Bartın coal-fired plant project canceled after 16 years of legal struggle
Photo: Bartın Platform
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The Council of State 6th chamber has canceled a coal-fired power plant project in Amasra, Bartın, in northern Turkey.
The verdict issued on November 18 canceled an amendment to a 1/100,000 scale environmental plan, which was approved by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization in October 2016.
Locals have been in a legal struggle against the project for 16 years.
"The struggle for life that we have been continuing for years has ended in victory. The thermal plant is wiped off the map in Amasra," the Bartın Platform wrote on Twitter. The platform organized an event on Saturday (November 20) to celebrate the court ruling.
The project covered an area of 380 hectares in natural forest areas. The Hema Thermal Power Plant would be built on an area of 33 hectares, a limestone crushing plant would be allocated on an area of 200 hectares, and an ash and gypsum storage facility would be built on a 150-hectare area.
The head of the Chamber of Architects Ankara Branch, Tezcan Karakuş-Candan, noted that the power plant was planned to be built in a natural forest area.
Also, a planned ash storage center would threaten the Bartın Stream Lower Basin, she said. "As can be understood from aerial photographs ... water resources were pretty close to the power plant and storage center."
What happened?
Hattat Holding signed a royalty agreement with the Ministry of Environment to provide coal for the planned power plant in 2005.
Since 2010, locals have prevented eight attempts to hold an environmental impact assessment (EIA) meeting with the participation of the people.
In 2014, about 42,000 people, or nearly 25 percent of Bartın's population, submitted petitions to the ministry, demanding the cancellation of the progect.
The ministry, on October 10, 2016, issued a positive EIA report for the project. Some 2019 people filed a lawsuit for the cancellation of the report.
In December 2016, the Bartın Platform submitted more than 10,000 petitions for the cancellation of amendments to the environmental plan which would facilitate the construction of the plant. (KÖ/VK)