The Neptun Deep project is at odds with any effort to protect the climate, and OMV will cause massive climate damage for a few years of profit, warns the campaign coordinator of Greenpeace Romania, Alin Tanase, in a press release sent to AGERPRES on Thursday.

Greenpeace Romania has released the study „Life in the Black Sea – Pressures, Threats and Impacts” by EPC Environmental Consultancy, a document that updates the main threats to marine biodiversity and highlights the need to carefully weigh their cumulative effect.

„We know that the Black Sea is already under great pressure, from war and sea mines to plastic pollution, and OMV is only intensifying the pressure on Black Sea species and habitats. OMV must stop Neptun Deep immediately!” said Tanase.

The EPC study highlights, as a first conclusion, that the existence of the most vulnerable species – marine mammals – is threatened by the significant effects of the war, still insufficiently documented, and aggravated by other impacts of inadequately assessed projects.

„(…) we believe that more monitoring, expansion of protected areas, precaution and rigorous analysis are needed before expanding economic activities in the Black Sea area,” said Marius Nistorescu, PhD ecologist, general manager of EPC Environmental Consultancy, in the release.

In the case of the Neptun Deep project, the study’s authors consider it to pose a „direct and immediate” threat to the Black Sea.

„For the procedural flaws identified, Greenpeace has already taken legal action against OMV Petrom and Romgaz, the Tuzla Town Hall and Local Council, the Dobrogea Litoral Water Basin Administration and the Grigore Antipa National Institute for Marine Research and Development. The lack of real public consultation of the large coastal communities is also worrying, even though the consequences of the project, including potential accidents, would affect all the communities by the sea. OMV Petrom organised one pseudo-debate in Tuzla in January 2024. Moreover, the poor state of the older platforms operated by OMV Petrom, denounced by Greenpeace, shows the company’s lack of interest in maintenance activities, with considerable risks of accidents,” the expert analysis states.

Environmental activists believe that oil and gas exploration should only be carried out after rigorous environmental assessments, as it has the potential to significantly endanger sensitive species such as cetaceans (dolphins).

AGERPRES