In the middle of the energy crisis, concerns about environmental pollution and damage caused by the import terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) under construction are growing in Wilhelmshaven. At an almost three-hour information event in the Wadden Sea Visitor Center on Tuesday evening, in which Lower Saxony’s Environment Minister Olaf Lies (SPD) also took part, environmentalists, politicians, fishermen and citizens discussed risks and concerns. Between 200 and 300 interested people attended the event, which the Ministry of the Environment had invited.
Many participants complained that there was too little information on the LNG projects and expressed little trust in the authorities. “I have the feeling that we will be rolled over,” said one listener. In view of the large number of projects, it is not understandable what is happening in the city. “Communication is not as fast as it should be,” Environment Minister Lies admitted. However, he also asked for understanding. Dependence on Russian gas must be ended at “incredible speed”. To do this, energy must be imported, initially through LNG terminals. In the medium term, this infrastructure should be able to be used to import “green gases” such as hydrogen.
Criticism was particularly sparked at the discharge of waste water treated with biocides from the LNG terminal ship “Höegh Esperanza”, which is scheduled to go into operation in Wilhelmshaven from the end of December. Because in order to convert the liquefied natural gas delivered by tankers back into gas, it has to be heated with North Sea water on board the floating LNG terminals. According to the operator Uniper, chlorine must be used as a biocide so that the seawater systems of the ship do not become overgrown with mussels or barnacles. As can be seen from the application documents, Uniper intends to discharge up to 178 million cubic meters of biocide-treated wastewater into the Jade every year.
Environmentalists fear this will damage the North Sea and the adjacent Wadden Sea. “We’re not just talking about chlorine, but about numerous compounds,” said Imke Zwoch from the Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND). The amounts discharged would have to be continuously monitored. In the application documents, Uniper only provided for measurements in continuous operation on a monthly basis. The ship is chartered for 200,000 euros a day. “I think we can ask for a bit more for the money in terms of our Wadden Sea, our natural world heritage,” Zwoch demanded.
Lies reiterated that there must also be official measurements. However, he also explained that the chlorine and other by-products such as bromoform are modeled to mix and evaporate in the jade as the tides change. “They then fall below the permissible values”. A discharge does not immediately cause environmental damage, Lies said that there are also corresponding discharges in sewage treatment plants that comply with limit values.
Environmental protection associations such as BUND and Deutsche Umwelthilfe called for an examination of whether mechanical processes, such as small rubber balls, could be used to clean the lake water systems instead of biocides.
A spokeswoman for the approval authority, the Lower Saxony State Office for Water Management, Coastal Defense and Nature Conservation (NLWKN), emphasized that treatment of the waste water was necessary. The question now is which method is the most suitable. The question of measurements is also being carefully examined in the ongoing water law permitting process. “There will be specifications on our part,” promised the spokeswoman with a view to measuring the wastewater discharged.
Criticism also came from shrimp and mussel fishermen. Crabs and mussels have been caught in the Jade for more than 100 years, said the President of the Weser-Ems State Fishing Association, Dirk Sander. “If all this junk actually comes, then we can leave the country. Then the jade is dead for us.” Sander asked who would want to eat the crabs and mussels after the discharge of the biocide-treated wastewater.
“The industry has a great interest in bringing industry and the environment together,” affirmed the managing director of Nord-West Oelleitung GmbH (NWO), Jörg Niegsch. In addition to Uniper, his company and a consortium around the company Tree Energy Solutions (TES) are planning another terminal in Wilhelmshaven. Niegsch said the floating import terminals are “proven technology.” “If it were as bad and harmful as what has just been described, then this technology would not have existed for a long time.”
Technical information from the Höegh shipping company on the “Höegh Esperanza” NLWKN information on the water law permitting process
