Monitoring Provides Vital Ecological Data
Nord Stream plans to invest approximately 40 million euros into its Environmental and Social Monitoring Programmes (ESMPs) to monitor any impact of the construction and operation of its pipelines through 2016.
As stipulated by the national permits granted by Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany, Nord Stream developed five national environmental monitoring programmes. Each has the aim of documenting the environmental impacts from the construction and operations of the pipelines in the respective jurisdictions. The national monitoring programmes are tailored to meet the requirements set by each country. More than 20 companies are conducting the surveys defined in the national ESMPs to determine just how, and if, the Baltic Sea's flora and fauna have been impacted by the construction of the Nord Stream twin pipeline system.
Five Countries, Five Programmes
The programmes were implemented at the start of construction of Line 1 of the twin pipeline system in April of 2010, and will continue during the operational phase of the pipelines until 2016. In 2010, Nord Stream invested 13 million euros in its ESMPs. The results of the monitoring will help to verify that the national permit conditions are being met, and will be used as a basis for corrective action if necessary.
Sixteen subjects are monitored, including water quality, seabed recovery, and fish, bird and mammal populations. Certain subjects are monitored in some countries and in others not according to environmental variations and the nature of the construction work in particular areas. Samples are collected from about 1,000 survey locations along the route in Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. The samples are analysed in internationally recognised laboratories. The findings are compiled in Nord Stream's annual monitoring reports and distributed to the national authorities in each of the five countries, and are also publicly available in our Library. In addition to the reports that are developed based on the monitoring results, Nord Stream is also committed to sharing its existing survey data with HELCOM, an organisation that focuses on protecting the Baltic Sea. The data gathered during the monitoring programmes will support HELCOM's Baltic Sea Action Plan, which aims to restore the good ecological status of the Baltic marine environment by 2021.
A Solid Base
In order to classify the data that is currently being gathered, reference data of the Baltic Sea's flora and fauna prior to the construction of the pipelines was collected during numerous surveys, the first of which was carried out as early as 1995. Thus far, all the values collected through the monitoring programmes are within the limits defined in the Environmental Impact Assessments, which were required before construction permits could be issued.
The main potential impacts on nature are expected during the construction phase of the twin pipelines, though not by the actual pipelaying. The pipelines touching down onto the seabed will cause only minor turbidity, or cloudiness, which will settle quickly. Construction activities such as ploughing, trenching or rock placement underwater have more of an impact, although also of temporary nature. Environmental monitoring will continue during the first few years of the operational phase of the pipelines.
Once the pipelines are in place, they are not expected to have much influence on nature – except for one positive impact. The pipelines might come to serve as an artificial reef, creating a new habitat for flora, fish, and other fauna.