30 July 2004
BP has suspended construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline in the Borjomi valley of Georgia for two weeks by request from the Ministry of the Environment of Georgia.
"Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline Stopped as BP Caught Violating Georgian Law"
For Immediate Release July 27 2004
Press release from:
CEE Bankwatch
WWF
Friends of the Earth
PLATFORM
Corner House
British oil giant BP has been forced to stop work on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline after breaching Georgian national law, campaigners revealed today.
The Georgian government suspended work on BTC following BP’s decision to start construction in the ecologically vulnerable Borjomi region, despite its repeated failures to obtain the necessary environmental certification to proceed. The region contains the Borjomi national park, an area of outstanding natural beauty and mineral water springs whose bisection by the BTC pipeline has long been the subject of fierce opposition by environmentalists.
Georgian Deputy Environment Minister Zaal Lomtadze told environmental group WWF that his ministry sent BP a formal reminder on July 12 that the company must apply for construction permits for the Borjomi region [1]. BP again failed to make the application. Photographs taken by local WWF staff reveal that BP illegally went ahead with construction for more than a week without permits, until the government intervened on July 22 and stopped work in Borjomi.
“BP has been caught red-handed,” said James Leaton of WWF. “They have made all kinds of promises about how the BTC project would boost Georgian sovereignty, yet as soon as Georgian law no longer fits their schedule, they violate it without hesitation.”
Besides the national park, the Borjomi region also contains the Kodiana Mountains, an area of geological complexity and extreme vulnerability to landslides and earthquakes. Georgian Environment Minister Tamar Lebanidze was reported as saying that she would not have approved the route through Borjomi selected by BP in November 2002, because of the risk of catastrophic environmental damage in the event of pipeline rupture.
“In violating Georgian law, BP is clearly in violation of its loan agreements with the World Bank and other funders,” said Nicholas Hildyard of the Corner House. “The key question now is what will those institutions do? The World Bank claims it spent hundreds of millions of dollars of our money on this pipeline because of the additional protections it can bring to make projects like BTC better. The Georgian government has acted in response to these violations. The funders must now do the same if they are to retain any credibility.”
The incident is the latest in a line of embarrassing revelations for BP over the BTC project. Last month, whistleblowers on the Turkish section of the pipeline revealed a catalogue of management failures that were allegedly causing major health and safety problems. Doubts have also been raised over the reliability of the coating used on the Azeri and Georgian sections of BTC, raising the spectre of widespread leaks and pollution.
“BP has repeatedly said that it will construct this pipeline to the highest standards”, said Hannah Griffiths of Friends of the Earth. “But whenever the standards get in the way of the construction schedule, they get jettisoned.”
EDITORS’ NOTES:
[1] The need for full environmental certification is based on the requirements of article 9 of the Borjomi Zone Environmental Permit issued by the Ministry of the Environment on 22 November, 2002.
Additional press articles:
"BTC Construction Halted in Western Georgia"
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi. 23, July 2004
The British Petroleum (BP) company, which heads the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil export pipeline, has suspended construction works in the Borjomi valley of western Georgia for two weeks as requested by the Ministry of the Environment of Georgia.
“We are seeking the observation of stricter environmental safety measures. The Borjomi district is of vital importance, due to its natural resources and location. Thus, we are demanding additional safety guarantees,” Minister for the Environment Tamar Lebanidze said at a news briefing on July 23.
The Minister also said that the request does not envisage a long-term suspension of the project or the changing of the route.
“We are complying with the Georgian request and have suspended the construction works temporarily,” spokesperson of the BP Tbilisi office Rusudan Medzmariashvili told Civil Georgia on July 23. “Construction activities are ongoing in all other sectors.”
The Georgian Ministry plans to survey the situation over the next two weeks in order to further determine a plan of action.
The U.S.-backed and BP-led strategic BTC pipeline envisions the transport of Azeri oil to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan via Georgia. Construction of the pipeline is scheduled to be completed in 2005.
"BP's pipeline to nowhere: Georgia halts oil giant's £2.4bn project"
by Nick Mathiason
The Observer
Sunday July 25, 2004
The government of the former Soviet republic of Georgia has ordered BP to halt work on a section of a controversial £2.4 billion Caspian oil pipeline project.
The environment minister, Tamar Lebanidze, said the company failed to provide contractually required environmental information. Lebanidze said BP should not have started laying the 42 inch-wide pipe until her government was convinced that BP had in place the best technology to ensure it could withstand both landslides and terrorist attacks.
BP was on site for just one week in Borjormi before being told to stop. Borjormi is considered an area of outstanding natural beauty with a mineral water spring that provides a 10th of Georgia's exports.
The minister added that she would have rejected the scheme agreed by former president Edward Shevardnadze, who was forced out of office last November. Lebanidze fears oil leaks could devastate the region.
At 1,087 miles, the Caspian export pipeline will be the world's longest, taking Azerbaijani and Kazakhstani oil through Georgia to Turkey. It is backed by US President George W Bush, who is keen to reduce US reliance on Middle Eastern and Russian oil.
James Leaton of the World Wildlife Fund said: 'BP considers itself above the law on this project and has no respect for the environment.'
The news will take the gloss off BP second-quarter results, out this week. Net profits could beat last quarter's record £2.64 billion