Current:Home > Contact-usNature groups go to court in Greece over a strategic gas terminal backed by the European Union-InfoLens
Nature groups go to court in Greece over a strategic gas terminal backed by the European Union
View Date:2024-12-23 19:01:14
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Five Greek and international environmental campaign agencies have launched legal action against a major natural gas project supported by the European Union as a regional alternative to Russian energy.
Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for Nature led the request at Greece’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, against a planned offshore natural gas storage and conversion plant, outside the northeastern port of Alexandroupolis.
The action was filed on Tuesday, the groups said in a joint statement.
The terminal, due to go online early next year, will operate on a modified tanker — also named the “Alexandroupolis” — to store liquefied natural gas and convert it into gas form, supplying the national distribution network.
The 288-meter (945-foot) long vessel arrived at its destination on Sunday, following a 10-month-long conversion at the Keppel shipyards in Singapore.
In their court challenge, the nature groups described the plant as “accident-prone” and said it posed a threat to the local marine environment that includes a protected area.
“The installation in (protected) areas of such dangerous industrial units is expressly prohibited under current legislation,” the groups said.
They also noted their opposition to a new, publicly backed investment in fossil fuel projects, which they argued would underline global commitments to address climate change. Greece’s government has won EU approval to provide more than 165 million euros ($180 million) in state aid to the project, arguing that natural gas remains a key source of energy as countries transition to renewables.
Athens also backs broader Western goals to help reduce the historic dependence on Russian pipeline gas supplies by other countries in southeast Europe — a push that has gathered pace following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the disruption of global energy markets.
The project will redefine the port of Alexandroupolis “as a critical hub for the energy security of the entire central and southeast Europe,” said Kostis Sifnaios, managing director of Gastrade, the consortium that will operate the plant. His remarks came before the legal action was announced.
The new terminal, set to launch in the next three months following tests, will have a regasification capacity of up to 5.5 billion cubic meters a year.
The Greek environmental groups Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature, the Hellenic Ornithological Society and the Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles have joined the complaint.
In October, Greenpeace called on Greece to scrap a deep-sea gas exploration project in the Mediterranean Sea, arguing that it could harm whales and dolphins.
___
Kantouris reported from Thessaloniki, Greece.
___
Read more of AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment
veryGood! (2)
Related
- Satire publication The Onion acquires Alex Jones' Infowars at auction
- Sleater-Kinney talk pronouncing their name the secret of encores
- Christian-nation idea fuels US conservative causes, but historians say it misreads founders’ intent
- Internal affairs inquiry offers details of DUI investigation into off-duty Nevada officer
- Judge sets date for 9/11 defendants to enter pleas, deepening battle over court’s independence
- A year after Jimmy Carter’s entered hospice care, advocates hope his endurance drives awareness
- Nordstrom's Presidents’ Day Sale Includes Deals up to 50% Off From SKIMS, Kate Spade, Free People, & More
- One Tech Tip: Ready to go beyond Google? Here’s how to use new generative AI search sites
- Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow's Son Moses Martin Reveals His Singing Talents at Concert
- Watch Paris Hilton's Son Phoenix Adorably Give Her the Best Birthday Morning Greeting Ever
Ranking
- Noem’s Cabinet appointment will make a plain-spoken rancher South Dakota’s new governor
- Derek Hough 'can't wait' to make tour return after wife Hayley Erbert's health scare
- Army Reserve soldiers, close friends killed in drone attack, mourned at funerals in Georgia
- Another endangered whale was found dead off East Coast. This one died after colliding with a ship
- Judge weighs the merits of a lawsuit alleging ‘Real Housewives’ creators abused a cast member
- Biden’s rightward shift on immigration angers advocates. But it’s resonating with many Democrats
- Will NFL players participate in first Olympics flag football event in 2028?
- Most Americans want legal pot. Here's why feds are taking so long to change old rules.
Recommendation
-
Who will be in the top 12? Our College Football Playoff ranking projection
-
Driver of stolen tow truck smashes police cruisers during Maryland chase
-
Alabama Barker Responds to Claim She Allegedly Had A Lot of Cosmetic Surgery
-
Plastic bag bans have spread across the country. Sometimes they backfire.
-
'Bizarre:' Naked man arrested after found in crawl space of California woman's home
-
5-year-old migrant boy who got sick at a temporary Chicago shelter died from sepsis, autopsy shows
-
Surprise snow? Storm dumps flakes over about a dozen states.
-
Internal affairs inquiry offers details of DUI investigation into off-duty Nevada officer