Tomorrow on June 28 local residents of Sakhalin will once again
block the road at a construction site in order to physically stop
hazardous for nature and people project. On the same day a protest
will be held near the headquarters of the Credit Suisse Bank in the
U.S. In London the coalition of non-governmental organizations will
organize a demonstration near the headquarters of Shell - the
principal stakeholder of the Sakhlin-2 project.
Credit Suisse provides further funding of the project. In May
the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) already
refused to finance the project with the total value of 10 billion
dollars. Now the project initiators have to look for alternative
sources of funding.
The project causes threat to the unique population of grey
whales. The area of oil production is their only summer breeding
ground. To transport oil and gas the pipeline is being constructed
through almost the whole island from the North to the South. The
pipeline will cross more than a thousand rivers and streams, about
600 of them are spawning sites. The pipeline will cross 21 active
joint fissures, which together with complicated terrain can cause
disastrous oil leakages.
Realization of the first stage of the project has already caused
damage to the nature of Sakhalin: the small in number shoal of grey
whales has decreased, in the north of the island fish has become
extinct in the rivers where heavy construction machines were
transported. Benefits, which were promised by oil workers to local
residents who live a traditional lifestyle based on sea resources'
exploitation, turned out to be a tragedy.
"Oil companies that work on the Sakhalin shelf have already
showed their irresponsibility toward the fragile nature of
Sakhalin. Now they are looking for a Swiss guarantee to completely
destroy the unique ecosystem of the island", says Vladimir
Chouprov, Greenpeace Russia Energy Department Head. "Oil is going
to be exhausted soon and a really far-sighted bank would focus on
the alternative wind, solar, wave and geothermal energy and energy
saving rather than investing in a shady project."
Greenpeace handed a letter with a demand to the heads of the
Credit Suisse to stop funding oil production on Sakhalin. The bank
was offered to focus on safe and financially perspective projects
on energy saving and renewable energy sources. For these purposes a
thick reference book of Russian companies that produce equipment
for renewables was presented to the bank.
For further information please contact Greenpeace Russia:
257-41-16/18/22/24 - Vladimir Chouprov, Elena Surovikina
Additional information:
Economic and technological potential of renewable energy sources
is 30 percent in the total energy balance of the country. The
energy saving potential is 40 percent.
Sakhalin is a spawning area for 30 percent of salmon in the Far
East. This is a habitat of the last unique population of grey
whales included in the Red Data Book. This is a habitat of
indigenous small-in-number peoples who live a traditional lifestyle
based on sea resources' exploitation.
In the framework of the project the drilling platform ПА-Б
(РА-В) is going to be constructed at the Piltun-Astokh deposit in a
dangerous proximity from the only summer breeding ground of western
grey whales in the world. There are only about 100 whales left, and
the female whales of the reproductive age are strongly exhausted.
Only this year two of them have died.
To deliver oil and gas the pipeline is being constructed, which
will cross 105 spawning rivers in the most dangerous trench method
directly through salmon spawning sites (including the Sakhalin
taimen included in the Red Data Book), which is a violation of the
Russian laws.
Furthermore, it is the Russian legislation and standards that
require applying overhead construction of pipelines in the places
of crossing active joint fissures. However, Sakhalin Energy managed
to lobby for special licenses to deviate from the Russian standards
for their pipeline's construction.