Shtokman briefing for NGOs
There are still more questions than answers, environmentalists said after their meeting with the Shtokman Development AG this week.
The Shtokman Development AG has over the last year held several information meetings with environmental organizations in Murmansk Oblast. This openness policy has been in stark contrast to the company’s otherwise tight control of project information in the public.
This week, another meeting between the SDAG and environmentalists was held, Bellona.org reports.
Nina Lesikhina from the Bellona Foundation maintains that the meetings with the SDAG always have been little informative and formal. However, this time the state of openness was even lower than before.
-We are disappointed with the lack of understanding among representatives of SDAG of the general development process of the project, and first of all the ecological documentation and the role of the public, Lesikhina told Bellona.org
The Bellona Foundation highlights that climate gas emissions is one of the key challenges in the Shtokman project. A preliminary estimate of the project’s first phase emissions totaled 3 223 380 tons per year. However SDAG representative Ian Buchanan in the meeting with the environmentalists maintained that emissions could be cut with 20 percent to 2 609 562 tons per year with the application of clean technology and energy saving measures. He maintained that the injection of CO2 in field deposits would be impossible due to the quality of the geological conditions in the area.
