A Dutch company wants to drill for natural gas off the Wadden Sea coast. The courts have given the green light. But environmentalists are very concerned. A confrontation is looming.
Activists from the environmental organization Greenpeace are continuing their protest action in the North Sea against the planned natural gas extraction off the Dutch and German coasts. They are using three floating islands to block the installation of a drilling platform about 20 kilometers north of the Dutch Wadden Sea island of Schiermonnikoog. Greenpeace will not withdraw, said a spokesman for the German Press Agency in Amsterdam.
The Dutch police and coast guard are monitoring the situation. However, the police see no reason to intervene for the time being. “We see no signs of criminal activity and no acute danger,” a police spokesman told the Dutch news agency ANP.
The Dutch energy company One-Dyas, which plans to extract natural gas at the site, has announced legal action and wants to force an end to the blockade with an injunction.
Greenpeace: “We do not touch One-Dyas property”
Around 20 German and Dutch activists anchored the floating protest camp at the planned drilling site on Tuesday and are protesting for the protection of the Wadden Sea. The Dutch energy company One-Dyas wants to drill for natural gas there. After the courts gave the green light, the company plans to install the platform this week. Natural gas is then to be produced from December.
One-Dyas had warned that the protest action could endanger the safety of employees and the environment. The large crane platform and a ship carrying building materials were stopped for the time being. The protests were peaceful, said Greenpeace spokesman Maarten de Zeeuw. “We are at sea and are not touching any property belonging to One-Dyas.”
One-Dyas wants to extract natural gas from a field off the islands of Borkum and Schiermonnikoog. But environmental protection associations and islanders in Germany and the Netherlands fear damage to the adjacent Wadden Sea UNESCO World Heritage Site. Legal actions have so far failed. In the Netherlands, proceedings are now pending before the highest administrative court.
Source: Stern
