The Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning of Turkey approved the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for South Stream Pipeline’s offshore section in Turkey.
The report concluded the project will not have “considerable effect†on the Black Sea or the regional fishing industry. Additionally, it offered a number of measures to mitigate environmental effects from the project. For example, it asked that the pipeline bypass certain locations know for shipwrecks. Such measures are already incorporated in the design.
The 2,400-km pipeline will carry Russian gas to southern Europe through the Black Sea. South Stream’s offshore section will run more than 110 km offshore of Turkey at a depth reaching 2,200 meters.
The first string of the offshore gas pipeline in Russia’s territorial waters will be laid later this year. The first pipelaying vessel will enter the Turkish exclusive economic zone in the first quarter of 2015. The initial pipeline is expected online by late 2015.
