Primorye LNG plant site needs to be moved, environmentalists say
VLADIVOSTOK. Nov 23 (Interfax) - The proposed location of a liquefied gas plant in Primorye in Russia's Far East could cause irreversible damage to the unique environment in the Khasan district, which is home to the rare Amur tiger and Far Eastern leopard, Boris Preobrazhensky, a leading environmentalist. told Interfax.
The plant would also have irreversible consequences for the bioresources of the Amur Bay, said Preobrazhensky, who is a doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences at the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and chairman of the Advisory Board for the Primorye territory's environment.
"The coastal areas and adjacent water areas are a unique nature complex with the most valuable bioresources, which will be affected if the area is opened up to LNG tankers," he said.
Liquefying gas in southern Primorye would also threaten fishing grounds, he said. The region is home to two major spawning grounds, for salmon and mullet, and plans exist to breed other fish in the area.
The region also has important beeches - the holiday season there is the longest in the Far East and Siberia.
"The proposed LNG plant site is part of the Narva Bay recreational zone, which will cease to exist once construction begins," the environmentalist said.
He also said ice could be a danger to port infrastructure, and that the LNG plant would hinder planned highways in the region and make the resurrection of a local aerodrome impossible.
Preobrazhensky suggested different sites for the plant, moving it from the eastern part of the Primorye coast to, for example, the Bezymyannaya Bay on the Dunai Peninsula, Cape Goly, the Ussuriysk Strait or the neck of land opposite the Chazhma Bay.
"These are ice-free and less important from a recreational point of view. The settlement of Dunai and town of Fokino with a lot of labor resources are close by," he said.
Gazprom and the Primorye territory on November 15 signed a protocol to build an LNG plant with production capacity of 10 million tonnes in the Khasan district on the Lomonosov Promontory, close to Perevoznaya Khasan.
Gazprom has looked over eight potential building sites for the LNG plant in the territory, particularly the towns of Nakhodka and Fokino, and the Terneisky and Olginsky districts.
"The Lomonosov Promontory is the most suitable site, and from the standpoint of transport access. This project is supported by Primorye Territory Governor Vladimir Miklushevsky," the territory's first deputy governor, Sergei Sidorov, said.
The head of the territory's energy, oil and gas complex, and coal industry department, Nikolai Lovygin, said that Gazprom was laying the foundation for investing, and that work will be completed next month.
Gazprom will begin working up the project documentation next year. This is a three-stage project. The plant's first production line will be put into operation in 2018, the second in 2020, and construction will be completed in 2025.
The statement also says that the gasification of Primorye Territory is proceeding according to schedule.
Southwest Primorye is the Far Eastern leopard's only habitat. There are only around 50 left. The leopards depend on mixed coniferous broad-leaved forests, which have halved in area in the last half century, eroded by fires, indiscriminate tree felling and road and pipeline construction.
