Vuosaaren satama ja ympäristö - Helsingin Satama

The Vuosaari Harbour has been built mainly onthe site of an old shipyard and extensive fill, butseveral recreation areas and routes along with placesof interest from a nature viewpoint also had tomake way for construction. By protecting, cleaningand landscaping neighbouring areas the projecthas strived to compensate for these losses. Thearchitecture has been designed to create a positiveand pleasant urban scene.Construction has been guided by risk analysis andthe necessary measures have been taken to avoid ormanage environmental detriments. Cooperation withother projects in planning transfers of aggregates, forexample, has ensured the most economical solutionfor all parties.The processes, decisions and permit proceduresdescribed in the book provide a good picture of thechallenges and objectives that Finnish environmentallegislation places on major infrastructure projects.The project’s effectsConsolidating the Port of Helsinki’s harbouroperations in Vuosaari offers many operationalbenefits. The project is feasible both socioeconomicallyand in terms of Helsinki’s own finances.It is also in line with sustainable development. Thisis especially true when it comes to reducing trafficemissions in order to fight climate change.Helsinki’s existing cargo harbours are highlyinefficient because they are located on opposite sidesof the city centre. They lack sufficient capacity andhaving functions separated wastes money.The new harbour in Vuosaari will reducenegative environmental impacts. Risks associatedwith transport can also be avoided. Noise fromthe harbour and harbour traffic will be confined toareas with fewer residents compared with the oldharbours and the corridor leading to the harbour.Rail traffic will be more competitive as a carrier.Housing, commercial premises and offices can bebuilt in the downtown areas now occupied by the oldharbours. This will help balance the social structureand reduce traffic volumes and emissions.Building a new harbour next to an area withconsiderable conservation values placed strictrequirements on the quality of planning andconstruction. The harbour’s impacts on theneighbouring Natura 2000 area made the processextremely challenging. After many stages Finland’sSupreme Administrative Court issued a decision on2002 concerning the Vuosaari Harbour and trafficchannels and noted that the environmental impactassessment and statement process indicated that theproject would cause the deterioration of some habitatsbut it did not show that this would significantlydisturb the species for which the Mustavuori herbrichforest and Östersundom bird wetlands had beenincluded in the Natura 2000 network, as proscribedin section 66:1 of the Nature Conservation Act andArticle 6 of the Habitats Directive,New technical solutionsClean-up measures in the Vuosaari shipyard basinbegan in 1997. Over the past decade contaminatedsoil has been removed according to the agreedtimetable and permit conditions. The clean-upwas successfully conducted and even exceededexpectations. It should be mentioned, however,that every stage of work – regardless of carefulpreparations – produced surprises, setbacks and newchallenges.This was one of the first large-scale clean-upsin Finland in which risk assessment was used tomeet health and environmental as well as technicaleconomicobjectives. In environmental studies ofthe area, elevated concentrations of heavy metals,as well as oil hydrocarbons and PCB-compoundshad been found. Also, elevated arsenic levels werecommonly observed in the area. A geological riskanalysis confirmed the origin of the arsenic to belocal rock that had been crushed and used as fill. Thearsenic, that was proven to be practically insoluble,was found to present no threat to the ecosystemin nearby waters. This made it possible to use soilin subsurface fill, at the same time significantlylowering costs.During the clean-up concentrations of organotincompounds also caused problems since officialguidelines had not been set for them. A riskassessment oriented research project was conductedjointly by the City of Helsinki, the Port of Helsinkiand consultants involved in the clean-up to find a180SUMMARYVuosaaren satama ja ympäristö