Authorities sitting on double chairs, threatened nature and an industry that decides how the law should be written.
In a web exclusive story Kalla Fakta in TV4 tells news about the events surrounding a comprehensive new limestone quarry on Gotland.
The Finnish company Nordkalk has received permission to break down limestone worth over 15 billion in Bunge Ducker near Fårösund on Gotland. The new limestone quarry secures hundreds of jobs and the Swedish supply to the steel industry in the decades ahead.
But the quarry will be located in the middle of a very sensitive area and might according to the the Royal Institute of Technology professor Bo Olofsson also pose a danger to saline groundwater in northern Gotland. Both Naturvårdsverket, and the Gotland County Administrative Board has therefore opposed Nordkalk’s plans.
The matter had to be decided in court. The Environmental Court denied Nordkalk permission to break the chalice. A judgment was appealed and changed in Environmental Court.
Kalla Fakta examinates shows that the Geological Survey of Sweden, an expertauthority which played a very important role in the process, have been paid directly by Nordkalk to work with their corporate application. Over one million crowns. Of this money is 168,000 SEK charged for that particular officer who was responsible for the agency’s statement to the court. The statement criticized on several points, both by Professor Bo Olofsson and Naturvårdsverket.The law was changed.
Furthermore, Kalla Faktashow how the lime industry through a effective lobbying succeeded in getting the government to change a law that had previously protect particularly endangered species.
The teams had meaning when the Environmental Court denied Nordkalk permission to mine limestone. In the area of the planned limestone quarry is in fact several endangered species Montagu’s Harrier, Gotland grass snake and fork Hawkbit. The law was removed a week before Nordkalk’s application would be brought up in the Environmental Court.