OREANDA-NEWS. The public display period of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Programme starts today for the Nord Stream Extension Project`s EIA procedure. Public hearings will be organized in five cities during April, 2013.

Nord Stream AG initiated the national EIA procedure for the Nord Stream Extension project on 25 March, 2013 in Finland and the EIA Programme was put on public display today. The objective of the Nord Stream Extension Project is to increase the natural gas transport capacities with one or two additional pipelines from Russia to the European Union through the Baltic Sea.

The purpose of the EIA procedure is to ensure that environmental impacts of a project are assessed and that they are then considered in the decision making process. An EIA assesses and compares different project alternatives and provides information to citizens as a basis for public participation. The EIA procedure is two-phased: EIA programme phase is followed by the EIA Report phase, and their duration is estimated to take approximately two years. The EIA procedure will be followed by the permitting phase, which is the actual decision making process.

The EIA Programme describes the baseline of the planned project area and states which route alternatives and environmental impacts will be assessed during the planning phase. In Finland, the planned route option for the Extension Project follows the route of the existing two Nord Stream pipelines. The Finnish route section is approximately 370 kilometres long and the overall pipeline length is approximately 1,250 kilometres. Impacts to be assessed are related to for example water quality, benthos, ship traffic, fishery, cultural heritage and future use of the Finnish EEZ.

The Finnish EIA Programme will be on public display in the southern coastal municipalities of Finland and Åland from 8 April 2013 to 6 June 2013. Public hearings related to the Nord Stream Extension project during the public display period will be held as follows:

16 April, 2013 in Helsinki in Marina Congress Center, Katajanokanlaituri 6) at 6 pm

17 April, 2013 in Turku in Forum Marinum, (Linnankatu 72) at 6 pm

18 April, 2013 in Hanko in the City Hall, (Vuorikatu 1) at 6 pm

22 April, 2013 in Kotka in Höyrypanimo (Metsontie 41) at 6 pm

24 April in Maariehamn, Åland in Hotel Arkipelag (Strandgatan 35) at 6 pm

The general public is welcome to attend the public hearings to familiarize themselves with the Extension Project and the EIA programme and to ask questions.

The international consultation is organized in accordance with the Espoo Convention. Finnish authorities will thus further send the EIA documents also to the other countries around the Baltic Sea where the Project may have an impact.

The Coordinating Authority will collect officially submitted opinions and statements in the context of national and international consultation and issue its statement within a month after the public display period.

Nord Stream AG is committed to an open, transparent and active dialogue and exchange of information with the environmental authorities, citizens and other stakeholders in all the Baltic Sea states.