Surnadal municipality and the Surna river owners’ association have now decided to report Statkraft to the police after the discharge which turned the salmon river brown. Anett Ranes, acting mayor in Surnadal, informed about the case at a meeting today. – Reporting someone to the police is a serious matter, but the spill is more serious, she says. Furthermore, he places emphasis on both the short-term and long-term consequences that the spill can lead to. – The river and salmon are strong here. So the extent of the sludge discharge and what it will mean in the long term is a concern. So Surna’s reputation as a salmon river has suffered, says Ranes. The leader of the Surna River Owners’ Association, Georg Solem, says that the decision to take the case to the police comes independently of the police report that the State Administrator delivered last week. He emphasizes that they have followed the case closely for a long time and that they have had to use the time until now. Leaks discovered in late Autumn 2022, Statkraft emptied the water reservoir up in the mountains in connection with a major rehabilitation of the dams at the Trollheimen power plant. This led to large quantities of mud, from the bottom of the dam, flowing into the river Surna before they discovered it. Statkraft has subsequently apologized for the incident, and initiated a survey of the scope and consequences. Before Christmas, they also had a meeting with NVE, Surnadal municipality, various research communities and the State Administrator in Møre og Romsdal to work on an action plan for what can be done with Surna. Surnadal municipality and the Surna River Owners’ Association nevertheless believe that there are grounds for reporting the case to the police. Statkraft is upgrading the dams in the mountain area of Trollheimen, a project for approx. NOK 650 million. It was in connection with this that the spill occurred. Photo: Marius André Jenssen Stenberg / news Also reported by the State Administrator Just over a week ago, it became clear that the State Administrator in Møre and Romsdal has also chosen to report Statkraft to the police. It is not yet known whether the police will open an investigation. One year after the discharge, there were still significant amounts of sludge in the river, although much has been washed out. This is what COWI wrote in a report they have prepared on behalf of Statkraft. They think it may take one or more flushes to flush out what’s left, but they’re not sure that’s enough either. The report points out that the discharge may have had a significant negative impact on the river’s ecology. Among other things, the young fish have had fewer places to hide, and the population of river mussels may have decreased by 23 per cent. NINA and Birdlife Norway have also carried out their own investigations which have not yet been published. Several members of the Energy and Environment Committee have previously reacted strongly to the case, and asked Statkraft to clean it up.
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Statkraft reports to the police after a sludge discharge in the national salmon river
