- Greenpeace protest against natural gas production
Greenpeace protests planned gas extraction in the North Sea
Environmental organization Greenpeace is protesting against planned gas extraction in the North Sea off the Wadden Sea islands of Borkum and Schiermonnikoog. Activists and activists built three floating islands and were also traveling in inflatable boats and kayaks to demonstrate for the protection of the Wadden Sea.
Around 20 activists set sail from Borkum in the morning and headed for the planned construction site for the planned platform northwest of the North Sea island of Borkum, a dpa photographer on the scene reported. They displayed flags and banners with slogans such as "Gas destroys!" and "No New Gas," Greenpeace said. The floating protest camp was intended to prevent the arrival of several ships that were to supply the platform, pipes, and other building materials.
On the ship tracking website Vesselfinder, several ships of the coast guard as well as floating cranes were displayed in the region. The Lower Saxony Water Police had already received indications of the action the previous week and was prepared accordingly, a spokesman said. He initially made no further statements.
Platform to arrive on Tuesday
Dutch energy company One-Dyas plans to extract gas from a field off the islands of Borkum and Schiermonnikoog. A production platform is to be erected in Dutch territorial waters about 23 kilometers northwest of Borkum. Extraction will take place in both Dutch and German territorial waters, near the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park.
The production platform and a crane ship for the installation of the platform are expected to arrive at the destination on Tuesday, the city of Borkum announced on Monday. The setup is scheduled to begin during the week. Three months of mobile drilling for gas are planned. According to the information, the construction of a pipeline and the laying of power cables to an offshore wind farm are also scheduled to begin in August. The city of Borkum announced that it would continue to resist with legal means together with the island community of Juist.
Environmentalists fear damage to nature
Environmental organizations and islanders in Germany and the Netherlands reject the energy project. They fear environmental damage to the adjacent UNESCO World Heritage Site Wadden Sea and the neighboring islands due to gas extraction. They also consider gas extraction incompatible with climate goals. Greenpeace also fears that protected underwater biotopes and reef structures near the drilling site and along a cable route will be irreparably destroyed by gas extraction.
The city of Borkum criticized that the work would take place "during the sensitive breeding season of the porpoise calves." The cable laying would also "destroy protected stone reefs, which are considered the cradle of fish, and endanger them."
Protest at similar location in June
In early June, Greenpeace activists had already temporarily occupied a floating drilling platform at a similar location, about 20 kilometers north of the islands. The highest court in the Netherlands, the Supreme Court in The Hague, imposed a provisional construction stop on the project on the same day, after German and Dutch environmentalists filed an interim injunction.
In light of the court decision, the activists ended their protest on the platform. The construction stop was later lifted. One-Dyas is allowed to erect a drilling platform, the judges ruled.
Greenpeace's protests against the planned gas extraction have also garnered support from the island community of Juist, who are planning to resist the project with legal means along with Borkum. The environmental organization continues to express concerns about the potential harm to protected underwater biotopes and reef structures near the drilling site and along a cable route due to gas extraction.
