A coal-fired power plant owned by İzdemir in İzmir’s Aliağa district has faced years of legal challenges from local residents and environmental groups, who claim it has been polluting the region. Despite multiple court rulings against the facility, it remains operational.

The plant’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) approvals have been annulled three times by courts. In March 2024, the Constitutional Court also ruled against the plant. However, the facility continues to operate, even after İzmir Metropolitan Municipality (İzBB) sealed it off earlier this month.

The first court decision against the power plant came in 2016, two years after it began operations. İzmir’s 2nd Administrative Court revoked the EIA approval issued four years prior. However, the İzmir Governor’s Office later granted a new environmental permit, allowing the plant to continue operating.

Environmental activists and local residents launched another legal challenge. On Oct 26, 2018, İzmir’s 5th Administrative Court once again annulled the environmental permit issued by the governor’s office. However, the Council of State overturned this ruling. The case eventually reached the Constitutional Court, which ruled in March 2024 that the plant’s operations violated environmental regulations. Following this decision, İzmir’s 5th Administrative Court upheld the ruling and canceled the plant’s EIA approval.

Despite these court decisions, local residents and environmental organizations reported that the power plant continued operating. In response, İzmir Metropolitan Municipality sealed the facility’s entrance on Mar 5, citing deficiencies in İzdemir’s business operation permits.

One day after the plant was sealed, the Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change Ministry approved a new EIA report for the facility. Meanwhile, İzdemir filed a lawsuit seeking the annulment and suspension of the municipality’s decision. On Mar. 14, just nine days after the plant was sealed, İzmir’s Administrative Court ruled in favor of İzdemir, lifting the closure and allowing operations to resume.

'This is an attempt to bypass the law'

Arif Ali Cangı, co-spokesperson for the Aegean Environment and Culture Platform (EGEÇEP) and a lawyer representing environmental groups, accused İzdemir of circumventing both the Constitutional Court and local court rulings.

"Once again, the power plant has been allowed to continue operations," Cangı said, describing the situation as unlawful.

"The company applied for a new ÇED report, and the Review and Evaluation Commission (İDK) met on Feb. 14. The report was over 12,000 pages long, yet it was approved within just six hours. Our objections were ignored," he said.

"The Constitutional Court had justified its ruling by stating that the plant’s ash and slag storage facility lacked sufficient capacity and that the surrounding area was full of olive groves. The ÇED report confirmed that the company planned to store waste between olive groves, which directly violates the Olive Law."

However, the company argued that it had resolved the issues cited in the court ruling. It claimed that the ash and slag from the plant were no longer hazardous and that they would be sold to cement and concrete factories instead of being stored. The company was eventually granted another environmental approval, which Cangı described as "bypassing the court ruling."

"This is nothing more than an attempt to disregard judicial decisions and deceive the public. What is happening here has nothing to do with the rule of law," he added.

Cangı also warned about the potential health risks, saying, "The ash and slag from the plant contain heavy metals, including radioactive contaminants. They pose a serious carcinogenic threat to human health and the environment. We will take legal action once again to challenge the ministry’s latest EIA approval."

Cangı recalled a significant environmental movement in İzmir’s history, the 1990 protests against the Aliağa Thermal Power Plant.

"İzmir has a strong history of resistance against coal power plants. Back then, citizens formed a human chain from Konak to Aliağa, and eventually, the government abandoned the project until 2008," he said. "It’s time for us to revive that fight. I call on the people of İzmir to raise their voices, protest, and demand the closure of this plant." (HA/VK)