Construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline - destruction of nature

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

GREENPEACE sent a letter to the Prosecutor's Office of the Leningrad Region, where he proposed to apply penalties to Nord Stream 2 AG under the Administrative Code for violations of the laws “On Environmental Protection”, “On Wildlife” and “On Specially Protected Natural Areas”. The company, which is laying the next gas pipeline to Europe, declares that it follows the most stringent international environmental requirements. Why is she facing such serious charges?

The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is currently being built in a natural area that is unique on the scale of the entire Baltic region - the Kurgalsky nature reserve (Leningrad Region). The reserve is included in the list of "wetlands" and is protected by the international conventions "On Wetlands of International Importance" (Ramsar Convention) and "On the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea".

Nord Stream 2 AG, caring about its international image, has developed a rescue operation for rare, endangered species that have found themselves in the construction corridor. Great initiative! True, scientists have repeatedly warned that plant transplantation will not end well. The gas pipeline builders still insisted on their own, made promises and received permission to transplant. Now, according to its results, the company was put "bad", since the construction of the gas pipeline led to the destruction of a huge number of rare plants.

Botanical scientists from the Botanical Institute. VL Komarov Russian Academy of Sciences checked nine sites where the "rescue" of species from the Red Data Book was organized. On eight, the death of the transplanted plants was recorded. At one of the sites where the intermediate sundew, entered in the Red Book of the Leningrad Region, was rescued, more than 95% of the transplanted individuals died!

Signs of falsification of the transplantation results were found on the site with a lumbago open: instead of this lumbago, hybrid plants were found that were not listed in the Red Book of the Leningrad Region.

The strange story with the transplantation of an unguarded lumbago is complemented by dubious measures to "save" the "dark red dremlik" orchids. Not only did a significant part of the transplanted plants die (it became clear back in 2018), the napkins from the construction corridor were transplanted to where there were already populations of this orchid. As a result, it is impossible to assess the number and condition of the transplanted plants.

The attempt to grow the Red Book lumbago from the collected seeds also failed.

plots where the seeds of lumbago were sown - there are no seedlings, photo by E. Glazkova

Inspection of forest "beds" gave zero result

Another embarrassment happened at "Nord Stream 2 AG" with a white-tailed eagle. Note that it is listed not only in the Red Data Books of the Russian Federation and the Leningrad Region, but also in the Red Data Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature! For some reason, the route of the international gas pipeline was laid next to its nest. Nord Stream 2 AG spread confident statements to the media that the construction would not disturb the birds. On May 17, 2019, the company issued a press release: “A female eagle is incubating eggs in the same nest near the construction corridor as in previous years. According to experts, thanks to the measures taken by the company, the construction work did not disturb the bird."

Birds can't read. Apparently, therefore, the pair of eagles ignored the cheerful statements of the builders. No signs of habitability of the nest were found.

The nest was checked by the famous St. Petersburg ornithologist Vladimir Golovan. Based on the results of the check, he prepared a document where it was noted:

“No fresh building material in the nest design;

absence of droppings on the ground under the nest and on tree trunks;

lack of food debris;

the absence of the birds themselves in the nest area;

constant presence of people near the nest and construction work”.

With all due respect to Nord Stream 2 AG and the contractors hired by it, there is reason to believe that they are misleading the Committee for Natural Resources and the Committee for State Environmental Control of the Leningrad Region, the Department of Rosprirodnadzor for the North-West Federal District and the media.

It is very important for the prosecutor's office to demonstrate its legal capacity and thoroughly understand the situation. Not only for the rule of law. Lobbyists of other dangerous projects have already begun referring to the "positive" experience of Nord Stream 2 AG, for example, the construction of another large port in the resort area of the Gulf of Finland, which caused a strong protest from ecologists and local residents.

An interesting question: why did Nord Stream 2 AG not pay attention to the warnings of scientists that replanting lumbago, orchids, sundews, marsh turcha and other species will end in their death? It would seem that the company's specialists should have listened to the specialists if they value the company's image. To get closer to the answer, one has to turn to the history of the Nord Stream 2 project. More precisely, not to the whole story, but to its ecological part.

However, for a general understanding, it is still worth giving an assessment, which they prefer to bypass when discussing the feasibility and profitability of the project

Mikhail Krutikhin, a Russian economic analyst and oil and gas market specialist, has repeatedly given highly critical comments on the Nord Stream 2 project. In particular: “For Germany, this is just a gift. It gets another direct channel absolutely free of charge, without any transit countries, Russian gas supplies, and even on very flexible, good terms in accordance with the new contract. As for Russia, it spent only on bringing the pipeline to the Baltic Sea, according to my calculations, 44 billion dollars. So what about a commercial project - this is all talk for the poor. If it were not for these already incurred costs, it would have been a completely commercial project with not too high operating costs. But 44 billion has actually already been taken out of the Russian budget, taken away from pensioners and state employees and paid for the pipe, which, in principle, Russia did not need. The pipes that were in operation have twice the capacity than Russia exports gas to Europe …

I repeat, this is an absolutely unnecessary project. There were two motivations: to punish the Ukrainians by depriving them of transit and to give the contractors who build it an opportunity to cash in. Russia has no other motivation. Nord Stream 2 will never pay off if you take into account its investment component - the very 44 billion. Therefore, the money will simply be written off. He was deliberately unprofitable. Back in 2006, Putin spoke with the heads of four Russian factories that produce large-diameter pipes for gas pipelines. Russia was forced to buy them from Ukraine, Germany and Japan, Putin suggested making them in Russia. The directors complained that the pipes would have nowhere to sell. You will have a market, the president promised. So Nord Stream, as well as South Stream, Power of Siberia and others were needed to justify the production of pipes and for the profit of contractors."

“Caring for the environment is an absolute priority for Nord Stream 2”

This quote from the official website of the company is provided as a statement. To what extent it reflects reality, you can assess for yourself, after reading some of the following, in chronological order, facts from the history of preparation and implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project on the territory of the Kurgalsky Wildlife Refuge. This story is indicative, transparent and does not require comments.

In September 2016, local residents found drilling rigs in the forest and on the coast of the Kurgalsky peninsula and reported to the environmental organizations Green World (Sosnovy Bor) and GREENPEACE. The joint inspection has documented the fact of illegal work.

photo GREENPEACE

In the forest, environmentalists discovered drilling equipment and a recently drilled hole nearby on the road.

On the coast of the Narva Bay in the water protection zone, a drilling rig was operating, with the help of which specialists from the St. V. Dokuchaev drilled pits 25 meters deep and took soil samples. The drillers reported that they are working within the framework of the Nord Stream 2 project.

photo GREENPEACE

At that time, the gas pipeline project was not approved, but the work, which is prohibited by the security regime of the reserve, began. In response to a question about who gave permission for drilling, representatives of the Museum of Soil Science presented a letter from the Committee on Natural Resources of the Administration of the Leningrad Region. It said that the Committee "does not object" to the conduct of "scientific research".

photo GREENPEACE

This letter cannot be read by agreement or permission, and the Committee does not have such powers.

On March 24, 2017, in the administration of the Kingiseppsky district of the Leningrad region, public hearings were held on the draft new regulation on the Kurgalsky reserve. Since the scientists who had been working in Kurgalki for a long time already knew about the plans to cut the reserve with a gas pipe, a respectable "delegation" from St. Petersburg arrived at the hearing.

They drew attention to the numerous shortcomings of the Materials of an Integrated Environmental Survey (ICES), which underlie the new regulation on the reserve.

Senior Researcher at the Botanical Institute named after V. I. VL Komarov RAS Elena Glazkova: “The data presented in the FECM contain many significant errors. The attached maps do not correspond to reality. Some terrestrial plant species find themselves floating in lakes. The list of especially valuable objects has been greatly reduced: instead of 4 pages, this list now fits into 4 paragraphs.

As a result, this incorrect material may create a "loophole" for the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline to be carried through the Kurgalsky reserve."

Sergei Kouzov, an ornithologist from St. Petersburg State University: “If the scheme of nesting sites for rare species falls into the hands of specialists, it will cause a lot of laughter. The ultimate material developer has settled storks on treeless islands. And the waterfowl red-necked grebe, which cannot even go out on land, nests throughout the reserve: in the forest, in the fields, on the islands. At the same time, only three nests of this rarest species were found."

Botanist, candidate of biological sciences Anna Doronina: “The cartographic materials are unreliable, the data on them does not correspond to what the performers provided. The maps must be redone and agreed with the performers, who are responsible for their work."

Anastasia Filippova, head of environmental programs at the New Ecological Project NGO, outlined the joint position of her organization and the Russian GREENPEACE: if it is impossible to understand what is being discussed, then the hearings must be declared invalid.

In response, a false statement was made that the legislation does not allow recognizing public hearings as invalid.

In June 2017, the Austrian GREENPEACE released documents that show that Nord Stream 2 AG was conducting undercover negotiations with the Russian government and had the ability to influence top officials.

Taking into account the illegality of the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline through the Kurgalsky reserve, methods of legalizing illegal construction were discussed in the Russian government with the participation of representatives of the Nord Stream 2 AG company from May 2016 to May 2017. As can be seen from the documents, various options were considered: change the boundaries of the reserve or change Russian legislation.

The minutes of the meeting, which was held in March 2017 by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government Arkady Dvorkovich, says: "… in order to implement the project for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, develop a work schedule for the preparation of a draft federal law on amendments to the Federal Law" On specially protected natural areas "taking into account the discussion …".

GREENPEACE quoted a former employee of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia as saying that Nord Stream 2 AG and its affiliates are worried about meeting international standards. For the project to comply with them, it was required to change the Russian legislation. Most likely, it was about the environmental and social standards of the International Finance Corporation. Nord Stream 2 AG has repeatedly announced that it will follow them.

International Finance Corporation standard number 6 “Conservation of biological diversity and sustainable management of living natural resources” (paragraph 20, page 44) states ifc. org / errorpage. html that in cases where the proposed project is located within a protected or internationally recognized natural area, it is necessary to prove that the proposed activity is permitted by law. Accordingly, while the reserve regime prohibits the laying of a gas pipeline, the construction of Nord Stream 2 cannot meet the standards of the International Finance Corporation.

In July 2017, the Russian GREENPEACE, WWF Russia and the Baltic Fund for Nature appealed to the Governor of the Leningrad Region and the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Republic of Armenia: there is no need to adopt a new regulation for the Kurgalsky Wildlife Refuge, which would permit the construction of the gas pipeline. The appeal seemed correct, because less than a year ago the governor said through his press service: “the project cannot disrupt the ecology of the Gulf of Finland basin in general and the Kurgalsky reserve in particular. The gas pipeline route will definitely not pass through a specially protected natural area."

On July 25, 2017, the Governor of the Leningrad Region approved a new regulation on the Kurgalsky reserve, which allows not only the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to be built, but also the construction of roads, pipelines and other linear facilities throughout the reserve. To save face, officials said that such a possibility was in the old position. However, in the previously existing situation on the territory of the Kurgalsky reserve, it was really allowed to build communications, but only for the development of settlements within the boundaries of the reserve, as well as for border and navigation needs. The main gas pipeline from Russia to Germany is in no way> connected with these needs.

It is worth recalling that the draft of the new regulation on the reserve was analyzed by an independent, accredited expert Maxim Krupskiy. It turned out that there are corruption-generating factors in it.

In the summer of 2017, GREENPEACE prepared a detailed list of claims against the Nord Stream 2 project.

“Presenting the results of studies of possible routes for the new gas pipeline to Europe, Nord Stream 2 AG assures that thorough, sufficient, independent studies of all possible options have been carried out, including laying in the corridor of the existing Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline across the Karelian Isthmus of Leningradskaya area. These statements look dubious, since the implementation of the project in its Russian part is accompanied by the dissemination of inaccurate information, manipulation of data, and misleading the public.

One of the most revealing facts is that long before the public review of the project and its approval by the state expertise, the public and specialists of the countries affected by the project are presented with the only gas pipeline route.

This is an insufficiently substantiated and illegal option for passage through the Narva Bay and the Kurgalsky Reserve.

In April 2017, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources sent to the contact persons of the Espoo Convention in Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, Sweden and Finland, the environmental impact assessment (EIA) documentation for the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline developed by Nord Stream 2 AG 2 . The document substantiates the only option - through the Narva Bay, through a specially protected area of international importance.

The authors of the EIA document did not have sufficient formal grounds for such a choice of the route. For example, to determine the final route, it was necessary to conduct an offshore survey, which could only begin in July 2017. Nevertheless, Nord Stream 2 AG, three months earlier, considered it possible to announce that a route through the Kurgalsky reserve had already been chosen.

The documents that were sent to the countries participating in the project and presented to the public were replete with errors and inaccuracies, helping to substantiate the “no alternative” of the chosen construction option through the Kurgalsky reserve.

Here are some typical examples of incorrect data representation:

The Espoo report says that the work on laying the gas pipeline "will not affect the overall integrity and functioning of the reserve, therefore the level of impact on the protected area is assessed as small."

In fact, the gas pipeline route has been laid through the most valuable natural complexes of the reserve. Directly in the corridor of the route, at least 7 species of vascular plants, 1 species of lichen and 1 species of mosses were found, listed in the Red Data Books of various levels. In the immediate vicinity of the track there is a nest of the white-tailed eagle, included in the International Red Book.

The pipe will pass 3 km from Maly Tyuters Island, where there are rare, protected ringed seals. The migration routes of the seal to this island will inevitably cross the gas pipeline route through the Narva Bay.

The authors of the project report that the section of the pipeline on the territory of the Kurgalsky reserve will “temporarily occupy an area of approximately 31 hectares”. In reality, for all 50 years of the gas pipeline's operation, the territory will be “cleaned up” in accordance with safety requirements. According to experts, the restoration of natural complexes here will be impossible for about 100 years after the end of the gas pipeline's service life.

Comparing the routes of the gas pipeline through Narva Bay (Kurgalsky reserve) and Cape Kolganpya (Kotelsky reserve), the authors of the project provide inaccurate data on the relative value and special protection regimes of the reserves: to the compressor station, for the option "Cape Kolganpya" will also be more significant due to the intersection of the state natural complex reserve of regional significance "Kotelsky".

In reality, the projected route of the gas pipeline through Cape Kolgonpya passed in a zone of intensive nature management, where minimal restrictions on economic activities were introduced. The construction of linear structures (including the pipeline) is permitted by the regime of the "Kotelsky" reserve. Construction in this zone will not cause any fundamentally new damage.

Meanwhile, the security regime of the Kurgalsky reserve did not allow the construction of gas pipelines on its territory.

It should be added that the project documents do not contain sufficient evidence of the impossibility of laying Nord Stream 2 in the corridor of the existing Nord Stream 1.

exit of the gas pipeline from the sea to land in Germany, photo from the design materials of "Nord Stream 2"

Double standards in different countries: at the coastal crossing in Germany, the pipes will pass through a strip of coastal forest 200 meters wide

"Using the traditional open trench construction method to run a pipeline through a forest belt would result in irreversible loss of habitat and terrain changes." Therefore, Nord Stream 2 AG intends to pass this section with two micro-tunnels about 700 meters long.

At the same time, Russia has adopted a “wide range of options for digging a trench” for a valuable, legally protected territory, which has no analogues in the entire North-West of Russia: “The baseline scenario is a traditional construction method with an open trench 85 m wide and approximately 3 800 m ". It should be noted that the use of microtunnelling technology or horizontal directional drilling when crossing PAs is provided for by Gazprom's standards (see "Method of Horizontal Directional Drilling" of the Organization Standard "Main Gas Pipelines STO Gazprom 2-2.1-249-2008 (approved and introduced in action by Order of OAO Gazprom dated August 26, 2008 No. 258) There is no need to prove the fact that there is extensive experience in laying long tunnels in Russia.

Nord Stream 2 AG tries to ignore the fact that laying a gas pipeline through the Kurgalsky reserve is a violation of Russian and international law.

Representatives of the company have repeatedly stated that the route of the onshore part of the gas pipeline is the exclusive competence of Gazprom and the Russian Government.

Thus, the company presents the case as if there were two unrelated projects: onshore and offshore. In reality, there is only one project. It is carried out by a subsidiary of Gazprom (the founder of Nord Stream 2 AG is Gazprom PJSC).

Greenpeace experts have analyzed the documents on the Nord Stream 2 project, which describes in detail its groundlessness and illegality

In particular, the construction of a gas pipeline in the Kurgalsky nature reserve is impossible on the basis of Russian laws and international agreements: the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) and the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea.

Paragraph 19 of the Ramsar Convention states: “change in ecological character is considered to be an anthropogenic disturbance of any component of the ecosystem, process and / or benefit / service provided by the ecosystem”.

As follows from the Espoo materials, pipe laying will be accompanied by: removal of vegetation and soil; impact on habitats of plants and animals; loss and fragmentation of native forest; changes in the hydrological regime, and so on. The entire territory of the Kurgalsky reserve is included in the “key bird area”, which means that construction in any part of it will be a gross violation of the principles of the Convention.

On January 15, 2018, at a press conference at the St. Petersburg Business News Agency, the conclusion of a public environmental review was published, which was carried out by the ECOM Expertise Center. Independent experts - two doctors and five candidates of sciences, biologists, ecologists, lawyers, geographers and specialists in territorial planning - analyzed 138 volumes of the project and declared the project to lay a pipe through the Kurgalsky reserve unacceptable.

The experts made 61 remarks about the incompleteness and unreliability of the materials of the engineering survey of the project and concluded that “the concealment of information about the comparative value of natural complexes when choosing alternatives to the gas pipeline route,as well as the underestimation of the value of natural complexes in the southern part of the Kurgalsky reserve is a deliberate policy of the developer of the design documentation."

The experts found "strange bugs."

One of the photographs used in the project depicted a mute swan's nest on the Kurgalsky Peninsula, however, the ornithological atlas of Yulia Bublchenko contains the same photograph taken on Maly Tyuters Island.

Mention of some species of commercial fish has disappeared from the design documents, in order to diminish the fishery value of Narva Bay, where it is planned to lower the pipe.

An indicative fact was demonstrated at the press conference: someone who has access to adjustments to government programs erased one of the alternative gas pipeline options in the territorial planning scheme of the Russian Federation in the field of pipeline transport. We are talking about the route of the gas pipeline along the border with Estonia.

In May 2018, GREENPEACE experts, together with independent scientists, discovered that construction work was underway in the Kurgalsky reserve, destroying relic dunes and a valuable swamp.

Environmentalists sent an appeal to the Prosecutor General Y. Chaika and the Leningrad Interdistrict Environmental Prosecutor's Office asking them to respond to illegal construction work in the reserve and bring those responsible to justice.

laying of a route in the protected bog Kader, photo by GREENPEACE

On June 9, 2018, GREENPEACE reported that Nord Stream 2 AG and its contractors caused damage to the nature of the reserve in the amount of 2.16 million rubles. This is the minimum amount that Greenpeace experts have calculated according to the methods approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

At the very beginning of August 2018, hundreds of destroyed Red Book plants were found on the future route of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Kurgalsky reserve: intermediate sundew, marsh turchi and lumbago. The plants have died as a result of the company's attempts to replant them from the pipe site.

in the Kader bog, hundreds of intermediate sundew plants dried up: they were pulled out together with pieces of moss, moved several tens of meters and spread out under the scorching sun, photo GREENPEACE

dead and dying plants of the protected marsh turkey were found in the swampy lowlands - it was not possible to estimate the number of dead plants, since some of them were trampled into the soil, photo GREENPEACE

On August 30, 2018, GREENPEACE reported: Nord Stream 2 AG introduced heavy equipment into the reserve and cut down forests on a significant part of the gas pipeline route. Right now, the company is destroying the unique natural complexes of the reserve, habitats of rare plant and animal species and violates Russian legislation and Russia's international obligations arising from the Ramsar Convention."

Now the construction of Nord Stream 2 is in full swing. Irreparable damage in the near future was caused to the Kurgalka nature reserve and the ecosystems of the Narva Bay. Unfortunately, this fact is not properly considered either in Russia or in "legal" Europe. The authorities of the countries that have the competence to agree to the laying of the pipe - Germany (key country concerned), Finland and Sweden -

did not pay attention to the violation of the law (including international agreements) and environmental standards.

If we take the positions of truth, then we must admit: all of the above countries (and the European Union in general) are also responsible for what is happening in the Kurgalk reserve and Narva Bay. They should understand this, taking it for granted that sooner or later, one way or another, they will have to pay for what they have done or not done.