Environment:
ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS NOT REASSURED BY BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN PIPELINE HEARINGS
9/17/03
Giorgi Kandelaki and Mevlut Katik

International financial institutions, along with entities involved in the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, helped organize public hearings that aimed to assuage environmental worries about the project. Following the last meeting in the series, however, regional activists remain concerned that the pipeline poses a considerable ecological threat.

The first public hearing on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline convened in Turkey in late August. Subsequent hearings occurred in Azerbaijan and Georgia this month, the last of which took place in Tbilisi on September 11.

Various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) voiced concern during the hearings that the proposed pipeline route poses an undue threat to several environmentally sensitive areas, especially Georgia’s Borjomi region, home to well-known mineral water springs. A spill has the potential to devastate the local economy in Borjomi, NGO experts said. They urged the BTC pipeline consortium to change the route to reduce the risk of an ecological catastrophe.

Those involved in building the pipeline, or financing its construction, remain disinclined to make route modifications. “So far, those meetings did not bring up anything that could in any way impact the project,” said Ted Pollet, senior social development specialist at the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Representatives of the BTC consortium described two August hearings – one August 26 in the Turkish cities of Erzurum and the other in Adana Province on August 28 – as successful in fostering greater mutual understanding among the pipeline’s builders and its environmental critics. “They [NGO activists] are now recognizing the efforts we [BTC consortium members] make on the environmental and social front,” the BTC representative said. The BTC consortium is headed by British Petroleum. SOCAR, the Azerbaijani state oil company, is also a major shareholder.

In Turkey, the BTC consortium is striving to establish a good rapport with residents by underwriting efforts to improve the socio-economic infrastructure. One such initiative is the Kars Sustainable Rural Development Project, under which BTC will provide business development advice to people living within a 4-kilometer corridor of the pipeline. The consortium will also fund pilot projects, such as one to improve drinking water quality. BTC critics express concern about the consortium’s long-term commitment to such development projects. Many, they contend, would be unsustainable without an ongoing commitment from BTC.

In Georgia, environmentalists, including Manana Kochladze, a representative of a transnational group called CEE Bankwatch, sought to focus attention on the BTC consortium’s apparent reluctance to consider alternate routes for the 1,760-kilometer pipeline. “No alternative routes were studied seriously,” she said. “Instead, BP spent the whole time trying to persuade everyone of the rationality of the Borjomi route,” she said.

Opponents of the Borjomi route claim that the risk of a catastrophe in the region is far greater than elsewhere along the route. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. They cite the high frequency of landslides in the surrounding mountains as the principal threat. In addition, the pipeline passes close to Borjomi National Park, something that activists claim violates Georgian environmental legislation. BTC representatives insist the chance of a major spill is relatively low, adding that pipeline operators would be able to contain any spill within minutes by shutting off valves.

BP has provided copious remarks about its decision to endorse the pipeline route. Critics of the BTC project in Georgia now seem to prefer targeting the government. Jacques Fleury, CEO of the Georgian Glass and Mineral Water Co, contended that the government blocked the study of alternate routes “due to unclear reasons.” He added that the pipeline stands to do irreparable harm to Borjomi’s economic prospects.

“If you are a consumer of let’s say, Evian and you learn that a major export pipeline is going to cross its water reserve, what will be your reaction? You switch the brand. Even if no leak occurs, exports of Borjomi will dramatically fall,” Fleury said. BTC representatives maintain that the selected route represents “by far the best way forward.” But local activists counter that political considerations may have had more weight than topographical factors in determining the route. Some activists suggest that a potential alternate route, through the Javakhetia Region, may have been ruled out because of the area’s large concentration of ethnic Armenians, as well as the presence of a Russian military base. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

David Zurabishvili, who works at Tbilisi’s anticorruption watchdog Liberty Institute, says the BTC route has remained fixed in Georgian officials’ minds from the start. “Today it is very difficult to change anything about it,” he said. “The Georgian government was so keen on signing the deal that they did not look carefully into the details.”

At the hearings, some participants made allegations that local government officials in Georgia were misappropriating funds meant for those who will be displaced by pipeline construction. IFC representatives confirmed that the lender is investigating the matter. “We are very intensively looking into those cases and we are trying to develop various robust systems to prevent irregularities, but it should also be stressed that security in this area is the responsibility of the Georgian government,” said Shawn Miller, an IFC specialist.

Nugzar Kobaidze, who comes from Akhalisamgori village, says local government officials end up confiscating almost all land payments. “This was the case when the Baku-Supsa early oil pipeline crossed our village in 1997 and is the case today,” he said.

Editor’s Note: Mevlut Katik is a London-based journalist and political analyst, specializing in Turkish affairs. Giorgi Kandelaki is a freelance writer based in Tbilisi.