“PSH Vrilo” economically unprofitable project, Environmental Impact Assessment Study full of omissions

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Created on Wednesday, 06 March 2019 21:55

The latest Environmental Impact Assessment Study  for the construction of pump-storage hydropower plant “PSH Vrilo” is full of legal and technical omissions, where the economic sustainability of the project and property relations are also questionable, among others things, stated numerous participants about this Study at the public debate, which was held on Wednesday, January 16th, 2019., in Tomislavgrad, FBiH.

The public debate, which is a prerequisite for issuing an environmental permit, was organized by the Federal Ministry of Environment and Tourism. It was attended by representatives of the “Public company: Electric utility company of Croatian community Herceg Bosna” LLC Mostar, representatives of Ecoplan LLC, who made the Study, their partners from Elektroprojekt LLC, Zagreb, representatives of the non-governmental sector and numerous citizens.

After the presentation of the Study, representatives of the Center for Environment, who together with their colleagues from the Aarhus Center of BiH attended the debate, raised a number of objections to the Study and research procedure, such is disregard of  the provisions of the ESPOO Convention regarding the cross-border environmental impact, according to which the Member States of the Convention agreed to inform each other about certain activities that may have an impact on the environment "at an early stage of planning" of such activity. As a member of this Convention, BiH is obliged to inform and involve all interested parties in the procedure. However, during the debate, it was discovered that the competent ministry is yet to include Croatia as a party of interest in the process, as there is a possibility that Croatia will be environmentally affected during the implementation of the project.

“In addition to the above stated, the latest Study has shown in a very peculiar way the observance regarding the legal requirement of ‘an environmentally acceptable water flow’ which, according to the Law on Waters of the FBiH, should ensure the preservation of the natural balance and ecosystems along the water,” it was stated from the Center for Environment.

It should be noted that during the debate other issues that are not related specifically to the Study were raised as well, such as property issues and economic sustainability of the project. Moreover, the people of Kovači village, that is located where the project “PSH Vrilo” is planned, expressed their dissatisfaction with the way how they have been informed and involved in the early planning stages, as it is stipulated by the Aarhus Convention. They think that they will be affected negatively and that they will experience only hardships as it happened to the communities around the Lake Buško.

It should be noted that this debate was preceded by two public debates on the same topic, during which the Study was rejected twice, because both times the Study was not prepared in accordance with legal provisions and administrative standards, nor within the terms of applying good practice. That is why additional research was requested for which consulting services were paid in the amount of 400.000 KM and 160.000 EUR respectively, and the loan, which according to the representatives of Public company Electric power industry HZHB, LLC is already active, was provided by the German Development Bank (The KfW).

Moreover, due to similar legal and technical omissions, for few years, the Water Agency of the Adriatic Sea refused to issue the so-called “water permit” which is another, prerequisite legal document necessary for the issuance of  the environmental permit. For almost full eight years, the applicant has difficulties in following the set requirements of the procurement process, one of which is presenting an adequate Environmental Impact Assessment Study. Permeated with visible emotions of deep worry and agitation, attending members of the public debate raised serious questions regarding the overall project. Thus, the interest for the debate and discussion about the Study was clear, although, and as it could be heard from the comments of the participants, many interested stakeholders of the project were not duly informed about the time and the place of the debate, which breaches one of the key requirements under the Aarhus Convention. This means that the applicant will have to provide a more compelling reasons and justifications of why “PSH Vrilo” should be built, despite the expected negative impacts on the environment and despite the evident worry, concern and opposition coming from numerous members of the local communities and NGO-s in the state.

‘This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its content are the sole responsibility of Eko BiH project and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.’

For more information:

Emina Veljović, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Financed by the EU