Baku, Azerbaijan, June 22
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization has published the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the offshore section of the TurkStream gas pipeline project.
The EIA was prepared by ELC Group Inc. on behalf of South Stream Transport B.V., the project owner of the offshore section of the TurkStream project.
The EIA consists of information on the potential environmental and social impacts of the offshore section of the TurkStream project. It also includes recommendations for the mitigation of the potential adverse impacts and enhancement of the beneficial ones.
The Turkish government established a Review and Evaluation Commission with representatives of relevant institutions and organizations to review the EIA report. After receiving the findings of the commission, South Stream Transport B.V. will submit a final report to the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization.
“We consider the EIA process to be an opportunity for a transparent consultation on possible impacts of our project. The described measures in our EIA provide appropriate and effective mitigation to minimize our environmental footprint,” said the statement from the South Stream Transport B.V.
The exact conditions for certain measures, for example regarding replantation of trees, will be determined by external experts in coordination with the Turkish government, according to the statement.
“We are committed to develop the TurkStream offshore pipeline in line with good international industry practice and in compliance with Turkish regulations,” said the company.
TurkStream project envisages construction of two branches of the main gas pipeline under the Black Sea, the capacity of each branch being 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas.
One branch is meant to supply gas directly to the Turkish market and the other for the supply of gas by transit through Turkey to Europe. The intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Turkey also stipulates that these two offshore branches should be built by December 2019.
On Dec.8, 2016, South Stream Transport B.V., 100-percent subsidiary of Gazprom, signed a contract with Swiss Allseas Group on constructing the first line of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline’s offshore segment.
Later in February 2017, the two companies inked an agreement on constructing the second line of the pipeline’s offshore section.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn