WRITTEN QUESTION E-0728/00

by Jonas Sjöstedt (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(17 March 2000)

Subject: Vuotos dam construction project in northern Finland

There is considerable concern in northern Sweden that the Vuotos dam construction project in northern Finland may damage the environment by greatly increasing emissions of nutrients and heavy metals into the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. It is feared, inter alia, that the methyl mercury load may increase by 20-30 %. Naturally, the level of mercury in Swedish fish would rise too. It is intended to flood 240 square kilometres of marshland. Various Swedish authorities have protested about the construction plans.

Has the Commission had occasion to study this project, and have any checks been carried out as to whether it meets the requirements in the EU's Environmental Impact Assessment Directive?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(8 May 2000)

The Commission is aware of the Vuotos power plant and artificial lake project for which the Water Court in Northern Finland has recently (29 February 2000) granted a construction permit. According to the information in the press, the decision will be subject to appeals.

Although projects such as this in principle fall under Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment(1), Member States are not obliged under this Directive to cover projects for which consent procedures have been initiated before the deadline of implementation which was 1 January 1995 for Finland (see case C-362/92, Bund Naturschutz in Bayern, paragraph 19, and C-431/92 Commission v. Germany, paragraph 29). The application for the Vuotos project was lodged in 1992. The Finnish authorities have informed the Commission that the Finnish Act of Environmental Impact Assessment Procedures excludes projects for which public hearing has been carried out before 14 January 1994, such as the Vuotos project.

In any event, the environment impacts of nutrients and heavy metals arising from the project have been assessed in the context of the permit procedure under the Finnish Water Act. The decision granting the construction permit analyses the estimated effects of the artificial lake on the water quality and fish in the artificial lake itself, in the river Kemijoki and in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. It is estimated that the water quality and recreational fishing will be disturbed, among others, by increased level of nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, but that the effects will concentrate on the artificial lake itself and on the river downstream, being relatively minor in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. Further, it is estimated that the levels of mercury in certain fish species (pike, perch, burbot) will during the first 8-15 years after the construction increase considerably (over 1 milligram per kilogram (mg/kg) in the artificial lake itself, significantly (between 0,5 and 1,0 mg/kg) in the Kemijoki river, but in a lesser degree in the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia. The Water Court pointed out that the health damage can be avoided by monitoring and informing the public about the situation. Further, it was estimated on the basis of the studies carried out that it is unlikely that the mobilisation of other heavy metals would have effects similar to the mobilisation of mercury. The Water Court ordered the applicant to assess further and monitor the effects on fisheries and fish.

According to the information the Commission has received from the Finnish authorities, Finland has during the permit procedure informed the competent Swedish authorities about the estimated environmental effects of the project in the Swedish side.

Accordingly as at presently informed, the Commission does not have any reason to take measures concerning the environmental impact assessment procedures carried out in this project. The Commission will continue to follow the on-going procedures at the national level.

(1) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985.