Environmental advocacy NGO Greenpeace Romania filed a preliminary complaint with the Constanta Environmental Protection Agency (APM), requesting the cancellation of the environmental permit for the Neptun Deep offshore gas project, the organization announced in a release on Friday.

The move comes as a result of APM Constanta’s decision to release the permit despite the issues highlighted by Greenpeace and which include: the absence of an adequate assessment of the long-term impact on water resources, the lack of an adequate assessment of the impact on the climate, the absence of a risk analysis amid the ongoing war in the neighboring area, the absence of a geological survey, and the absence of genuine public consultations regarding the risks related to this project.

„This project will keep Romania stuck in the era of fossil fuels and will further accelerate the already highly impacting climate crisis effects. The heat waves we have experienced in the past weeks will be increasingly intense,” declared Vlad Catuna, coordinator of the Greenpeace Climate and Energy campaign.

Greenpeace Romania has sued companies OMV Petrom and Romgaz, the Tuzla City Hall and Local Council, the Dobrogea Seaside Watershed Administration and the Grigore Antipa National Institute for Marine Development and Research for irregularities in the approval processes and lack of transparency over crucial data regarding the toxic substances that will be discharged into the Black Sea.

The environmental organization also launched a petition for the protection of the Black Sea and the halt of the Neptun Deep project, which can be consulted on the dedicated website (https://suport.greenpeace.ro/salvammareaneagra).

In a recent interview for AGERPRES, OMV Petrom CEO Christina Verchere said that the Neptun Deep project „is on track to deliver the first amounts of natural gas in 2027, within the limits of the initially announced budget of up to four billion euros”, and that drilling is supposed to start in 2025.

AGERPRES