Today, the autumn’s big environmental court case starts when the State and the environmental organizations Nature and Youth (NU) and the Nature Conservation Association (NVF) “bark together” in the Oslo district court. The question is whether the permit for a marine landfill for mine waste in the Førdefjord is in accordance with EU law, which Norway is bound by through the EEA agreement. According to the plaintiffs, the state has breached two principles: the water framework directive and the mineral waste directive (more on these below). The state announces this, and writes in its final submission that the positive social effects of the Engebø project outweigh the disadvantages. They add: – The state nevertheless agrees with NU and NVF that the environmental consequences of the marine landfill on marine life should be minimised. – We cannot destroy more fjords At the same time as the negotiations start in the Oslo District Court, Ingjerd Haarstad is about to put behind him yet another sewing stage in the Førdefjorden. During the first week of the trial, the ambition is to sew the entire fjord lengthwise. The aim is to raise awareness of the case and collect money to cover the costs of the lawsuit. – I’m passionate about life below the surface, what we don’t see, and hope to get attention about the trial, says Ingjerd Haarstad. The Nature Conservation Association and Nature and Youth believe that the state has also assessed the environmental consequences of mining too optimistically. – I’m freezing and struggling, but I hope to last a few hundred metres, said Truls Gulowsen when he entered the water to start the first swimming stage. In March, the European Commission presented a proposal for a new regulation on critical raw materials. The main objective is to make Europe more self-sufficient. In addition, the rules must ensure that extraction and processing takes place in the most sustainable way possible. Mineral extraction on land currently requires treatment by three different governing powers, which look at the cases in turn (“sequentially”). In practice, this means that the licensing process can take up to 15 years. – We cannot destroy more fjords now, she says to news. – The hidden life beneath the surface is absolutely decisive for us, even if we don’t see it on a daily basis. The head of the Nature Conservation Association, Truls Gulowsen, took part in the first stage. – I am confident that we will win, he says. – We have been fighting for 15 years, and legally we have a strong case. Henrik Waaler at the Government Attorney tells news that the decision is based on a correct assessment of the impact of the marine landfill and that “the environmental consequences are very well understood”. – There is no doubt that landfilling has major environmental consequences, and therefore the state has taken plenty of time for thorough assessments and additional analyses. – Can this case go all the way to the Supreme Court? – I don’t want to speculate on that. Time will tell. – The ministry has gone through the case thoroughly. Three weeks have been set aside for the court proceedings, and a total of 16 expert witnesses have been brought in from both sides. Director of the mining company Nordic Mining, Kenneth Nakken Angedal, has previously told news that they are “confident that the operating license has been granted on a good and legal basis, after good and long assessments in many bodies”. The dispute over the fjord landfill in Førdefjorden has been going on for a number of years and, politically speaking, the time for rematches was over when the Ministry of Trade and Industry confirmed on 12 May last year that Nordic Mining can retain the licence. – The ministry has gone through the matter thoroughly and concluded that the company must be granted an operating licence, said Industry Minister Jan Christian Vestre (Ap). At the same time, he announced that he would tighten the environmental requirements in the operating license with three additional conditions (see below). The Minister of Industry tightens the environmental requirements with three additional conditions – The Ministry has thoroughly reviewed the matter and concluded that the company must be granted an operating license under the current Minerals Act, says Minister of Industry Jan Christian Vestre (Ap). – The complaints have still not been in vain: I have listened to the environmental movement and significantly tightened the environmental requirements in the operating licence. It has been important for me to go as far as my room for action allowed. It is no secret that the Engebø project has been controversial. It was therefore necessary to carry out extensive and thorough work in order to make a decision in the appeal case, which has also raised some important questions linked to the future of the mineral industry in Norway. I have had a close dialogue with the environmental movement, the parties in working life and the industry itself. We agree that the green shift depends on access to minerals, and that Norway should lead the way and aim to develop the most sustainable mineral industry in the world. The Minister of Industry tightens the environmental requirements in the operating license with three additional conditions: 1. Requirement for the greatest possible resource utilization of the occurrence. The portion of surplus mass must be reduced in all processes, so that the need for disposal is as minimal as possible, based on the best available technology and the best available operating and disposal methods. The company must have targets and plans for the annual reduction of surplus stock, and report on this. 2. The company must work out how open-pit mining and underground mining can be carried out in such a way that the largest possible part of the surplus masses can be backfilled in excavated areas. 3. The company must use emission-free, alternatively fossil-free machines, and have targets and plans for the annual reduction of direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental impacts such as chemical use and waste. and Nature and Youth rezoning requirements with notification of legal action to the Ministry of Climate and the Environment. – A last desperate attempt to train, acknowledged Norsk Bergindustri. The state has given the mining company Nordic Mining a license to operate open pit mining in Engebøfjellet. China controls 98 percent of the rare earths that Europe needs for the green shift. In addition, the Chinese have the bay and both ends in several of the value chains. In addition to the “primary argument”, the plaintiffs claim that the sea landfill is in breach of the Pollution Act (paragraph 11) and the Basic Law (paragraph 112). They will also emphasize that there is a better alternative to landfill: so-called underground mining. – The geopolitical situation means that the mineral industry faces important years. Minerals are about to become scarce, says parliamentary representative from Sogn og Fjordane, Olve Grotle (H). Here together with Høgre colleague Bård Ludvig Thorheim. – Clear procedural errors The starting point for the plaintiffs is what they characterize as “clear procedural errors” linked to the Water Framework Directive and the Mineral Waste Directive. In a letter dated 8 October 2021, EFTA’s monitoring body ESA writes that the EU’s mineral waste directive (see fact box) has not been “sufficiently implemented” in Norwegian legislation, and that Norway has thereby breached the EEA Agreement. The EU’s mineral waste directive According to the EU’s mineral waste directive, a plan must be drawn up for waste management, where waste minimization must be an integral part of the process. This has not happened in the planned mining projects at Førdefjord and Repparfjord. In a letter to the Ministry of Climate and the Environment, ESA points out that the mining companies Nordic Mining and Nussir did not submit waste management plans before they were granted discharge permits in 2015 and 2016, respectively, and that such plans have not been drawn up as part of the following operating concessions either. As of 4 May 2022, these plans have still not been delivered. The recipients of the letter were the Ministry of Climate and the Environment, who replied that they would immediately change their practice in line with the order from ESA. But is that enough? No, says the Nature Conservancy. According to them, they make the “admission” to the ministry that there is “qualified doubt that the operating license has been granted on a legal basis”. – We are confident that the operating license has been granted on a good and legal basis, says Kenneth Nakken Angedal, director of operations at the mining company Nordic Mining. Photo: Eirin Tjoflot / news Dispute over the interpretation of the water regulations ESA, for its part, has signaled that they are satisfied with the Norwegian legislation to implement the minerals directive, but that they will investigate whether the Norwegian practice of allowing sea disposal is in line with the water framework directive . The Oslo District Court will decide on the same question. According to the plaintiffs, the four decisions in the “Førdefjord case” are based on an incorrect interpretation of the water regulations. To this, the state replies that they “do not agree that the permit for polluting activities is based on a wrong interpretation or use of the water framework directive”. In June, the dispute over the fjord landfill in the Førdefjord gained new political dynamics (albeit not legally) when the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (HI) discovered more vulnerable and endangered species in the Førdefjord than had been known so far. – This finding confirms that the environmental impact analyzes and nature mapping that were the basis for allowing the landfill were far too bad, stated Gulowsen. Håvard Brændeland and Agnes Mathilde Lægreid are among those who have campaigned at Førdefjorden. – There must be an end to the era where we can destroy fragile and distinctive nature for short-term profit, says Sigrid Losnegård (19). On 18 September, the autumn’s big environmental court case starts when the State and the environmental organizations Nature and Youth (NO) and the Norwegian Nature Conservation Association (NVF) “bark in a huddle” in the Oslo district court.
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Today the court case about mining sludge in the fjord starts – this is the dispute – news Vestland
