EU Parliament demands tighter environmental scrutiny of Baltic Sea gas pipeline

Baltimore Sun. STRASBOURG, France - The European Parliament demanded stricter environmental scrutiny today before construction gets under way on a controversial Baltic Sea pipeline designed to pump Russian natural gas to Germany.

The European Union assembly also said the Nord Stream AG company behind the pipeline must consult with other Baltic Sea countries before going ahead with the project -- including Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which have all expressed deep reservations about the plan.

In a resolution adopted 543-to-60 with 38 abstentions, the parliament called for an independent study of the environmental impact the 760-mile pipeline could have and further consideration of overland alternatives.

The planned Nord Stream pipeline would carry natural gas from the northwestern Russian port of Vyborg to the northern German port of Greifswald, bypassing current land routes through Poland, the Baltic states or Ukraine.

The plan has provoked strong opposition in Poland, which receives transit fees from Russian gas crossing its territory. Estonia has refused to allow the pipeline to run through its waters.

Those nations fear the Russian-German pipeline could increase Moscow's economic leverage over eastern Europe by allowing Russian gas to bypass their territory and giving Russian energy company Gazprom more control over European fuel supplies.

The project is a joint venture between Russia's Gazprom -- which owns 51 percent -- German companies BASF AG and E.On AG, and Dutch gas company Gasunie. Work on the pipeline is scheduled to start next year and end in 2012 at an estimated cost of $11.6 billion.

Parliament members expressed concern the pipeline could disturb toxic chemicals in Baltic Sea sediment, including munitions on warships sunk in World War II battles.

"This pipeline will ruin the environment," said Marcin Libicki, a Polish conservative lawmaker. "This is a political plan ... a Kremlin political plan."

Although the vote is not legally binding, Libicki said it added to moral pressure on Nord Stream to open up to greater environmental scrutiny.

The Switzerland-based Nord Stream company says the project is environmentally sound and that it has commissioned independent environmental studies and is keeping all the relevant nations informed.

"Nord Stream is fully committed to preserving the Baltic Sea environment," the company said in a statement. "The pipeline has been planned with a profound awareness of the environmental issues and conditions of the Baltic Sea."