Hydraulic oil has leaked into nature, and wind turbines have caught fire. A number of previous accidents show that there are risks in developing and operating wind power. This is what the Norwegian Food Safety Authority writes in a letter to NVE. The inspectorate is adamant that the wind power plant at Rákkočearru (Raggovidda) in Eastern Finnmark cannot be expanded in the direction the developers want. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority believes that the risk of the drinking water of the local community being contaminated is far too high. Increased production of wind power has been sold as a major industrial investment in Berlevåg, with both a hydrogen factory, fish farming and vegetable production. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Espen Barth Eide have highlighted the initiative as a role model in the work with the green shift. – The first time they do their job Ragnhild Sandøy, head of Motvind Nord, is happy that the Norwegian Food Safety Authority is putting its foot down. She believes that until now the administration has taken pollution from wind power far too lightly. Ragnhild Sandøy in Motvind Nord believes that the Norwegian Food Safety Authority is now the first to take pollution from wind power seriously. Photo: PRIVATE – They have actually downplayed the risk of permanent pollution. This has included drinking water, vegetation and soil, says Sandøy. She believes the Norwegian Food Safety Authority is now setting a new standard. – The letter is incredibly well professionally written. It is the first time I have seen that professional authorities go into detail and do their job, says Sandøy to news. Chairman Terje Skansen at the developer Varanger KraftHydrogen will not comment on the objection from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority until the case has been processed by NVE. Mayor Rolf Laupstad in Berlevåg will leave the discussion to the parties. Conflicts with reindeer herding Varanger Kraft started the wind farm at Rákkočearru in 2014. The open landscape and steady wind have provided unusually good conditions, and the company assumes they have the world’s most efficient wind farm. At the same time, the conflicts surrounding the plant have increased. The local reindeer owners say they would not have agreed to the agreement if they had known how much they would be bothered. It is precisely the wishes of the reindeer herding that have made the builders want to change the last stage of construction. Originally, the plan was to build several turbines deep in the mountain. Now they have applied to move it north towards the coast and closer to Berlevåg. There they encounter a new problem: The last turbines are planned in the catchment area of the drinking water source for Berlevåg. People in Berlevåg risk being left without drinking water for a long time if an accident occurs in the wind power plant at Rákkočearru, fears the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. Photo: Allan Klo / news Stricter emission rules The Norwegian Food Safety Authority said no to the plans for the first time in February this year. The developers responded with an additional report on the drinking water, but the Norwegian Food Safety Authority has not changed its mind. On the contrary: there were new and stricter national requirements for the safety of drinking water this summer, they point out. “The expectations for the protection of drinking water sources are even clearer today,” the letter says. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority points in particular to bisphenol A – a hormone-mimicking substance with known negative health effects. It is used in the surface treatment of the rotor blades on the wind turbines. Bisphenol A is far more dangerous than previously thought, according to EFSA, the European body for food safety. They have recently set the limit for tolerable daily intake 20,000 times lower than previously. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority believes it is unacceptable that it is not known what chemicals the turbine blades contain. Without this being known, it is also not possible to take water samples that provide sufficient security. Business developer Kjell Richardsen and mayor Rolf Laupstad in Berlevåg have invested in an industrial adventure linked to wind power. Laupstad will leave the discussion about the drinking water to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority and the developer. Photo: Knut-Sverre Horn / news Points to many accidents A number of accidents at Norwegian wind power plants show that there is a danger of oil and chemicals being spread in nature, points out the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. They point to, among other things, that wind turbines in Roan twice in a short time sprayed oil into nearby marshes and ponds. Last summer, it rained hydraulic oil over the drinking water source at Florø, wrote Firdaposten. There have also been several fires. If Berlevåg’s waterworks were to be affected by pollution, they have a reserve water source located in the same catchment area, points out the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. They are critical of the risk analysis that the builders have provided: It does not say anything about how long the water source would be out of service in the event of a serious incident. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority’s objection means that the decision on the wind power plant will be lifted from NVE and up to the Ministry of Energy.
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The Norwegian Food Safety Authority says no to wind turbines that could threaten the drinking water in Berlevåg – news Troms and Finnmark
