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New pipeline likely to lead to major oil leakage
March 1, 2004 4:28 PM
Sarah Ludford joined protestors against the BTC pipeline at last year's AGM of AMEC, one of the companies involved in building the pipeline
The European Parliament has called for environmental impact assessments to be carried out to EU standards for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, being built by BP from Azerbaijan through Georgia and Turkey to the Mediterranean.
The pipeline is viewed as strategically important since it offers America and Europe a source of supply as an alternative to the Middle East.
It is therefore being built with public money as well as private, having got approval for loans and credits from the World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and UK government.
In a report and debate on the Caucasus, MEPs have expressed concern that the pipeline, in a zone of instability and low respect for human rights, is being pushed through in the absence of reliable assurances about environmental practices and treatment of local people who are being displaced.
London Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford drew attention to an alarming new press report that the coating on pipeline joints is poor and likely to lead to major oil leakage and pollution, and that BP knew this before it secured the backing of international funders:
"The credits should be suspended while an independent enquiry is carried out into the safety of the pipeline for local people and the environment, and into its financial viability once the heavy cost of repairs is taken into account."
Sarah Ludford takes a close interest in Turkish affairs in particular and was active in the successful campaign to stop UK taxpayers' money being used as export credit for building the Ilisu Dam which breached sustainable development criteria.
"I am especially concerned that Turkey has granted BP an opt-out from all future environmental and social laws for the pipeline. As someone keen for Turkey to qualify to join the EU, I am dismayed that this will prevent it implementing European standards, crucial to its acceptance in the EU. I fail to understand why the Turkish government and the European Commission are letting this happen."
Note:
Sarah Ludford MEP has tabled the following question to the European Commission:
EU Member States and the European Community are shareholders in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which provided $150 million in support for the British Petroleum (BP) oil pipeline project in the South Caucasus region (the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project).
This project has recently come under renewed criticism in a recent article in the Sunday Times newspaper (15 February 2004), which alleged that BP concealed both substantial procurement fraud and potential massive environmental damage: the coating used to seal the pipeline's joints against leakage is reported to be faulty and cracks were already reportedly found in November 2003 before the approval of the funding from the EBRD.
Does the Commission agree that BP is therefore in breach of its legal obligation to disclose all risks of "material adverse effects", and will the Commission say what action it plans to take such that the Community and the Member States use their influence at the EBRD to ensure that these allegations are thoroughly investigated and, if they are found to be true, that EBRD financial support for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline project is suspended?
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