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Russia has promised to help efforts to clean up the heavily
polluted Baltic Sea as part of its plans to build a 1,200km
undersea pipeline to carry natural gas to Germany.
Countries living on the shores of the Baltic met in Helsinki
recently to agree measures to reduce pollutants - including
phosphorous and untreated sewage - that have made the sea
one of the world’s dirtiest.
“I’m convinced that Nord Stream [pipeline] will be an environmentally
friendly, secure and trouble-free delivery route to Europe
to strengthen the energy stability of the entire European
continent,” said Mr Putin of the pipeline, which has an annual
capacity of 55 billion cubic metres.
Nord
Stream said it was prepared to share with environmental
researchers, data it had collected on 40,000km˛ of the sea
bed. “We hope that the data we have gathered will help to
form a better picture of the challenges which the Baltic Sea
is facing,” said Mr Matthias Warnig, chief executive of the
Nord Stream consortium.
“We want to encourage universities and researchers around
the Baltic Sea to create new solutions to improve the state
of our sea.”
Russia’s neighbours are concerned that the pipeline’s construction
will disturb pollutants settled on the Baltic seabed, including
fertilisers that encourage algal bloom and choke marine life.
The sea is already suffering from over-fishing and high levels
of marine traffic - already 15 per cent of total - likely
to increase with the expansion of the Russian port of Ust
Luga.
Finnish president Tarja Halonen, who chaired the recent Baltic
Sea Action Summit, called for greater co-operation
between companies and governments to rescue the sea. “It’s
clear something has to be done - and quickly,” she said.
Finland is the only Baltic country yet to approve the Nord
Stream pipeline passing through its territory. A positive
decision is likely in the coming days.
No major political commitments emerged at the conference
beyond the 140 commitments made in advance by participants
from Germany, Denmark, Poland, Norway, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania
and Estonia.
Environmental groups gave a mixed reading of the commitments.
Source - The Irish Times
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