TBILISI, Georgia, November 15, 2002 (ENS) - Environmental organizations across the Caucusus region are expressing concern about implementation and enforcement of environmental safeguards along the route chosen for construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline. The pipeline will carry oil from the Caspian Sea region to the Mediterranean for export onto world markets.

In a letter to BP's chief executive Lord Browne, World Bank Group president James Wolfenson, and Jean Lemierre, president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) dated November 12, a dozen groups, led by the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network, ask that alternative routes be developed that would avoid environmentally sensitive areas.

Sangachal Terminal near Baku, Azerbaijan will be expanded to handle the greater flow of oil. (Photo courtesy Azerbaijan International)

On September 18, the building of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline began in Baku with a celebration attended by the presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, as well as U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.

The construction of Turkis part of the project officially started in Adana-Ceyhan on September 26.

The BTC project is estimated to cost about $2.9 billion. The lead stakeholder in the BTC Pipeline Company, formally established on August 1, is BP with a 38 percent stake. Azerbaijan’s state oil company, SOCAR, has a 25 percent share. Other members of the BTC consortium include Italy’s Eni SpA, Norway’s Statoil, Turkish Petroleum, Japan’s Itochu Corp., and the U.S. companies Unocal and Amerada Hess.

"We are deeply disappointed with the British Petroleum performance regarding the preparation works of BTC construction," said Nana Janashia of the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network in a statement. The 12 groups claim that the environmental assessment documents do not comply with the requirements of European Union environmental laws.

President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze (Photo courtesy Consulate of Georgia in Toronto)

Shevarnadze said the project is supposed to create 10,000 new jobs and increase the inflow of foreign investments bringing "Georgia into the focus of global interests" thus "becoming the guarantee of our country's sovereignty and integrity."

But the environmentalists' analysis of the Addendum of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) submitted to the government of Georgia October 15, found that the proposed route puts one of the largest national parks in Europe and other sensitive areas at risk of oil contamination.

"The modified Central Corridor that has been chosen by the project sponsor as acceptable and optimal one, clearly violates the Georgian environmental legislation as well as HSE [Health, Safety and Environmental] guidelines of British Petroleum," the letter says.

Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park (Photo courtesy UNEP)

The temporary borders for neighboring Nedzvi, Ktsia-Tabatskhuri and Tetrobi managed reserves were also set by the Georgian cabinet in 1995. The chosen pipeline route encompasses the Ktsia-Tabatskhuri managed reserve almost entirely, it follows the borders of remaining two sanctuaries, and covers the southern part of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park.

Most famous for its mineral water, Borjomi is also a spa resort with a population of about 16,000.

The proposed route crosses surface water catchments of Borjomi natural springs and boreholes. According to Georgian experts cited by the environmental groups in their letter, in the case of any leakage from the oil pipeline in the environs of Tsikhisjvari, pollution of lava rocks and related underground water is "inevitable."

This would adversely impact the underground waters of the Bakuriani plateau that is the drinking water source for villages of the Borjomi-Bakuriani resort group and Borjomi town, as well as existing mineral water sources, including Borjomi brand mineral waters.

Spa resort of Borjomi, Georgia (Photo courtesy Georgian Infocom)

The project sponsors say that given the extremely low probability of a spill occurring in this region, or elsewhere along the pipeline, the potential impacts are highly theoretical.

The Tsalka area, also crossed by the pipeline route, is a groundwater catchment area with large reserves of high quality drinking water. This area is the strategic reserve for supplying Georgia's capital city Tbilisi.

In the ESIA Addendum, the project sponsors recognize the importance of the Tsalka area, but they reject any alternatives to this proposed route, stating without presenting evidence that this is the only acceptable route from environmental and social points of view.

The BTC Pipeline Company says the direct overland route reduces the risk posed by shipping oil through the narrow and vulnerable Bosphorus Strait.

The 12 environmental groups demand that British Petroleum develop a BTC Environmental and Social Impact Assessment according to the European Union Environmental Impact Assessment Directive, as well as standards defined under the Host Government Agreement and policies of the World Bank Group and the EBRD.

They ask that all possible alternatives be explored in detail and that alternative routes be developed that would avoid the sensitive areas of Borjomi and Tsalka.

They further ask BP to make publicly available all studies that represent the basis for selection of the pipeline route, such as the 1997 study by Fluor Daniel for the Azerbaijan International Operating Company, the 1998 Fluor Daniel study for Shell, GeoEngineering's study for the Georgian Gas Intentional Corporation, and others.

Finally, the environmental groups ask that BP include all management and monitoring plans in the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment as "required under the best international practice" and "give possibility to the public to comment on them."

In June a group of 75 environmental organizations from around the world expressed similar concerns in a letter to the World Bank and other banks that may finance the pipeline project. They also asked for the establishment of an international advisory group with guaranteed NGO representation on a self-elected basis, and full assessment of the long term climate impacts of the project and its related oil and gas development programs in the region.

The target completion date for BTC pipeline construction is 2004, with the first oil expected to flow in 2005. Once complete, the pipeline will have the capacity to ship a million barrels of oil a day.