Nord Stream: Not Just a Pipeline

Nord Stream: Not Just a Pipeline 41
Figure 5: The Baltic Sea (incl. the narrow Danish Straits)
Source: MoE Finland (2008). (Oval indicating connection with world oceans
added).
According to Zmudzinski (1989: 49) ‘the congestion of people, agriculture,
industry, and trade in the Baltic drainage basin poses an increasingly
sever threat of intoxication to the environment of the small semi-enclosed
sea.’ There is a significant concentration of heavy metals in the bottom
sediments, resulting from all the industrial waste that has been discharged
over the years. Such waste, however, is not the only non-natural substance
challenging the Baltic environment; the Second World War has
also had its impact. During the war, the sea was heavily mined and
immediately after the war, the Allies dumped enormous amounts German
chemical weapons in the Baltic Sea, as this was considered the best way
of disposal for such ammunition (Boczek 1989: 24-25; Nehring 2007:
23). A 1994 study for the Helsinki Commission concludes ‘with relative
certainty that around 40,000 tonnes of chemical munitions have been
dumped in the Helsinki Convention Area [the Baltic Sea].’
Nord Stream AG, officially relying on data from HELCOM, reports that
it has taken into consideration all the known munitions dumpsites in the
optimisation of the pipeline route. The consortium also argues that there
have never been any unintentional detonations of weapons in the Baltic
Sea, ‘nor has there been any accident during the handling of found
munitions’ (Nord Stream 2008l). This information is worth scrutinising
for the following reasons: Although the official dumpsites can easily be
avoided, Nord Stream AG fails to mention that many dumped weapons
are also scattered along the bottom, as recognised by HELCOM (1994:
38). Marine biologist Dr. Stefan Nehring points out that much is still