“There is a war going on.” Mines were constantly spotted. What would happen if a mine reached the site?

– The structure would withstand a collision with an unguided ship – a mine explosion is nothing. And at the moment there are production sites in the sea anyway.

Such questions and answers could be heard in a small hall in the municipal administration building in Kavarna on Wednesday, May 15. A public discussion was held on a gas extraction project in the maritime economic space of Romania. Investors are OMV and Romgaz: up to EUR 4 billion capital costs, capacity of 100 billion cubic meters; start of production 2027 – not just a giant business, but also a diversification that will turn Romania (an EU country) into a leading regional energy supplier amid bad relations with Russia. Greenpeace and other international organizations oppose the project. They see it as a huge ecological danger.

By virtue of the cross-border cooperation “Neptune Deep” (the name of the project) should undergo an EIA procedure in Bulgaria. For this reason, on May 15, the modest Bulgarian town of Kavarna was visited by big politics and big business – two worlds that “intermingled” through strict men and women in suits, young people with wild hairstyles, other citizens; they all asked important questions without anyone being sure whether the important answers were true (the subject is complex, and the risks can never be calculated exactly) – to 80 people in total, Romanians, Bulgarians, also people from Western Europe.

A small detail: Varna was also an option to host the public discussion, but the schedule was not suitable – so, typically according to tradition, the discussion was sent “in the forests of Tilley” to avoid any questioning members of the public.

Whoever should be worried had a reason – at the tenth minute, while the investor was presenting the project, a girl appeared next to him with the inscription STOP NEPTUN DEEP. And the discussion lasted over 3 hours.

IMPORTANT SPECIFICATIONS

Bulgaria cannot in any way stop, correct or encourage the project. It is entirely Romanian, 35 km from our maritime economic space. Our country can only send remarks (it has done so) with which the investor could possibly comply. For this reason, the main function of the Bulgarian EIA procedure is informative. For this reason, countermeasures are a priority more for Romanian than for Bulgarian ecologists.

Two fields (“Domino” and “Pelican”), an unmanned platform controlled by optical cable from the Romanian coast; respectively, a pipe from the platform to the Romanian land, along which the gas passes; 160 km distance to the coast. These are the roughest technical characteristics of the industrial site. Studies have been carried out on the project, permits are currently being issued.

After these clarifications, let’s talk about the most important moments of the public discussion.

CURRENT, WIRES, PROCEDURES

Project manager Daniel Dinu presents it for about 40 minutes. The floor was then given to Gabriela Stancu from the private company Blumenfield, which prepared the impact assessment. Everything, they say, is “power and wires” – only the underwater noise of driving piles and emissions in emergency situations will have a transboundary impact – and a minor, residual one at that. The rest is fine. Later in the conversation, a young man from Bulgaria will ask how the company “Blumenfield” was chosen – because, the young man explains, the evaluation itself as a product is done quite strangely. Dinu will answer that there are simply no other companies in the region that are engaged in marine industrial projects.

But back to the chronology. Citizens ask, mostly Dinu answers.

Martin Tomov from “Greenpeace” – Bulgaria, says that what is happening is not a public discussion, but an advertising presentation of the project. He asks and gets the answer about the mines. He claims that the distance to Bulgaria is presented speculatively. He received an answer that the maritime economic borders of Bulgaria and Romania were not specified.

A discussion is also started with other questioners about the harm to the marine animal life. Neptune Deep claims that nothing unusual will happen. Their point is: the gas is biogenic, that is, no polluting oil is extracted, and natural earth energy will be used for the transmission through the pipe, without polluting compressor activity; the risk of a spill is only for light marine fuel, as a support vessel will occasionally travel to the rig – but even now there are all kinds of vessels at sea.

Semira Hadjinikolova asks what the benefits for Bulgaria will be from the project and what has been built on it so far. Regarding the first part, the answer is general – the benefits are regional energy security, diversification (“No benefits!”, whispers the hall). On the second part – only a study was carried out (in Romanian profiles on social networks, however, men with helmets can be seen for a long time – probably for ground activities).

A Bulgarian youth asks what the company’s experience is in similar marine projects. They explain to him that she has experience in Norway, New Zealand, etc., foreign specialists have been brought in.

There is a dispute about the methodology of the calculations and comparisons with the future emitted emissions. More interesting, however, is a statement by Vlad Katuna from “Greenpeace” – Romania. He claims that ecotoxicity data is not public, there are lawsuits filed in Romania on the matter. Dinu counters that the conclusions are public, but the data itself is not, as it is a trade secret; ecologists had the opportunity to see them on the spot, but refused. A chemical dispute ensues.

Maya Gadjeva from the Ministry of Education and Culture took the floor several times. He explains that the country sent us letters, opinions, opinions, recommendations, they were taken into consideration. And he is very happy about the fruitful cooperation with the Romanian authorities. In fact, a careful examination of the correspondence between the countries shows that the Romanians did not always heed the notes.

Gadjeva says various things, one of which impresses Vlad Katuna. “So Bulgaria agrees to the project before the discussion is over?” he asks. “Ya-ah-ah,” the hall whispers again. Gadjeva replies that there are procedures in the Bulgarian legislation and they are followed.

Raluca Petcu, also from “Greenpeace” – Romania, emphasizes the European directives and other European norms. It is clear that there are also cases on this issue. A key moment is coming: ecologists and other citizens are interested in the reliability, the very security of the site – what is done in the event of an accident, what will be the pollution, what are the control mechanisms… The investor’s representative Gary Reagan (will be one of the attracted foreign specialists) , apparently a technical expert, says things are safe. But several times he pointed out that these are topics outside the procedure of the current discussion. The security aspects were the subject of a procedure before a special Romanian authority, which is currently ongoing. However, Romanian ecologists argue that this body cannot be trusted. They mention current unreliable (decades old) similar sites of the company. In the end, the most important topic – security, accident risks… – remains unclear.

All the time, the representatives of “Neptune Deep” are responsive, they answer accurately in working order. But they also strictly monitor “not to leave the procedure”. Several times they emphasize that in return, statements should not be made – only questions should be asked. It was not clear what this Romanian public consultation regulation is.

After a while, the Kavarna municipality building is still empty and lonely. The “big things” went their separate ways.

ALL THE WAY TO THE SHORE…

Regardless of where exactly the truth lies in the dispute, the situation from the Bulgarian point of view is not quite right. In March, Bulgarian Eco Minister Julian Popov wrote to his Romanian colleague, Mircea Fitchet, that the data provided did not contain definitive confirmation of a missing health risk for the population. It is related to the transfer of leaks into the waters 35 km away from the Bulgarian economic space – risks from oils, fuels of the service vessel, waste water from tanks on the platform itself… – including reaching the Bulgarian coast and bathing areas due to the currents. The danger is especially great in accidents.

The Society “For the Earth” also has considerations in essence, and quite a few disagreements with the methodology and procedure for assessing the impact, according to Bulgarian and Romanian legislation.

STRONGEST AGAINST

The organization that has been most active and vocal since the beginning against the project is Greenpeace. Immediately after the Kavarna discussion, her Bulgarian office requested that consultations be held in Varna, Burgas, Shabla, and that the data on the ecotoxicity of waste water be published. Also to assess the military risk, actual greenhouse gas emissions, and whether the safety conditions comply with the EU directive for offshore oil and gas operations.

And more from Greenpeace expressed in previous months:

“Incidents in deepwater projects such as the one in the Pelican Block well have deadly consequences, especially for wildlife. At a depth of almost 1,000 meters to the surface, about 95% of the produced gas would dissolve in the water. If the concentration of the gas in the water is higher than 1 mg/l, within a quarter of an hour it causes severe symptoms of poisoning in fish such as disorientation and immobility. Within one to two days, the fish may die.

In shallow waters, such as the Domino well and the 100-mile (160 km) offshore pipeline, accidents could have fatal climate consequences. In the event of a leak, the gas would quickly rise to the surface and escape into the air, with some of it being absorbed into the water

Neptune Deep is an economically and politically pointless project with high risk. The EU aims to reduce as much as possible its dependence on fossil fuels and to meet the climate targets adopted by the community.

More than 5 million cubic meters of waste water will be discharged into the waters of the Black Sea, which would easily reach Bulgaria due to the natural currents in the Black Sea. The risk of accidents in such platforms is enormous due to the military actions in Ukraine.”

EVENTUALLY

It is very difficult to say who exactly is right in the dispute. But if we leave aside the technical, scientific and procedural specifics, look at things in general, the situation is: another extraction in the Black Sea, another risk. Because whatever safety measures are taken and the highest technology, such productions always contain a risk – very high in accidents. And it’s shaking from here on out – permanently.