Varna Regional Inspectorate of Environment gives green light to a dangerous wind farm project
12.03.2012
Last Friday (9 March 2012) RIEW Varna issued an ordinance allowing to the appealed SMIN wind farm to proceed with construction. This is happening despite the low quality of the baseline field studies and the analysis, which hardly can prove the lack of impact of the wind farm project. The SMIN project comprising of 95 turbines each of 2 MW is planned in the core wintering area of the most threatened goose in the world – the Red-breasted Goose. The project is located less than 500m from the SPA and Natura 2000 site Durankulak Lake and would create virtually a wall of turbines between the roosting site at the lake and the sea in front of it and the foraging areas where the wind turbines would be erected.
While the SMIN wind farm investor and his experts argue that the area is insignificant for the species and all geese forage immediately around the Lake, the BSPB field team has recently registered over 7500 Redbreasts foraging for the past two weeks in fields within the area of the planned project. This confirms the importance of the area for the survival of the species, as currently over 20% of the known global population of the species is foraging in this area. The coordinated monitoring efforts of the AEWA Red-breasted Goose International Working Group have revealed for the past several winter seasons that the area of Shabla Lake and especially Durankulak Lake are the only sites where significant proportion of the Red-breasted Goose concentrates regularly in winter time. Between 15 and 50% of the known population of the species is concentrating in the Durankulak Lake area – all of which was brutally ignored within the EIA and the assessment of the impact of the project on the conservation objectives of the Natura 2000 site.
The permission of the RIEW Director for this wind farm project to go ahead completely ignores the precautionary principle and basis the decision on pure and low quality data, while for many aspects the data completely lacks and no informed decision could be formed. All this is happening on the background of the advancing infringement procedure by the EC on Bulgaria’s inability to ensure sufficient protection of SPAs and Natura 2000 sites in Coastal Dobrudga and allowing harmful wind farm development which undermines the conservation objectives of the SPAs. By no means, the current decision taken by the RIEW Director will trigger the fast advance of the court case against Bulgaria in the European Court of Justice where subjective and irrelevant arguments widely accepted in Bulgaria would not work.
Last Friday (9 March 2012) RIEW Varna issued an ordinance allowing to the appealed SMIN wind farm to proceed with construction. This is happening despite the low quality of the baseline field studies and the analysis, which hardly can prove the lack of impact of the wind farm project. The SMIN project comprising of 95 turbines each of 2 MW is planned in the core wintering area of the most threatened goose in the world – the Red-breasted Goose. The project is located less than 500m from the SPA and Natura 2000 site Durankulak Lake and would create virtually a wall of turbines between the roosting site at the lake and the sea in front of it and the foraging areas where the wind turbines would be erected.
While the SMIN wind farm investor and his experts argue that the area is insignificant for the species and all geese forage immediately around the Lake, the BSPB field team has recently registered over 7500 Redbreasts foraging for the past two weeks in fields within the area of the planned project. This confirms the importance of the area for the survival of the species, as currently over 20% of the known global population of the species is foraging in this area. The coordinated monitoring efforts of the AEWA Red-breasted Goose International Working Group have revealed for the past several winter seasons that the area of Shabla Lake and especially Durankulak Lake are the only sites where significant proportion of the Red-breasted Goose concentrates regularly in winter time. Between 15 and 50% of the known population of the species is concentrating in the Durankulak Lake area – all of which was brutally ignored within the EIA and the assessment of the impact of the project on the conservation objectives of the Natura 2000 site.
The permission of the RIEW Director for this wind farm project to go ahead completely ignores the precautionary principle and basis the decision on pure and low quality data, while for many aspects the data completely lacks and no informed decision could be formed. All this is happening on the background of the advancing infringement procedure by the EC on Bulgaria’s inability to ensure sufficient protection of SPAs and Natura 2000 sites in Coastal Dobrudga and allowing harmful wind farm development which undermines the conservation objectives of the SPAs. By no means, the current decision taken by the RIEW Director will trigger the fast advance of the court case against Bulgaria in the European Court of Justice where subjective and irrelevant arguments widely accepted in Bulgaria would not work.
