Moscow worried about Norway’s decision to dump mining waste into Arctic fjord

Norway’s go-ahead to controversial copper mine in Repparfjord on the Barents Sea coast causes pollution concerns for maritime environment important also for Russia.

It was Minister of Natural Resources and ecology, Dmitry Kobylkin, who raised the question at Tuesday’s meeting with Norway’s Environmental Minister Ola Elvestuen. The two met in Moscow for the mixed Russian-Norwegian Commission of Environmental Cooperation.

«I explained that a sea repository will not have consequences for Russia,» says Environmental Minister Ola Elvestuen to the Barents Observer on phone from Moscow.

It was last week, the Norwegian Government approved mining of copper at Repparfjord in Finnmark including a permission to dump tailings from the mine to the sea floor of the fjord.

Elvestuen says the waste will stay at the repository area under water and will not spread to the the marine environment in the Barents Sea and therefor can’t have negative impact for the Russian side.

Repparfjord is in Kvalsund, an hour drive from Hammerfest.  Norway and Russia share the valuable stock of cod and other spices in the Barents Sea.

Ola Elvestuen (left) and Dmitry Kobylkin met in Moscow on Tuesday. Photo: Tone Hertzberg

In Northern Norway, the Sami Parliament says the decision to open the mine overrides Sami interests, both in regards to fishing in the fjord and for reindeer herding in the area of exploration.

«We are very critical to sea deposits because the ocean, fisheries and sea food industry is so important for all of us living up north,» President of the Sami Parliament, Aili Keskitalo, told the Barents Observer.

Environmental groups are mobilizing for civil disobedience to stop dumping of tailings to the fjord. So far, more than 3,000 people have signed up for taking part in the demonstrations up north when the mining starts.

Minister Dmitry Kobylkin has previously said it is worrying that Norway, as one of very few countries in the world, continues to grant permission to dump mining waste at sea.

«I know the position of the Norwegian side about the “safety” of such “recycling” of waste. Nevertheless, it is significant that during the last meeting of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Norway, along with Turkey, were the only 53 participants who voted against the international ban on dumping mining waste at sea. Of course, we are worried about the situation,» Dmitry Kobylkin said after the last meeting with Ola Elvestuen, a press release by the ministry reads.

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By Thomas Nilsen

Thomas Nilsen is editor of the Independent Barents Observer with its news desk located in Kirkenes, northern Norway. He has a long experience in media cooperation across the borders in the high north of Europe, both as radio- and newspaper reporter all the way back to the days before the breakup of the Soviet Union. 

Nilsen has been editor of Barents Observer since 2009, including in the period when its staff were employees of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat. In 2015, the secretariat decided that the newpaper no longer should have the editorial freedom that comes with the Rights and Duties of the Editor. Journalistic freedom and independece are core values for the staff reporters and all left and relaunched the newspaper in October 2015 as a journalist-owned, independent company.

Before 2009, Nilsen was Deputy head of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat. Before 2003, he worked 12 years for the Bellona Foundation’s Russian study group, focusing on nuclear safety issues and general environmental challenges in northern areas and the Arctic. 

Thomas has been travelling extensively in the Barents Region and northern Russia since the late 80’s working for different media and organizations. He is also a guide at sea and in remote locations in the Russian north for various groups and regularly lectures on security issues, environmental and socio-economic development in the Barents Region.

Thomas Nilsen studied at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

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(Source: thebarentsobserver.com; February 19, 2019; https://tinyurl.com/y3252oo5)
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