Nature protectors demand the right for the ecological examination of the “Rosneft” (Russian Oil) arctic projects at the public prosecutor’s office
The Center of the Wild Nature Preservation (CWNP) appealed to Chukotka public prosecutor’s office from behalf of several ecological organizations regarding denial of the holding the public ecological expertise of the “Rosneft” projects in the Arctic.
ATMMHC (ChAZTO), WWF, CWNP and others have some concerns on the fact that geophysical examination in the Chukchi Sea, ordered by the company “ZAO “RN-Shelf-Dalniy Vostok” (‘daughter of “Rosneft”’), might have unfavorable ecological and social consequences. First, ecologists are worry that given examination will affect arctic marine mammals from the point of view of the indigenous people’s traditional subsistence.
“We have learnt about possible negative influence of the prospecting seismology on whales due to our decennial experience of holding ecological public control on Sakhalin shelf – says Aleksey Knizhnikov, the head of the WWF program on ecological policy in Russia. – It was just last week when because of the conclusion of the public ecological expertise on “Exxon” and “Rosneft” projects we achieved the extension of taking the state ecological expertise. By doing this, we proved that public nature conservation organizations could enormously help to the state institutions in providing ecological security.
Nature conservation organizations tried to register public ecological expertise on “Rosneft” projects in Chukotka since 2013. However, Iultin district administration, which territorially related to all three sites, declined their request reputedly.
Aleksey Zimenko, the director of the Center of the Wild Nature Preservation says: “The refuse of the local authorities in registration of the public ecological expertise is not only contradicts the current legislation, but does contradicts with the latest political trends in the country. Regarding this, the Russian President, during the last meeting of the Security Council on ecology, announced that ‘we have to invite independent experts in evaluation of the ecological security of the big infrastructure projects.’ What we see is the opposite at the regional level.”