Hydroelectric plant project without environmental report canceled in Black Sea province

GİRESUN – Doğan News Agency

There are dozens of HES projects planned on streams all across the Black Sea region. The picture shows the Turnasuyu River in Ordu province, further West from Keşap, were another hydro electric plant construction has begun. DHA Photo

A hydroelectric plant project in the Black Sea province of Giresun has been canceled June 24 after a local court rejected a previous administrative decision by the Governor’s Office, which stated that an environment impact assessment report (ÇED) was not necessary to proceed with the construction.

The Vanazit HES project, planned to be constructed in Giresun’s Keşap district near the Black Sea coastline, had drawn a huge reaction from environmental activists, who pointed to the danger of allowing such a construction without requesting a ÇED report.

The Brotherhood of Streams Platform, who filed an objection on behalf of the locals in Keşap, stressed the importance of the Ordu administrative court’s ruling.

“The judiciary and the courts are properly doing their job. It’s now the government and the prime minister’s turn. They are continuing to act blind and deaf. Don’t they see the streams are drying? Don’t they hear our voices? People in İkizdere, Tonya, Keşap, Fındıklı, Çayeli, Rize, Güneysu, Düzköy, Çaykara and Artvin don’t want hydroelectric plants,” said lawyer and platform representative Remzi Kazmaz.

Adem Kurt, a local from Keşap also hailed the decision, saying the villagers needed the stream water to farm. “Our only means of survival is [farming] hazelnut. If the HES project was to continue, the stream would have surely dried. Then, we would not be able make a living here anymore. Half of our village has already migrated and we would have had to leave too,” he said.

Similar HES projects are planned on streams all across the Black Sea region, particularly in the eastern provinces despite a sound popular opposition. Many projects are also decried for being carried on despite insufficient ÇED reports and experts pointing out their shortcomings.