Coal-Fired Plant in Adana May Cause 2,000 more Premature Deaths, Environmentalists Warn

Photo: Kerem Yücel / CAN Europe

Click to read the article in Turkish

More than 20 environmental groups and professional organizations have sent a letter to China-based banks, requesting them not to fund the Hunutlu Coal-Fired Power Plant project in the southern Adana province.

The groups including Greenpeace Mediterranean, the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) and Adana Medical Chamber started a campaign titled "Fresh Air for Adana" (#AdanayaTemizHava) last week.

CLICK - Environmental Groups Call for Halt of Coal-Fired Plant Project in Adana

The power plant may cause as many as 2,000 people to die prematurely if it becomes operational, a modeling study by the HEAL and Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) showed. Combined with the impact of other three coal-fired power plants in Adana and the İskenderun Bay, the number of premature deaths increased to 7,400, according to the study.

The letter was sent to Şhanghay Elektrik, the largest shareholder of the project that was founded in Turkey by China-based investors, and three China-based banks, China Development Bank, ICBC and Bank of China.

The letter said the project was against the legislation in Turkey, international conventions and China's "green finance" policies.

While there was already intense air pollution in the project area, the measurements carried out in summer, when the pollution is at the lowest levels, showed that air pollution was already above the limit values, the letter further said.

In Adana, a province of two million people, one out of every five mortalities above 30 years of age in 2019 was caused by air pollution, according to HEAL.

Also, cases of ovarian cancer increased five-fold in Yumurtalık district between 2009 and 2014, the letter noted.

International conventions

The groups also said Sugözü Beach near the project area was declared a protected area for sea turtles by the Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks.

Sea turtles were considered an "endangered species" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the plant project, because of threatening turtles' nesting sites, was against the Bern Convention, they noted.

Also, the project is against articles 8d, 8k and 14c of the Biodiversity Convention, a multilateral treaty signed by both Turkey and China, according to the letter.

The letter also recalled that another coal-fired plant in Yumurtalık was canceled by a court in 2015 because there were endemic species in the project area. (EMK/VK)