Nature Nurturing & Nord Stream – the Environmental Effects So Far
Despite its young age, the Nord Stream pipeline has already made history; it is currently the longest sub-sea gas pipeline in Europe at 1,224 kilometres. Connecting Europe to Russian gas supply, the Nord Stream pipeline currently offers a transport capacity of 27.5 billion cubic metres of gas a year since its launch in November last year. This capacity is set to double this month with the launch of a second line next week, on October the 8th.
However, the pipeline consortium has also made history in another more unexpected way – in conducting the most comprehensive environmental studies of the Baltic Sea to date.
The extent of the study of the Baltic Sea has been done in no small measures. According to the consortium involved in the pipeline, Nord Stream is investing more than €100 million into the environmental impact of its activities on the Baltic Sea. The studies and monitoring of the environmental impact of the pipeline have and will continue to be conducted across a wide spectrum of environmental areas, including (but not limited to) the effects on flora, fauna and marine life, water quality and water flow.
Far from paying lip service to the undertaking, the environmental study has not been limited to certain interested parties. Besides involving marine biologists, environmental engineers and researchers, the consortium has also involved local fishermen and authorities in the five route countries – Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany – as well as NGO, the Baltic Fund for Nature. This, Nord Stream Permitting Director, Dr. Dirk von Ameln, told Natural Gas Europe, is an essential part of the process.
“It is important in every country to involve all stakeholders,” he says. “Throughout the planning, construction and operation phases, Nord Stream has been in a constant and transparent dialogue and has cooperated constructively with a number of partners in doing research and minimising the pipeline’s impact on the environment…
“The lesson from the successful implementation of the Nord Stream pipeline is that it is of the highest importance to involve stakeholders at an early stage in a cooperation based on trust and transparency.”
So far, the environmental monitoring and research seems to be paying off for the consortium. Meeting regulations at every turn, the Nord Stream pipeline has even surpassed expectations in several areas, including in water quality with turbidity levels lower than guideline rates.
A report released in June 2012, Supplying Gas to Europe while Protecting the Environment – Initial Environmental and Socio-Economic Monitoring Findings, found that “only minor and short term impacts on water quality” were recorded during the study of 50 locations across the pipeline route. During this kind of study, scientists monitor how much sediment is disturbed during the pipeline construction, charting the disturbance of sediment. Any disturbance, Dr. Von Ameln says, fell well below permissible levels.
“The main impact on the water quality is a temporary clouding of the water with sediments during construction activities,” he explains. “However, the clouding – or turbidity – was very local and less than predicted.
“To give an example, levels of suspended sediment close to sensitive areas in Swedish waters caused by our construction activities were below the threshold value set by the environmental authorities, which is at 15 mg/litre above background level at the border of two Natura 2000 areas, which can be compared with the impact of a normal winter storm. During construction, the average recorded value was only 2 mg/litre.”
As for the marine life found within that water, the Nord Stream pipeline has had a surprising effect so far: providing both fish and plant-life with a new habitat. While this effect is still being monitored, the pipeline may provide an artificial reef effect, making it a safe habitat for such life (and perhaps even a welcome one).
“There is no danger for the marine life associated with the reef structure formed by the pipeline,” Dr. Von Ameln says. “In many places on the Baltic seabed, the pipeline is the only physical object any plant life could attach to, protected from the currents.”
However, the results so far have not been entirely positive for all creatures. Studies on the effects of the pipeline construction on birds have found some impact on nesting birds on the Portovaya Bay in Russia. The number of these nesting birds has been lessened in “a limited area”, the June report admits..
Dr. Von Ameln says that the consortium has taken steps to control any impact on these nesting birds and that the affected area is mainly the construction site of the narrow landfall corridor – a strip of land 50 metres wide and a little over 1 kilometre long.
“With regards to the bird life in the immediate vicinity of the landfall, mitigation measures have been taken to minimise environmental impact,” he says.
“One important step was defining a route that keeps impact to a minimum, for example, by avoiding areas that are important to migrating birds. Also, construction activities in this area were kept very short and were scheduled to avoid breeding seasons – we were able to construct the Russian shore approach for both lines within a few weeks during the summer of 2010.”
Environmental impact was an important factor in routing considerations back in the planning stages, Dr. Von Ameln tells NGE, with numerous factors and concerns taken into account. He credits this careful planning with the overall positive results of the pipeline’s environmental effects.
“The main success factor in mitigating the environmental impacts of the construction is the pipeline routing,” he says. “To find the route with the least impact, Nord Stream conducted comprehensive surveys of the Baltic Sea when planning the pipeline. Nord Stream consulted widely with governments, authorities, experts and stakeholders in all Baltic Sea states as well as contracting leading companies in the offshore industry to ensure that the design, routing, construction and operation of the pipeline will minimise impact, meet the highest international safety standards and is environmentally sound.
“Nord Stream also developed a complex construction schedule to meet environmental restrictions, such as spawning periods for herring and breeding seasons for marine mammals.”
But what about unforeseen circumstances? Should the pipeline be hit by a disaster, either natural – such as an earthquake – or manmade, NGE asks, would the environmental impact be so minimal?
“First of all, there is no seismic activity in the Baltic Sea,” Dr. Von Ameln answers. “This figured into the extensive risk assessments for the design and routing of the pipeline which Nord Stream conducted. The entire system is certified by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), an independent certification body.
“Secondly, pipelines are one of the safest means of transport within the gas industry, especially offshore. The probability of an incidence of damage to large-diameter offshore gas pipelines such as Nord Stream is extremely low.”
Besides this, he says, the sheer size of the Nord Stream pipeline actually works to its advantage here. Due to the scale of the project, the pipes used are thicker than in other pipelines and would be extremely hard to penetrate by “normal external interference”.
Still, should a leak occur, the damage to the environment would be minimal, both the report and Dr. Von Ameln stress, with gas dissipating harmlessly.
“Pipelines are one of the safest means of transport within the gas industry and a comprehensive risk assessment was conducted.
“Secondly, natural gas has no toxic effects. In [the] case of a leak, the gas will disperse into the air. Natural gas occurs naturally in the earth’s atmosphere and is emitted from earth-bound sources such as wetlands. Therefore, the impact on the surrounding marine life of a gas leak – be it large or small – is considered insignificant and non-toxic.”
With a planned investment of €40 million into its Environmental and Social Monitoring Programmes (ESMPs), the research of the Nord Stream pipeline’s effects on the environment is far from over; the monitoring is set to run through 2016. For now, though, it seems that the pipeline is not just delivering on gas but delivering on its environmental promises.