The
environmental impact assessment of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline is
inadequate and needs to be reworked, according to the Bulgarian Ministry of
Environment.
This
announcement is set to protract even more the long drawn out project, adding to
uncertainty about whether it will be realized at all.
"The
report features many unclarities and omissions," according to the Ministry,
which returned the papers for reworking. Trans Balkan Pipeline BV will now have
two months following receipt of the official letters to return the new
EIA.
Among the key weaknesses of the assessment is that the two options for
unloading the oil into the pipe have not been given equal consideration, upon
which the "buoy" option has been implicitly given preference over the
"jetty/pier" option.
"The
EIA report does not give an explicit about the specific effects of a possible
oil spill on local fisheries, tourism and real estate. No specific measures for
spill prevention have been mentioned. The measures included in the report do not
guarantee that a possible accident will not lead to irreversible damage to the
sea, its flora and fauna, and tourism," reads the Ministry's
statement.