secretary of
Coalition Clean Baltic [2] stated that we
demand the Helsinki Commission and the EU
Commission to stop violations of
international environmental law like the
Convention for the Protection of the Marine
Environment of the Baltic Sea and the
Helsinki Convention, concerning this oil
extraction project .
The planned D-6 project contradicts and
endangers the principles of sustainable
development for the Baltic Sea Region as
settled in many international agreements and
documents, such as the Baltic Agenda 21
adopted by Ministers of Environment and
Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) in
1998, Helsinki Convention and the Convention
on Environmental Assessment in a
Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention).
Russia has repeatedly violated the Helsinki
Convention agreements, such as the
Recommendation 17/3 on Information and
Consultation with regard to Construction of
New Installations affecting the Baltic Sea,
by not providing a proper Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA) in English to HELCOM
[3]Contracting Parties and observers.
Baltic environmental organizations have
asked Baltic Sea region governments and EU to
start negotiations for an international
moratorium on oil extraction on the Baltic
Sea continental shelf, and to set up strictly
binding uniform environmental standards for
possible oil-extraction in the Baltic
Sea.
The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources
approved D-6 project following principles of
Soviet style conspiracy and secrecy, despite
violations of both Russian and international
legislation and court cases against LUKOIL
for denied access to information and
independent Environmental Assessment.
Linas Vainius from Lithuanian Green
Movement stressed the fact that for three
years now, the Russian Government has
neglected civilized dialogue and refused to
provide any information about planned the oil
extraction at D-6, despite numerous requests
by Lithuanian Government, the Helsinki
Commission, the World Heritage Committee and
international environmental Non-Governmental
Organisations.
Concerning D-6, environmental NGOs call
Russian Government: to disclose EIA materials
and the conclusions of the Russian Ministry
of Natural resources concerning D-6 project;
to conduct Environmental Impact Assessment
for the D-6 project according the Convention
on Environmental Assessment in a
Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention) with
involvement of all interested stakeholders;
to stop implementation of the D-6 project
until results of the EIA under Espoo
Convention are known.
For more information contact:
Linas Vainius, Lithuanian Green Movement,
tel.+370-37-425566, mobile +370-699-33661;
email: ,
www.zalieji.lt
Alexandra Koroleva, Ecodefense!, tel. +7 902
2315243; email: ,
www.ecodefense.ru
Notes for editors:
[1]: This oil deposit, with estimated
reserves of 24 million tonnes, was discovered
in 1983. During the Soviet period, in 1985,
the Kaliningradmorneftegaz company began
preliminary platform construction works.
Later in 1987, these activities were
cancelled due to strong public protests. A
commission set up by the USSR State Science
and Technical Committee (after public
requests) found that the environmental aspect
of the project was not safe enough and did
not protect the Baltic Sea, the Curonian Spit
and other coastline from possible accidental
oil spillage. These assumptions proved to be
correct based on events in June 1983. During
drilling tests on the D- 6, approximately 70
tonnes of oil were spilled into the Baltic
Sea and soon reached the Curonian Spit.
Around 20 kilometres of coastline was
polluted with oil both on the Russian and
Lithuanian sides.
[2]: CCB is a network for cooperation and
coordination between 27 environment NGOs,
comprising over half a million members in all
countries around the Baltic Sea. The
over-riding goal for CCB is to promote the
protection and improvement of the environment
and natural resources of the Baltic Sea area.
See also:
www.ccb.se
[3]. The Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM,
works to protect the marine environment of
the Baltic Sea through intergovernmental
co-operation between Denmark, Estonia, the
European Community, Finland, Germany, Latvia,
Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden. HELCOM
is the governing body of the "Convention on
the Protection of the Marine Environment of
the Baltic Sea Area" (Helsinki Convention).
See also:
www.helcom.fi
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