THE FIGHT AGAINST THE VUOTOS RESERVOIR IS NOT OVER

THE VUOTOS RESERVOIR WILL HAVE A SERIOUS NEGATIVE IMPACT NOT ONLY ON THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE VUOTOS REGION IN FINLAND, BUT ALSO ON A MUCH WIDER AREA REACHING EVEN THE NORTHERN PARTS OF THE GULF OF BOTHNIA.

In June 1992 Fmland's Council of State made a Decision-in-Principle to build the Vuotos Reservoir. The Reservoir will be used for energy production linked with the possible building of the fifth nuclear power station in Finland. Already in August 1992 the power plant company Kemijoki Oy armounced that the felling of trees in the area would start, and at the same time a group of Members of Parliament proposed a motion to the Parliament that the Vuotos area should be protected by Special Law. In September the Finnish Government Committee for the Environment decided to take the motion to debate. Now it is up to the Water Rights Appeal Court to decide. The time lapse between the Decision-in-Principle and a legally binding decision of the Water Rights Appeal Court will be several years. The proceedings are also very likely to be characterized by severe disagreements and disputes.

YEARS BEFORE THE FINAL DECISION

The planning of the Vuotos project started in the 1960's. In 1982 the Government decided that the reservoir should, after all, not be built. The desicion was decreed as binding to all future Finnish Governments. Funds for the development of the area were granted by the state and people felt safe to move back. But in 1987 Kemijoki Oy submitted new plans for the building of the reservoir, and soon after the Government decided that the 1982 decree would not no longer be binding the present Government.

SUBMERGED NATURE CONSERVATION SITES

If the Vuotos Reservoir is built several sites still in their natural state, with considerable national and regional natural values, will be submerged. The water level will be raised enough to cover 240 km2 Of forests and swamp land as well as large areas of riverine habitats.

NUTRIENT INCREASE DOWNSTREAM

The phosphorous convent of the water in Kemijoki River down to its mouth, and in the northern panrts of the Gulf of Bothnia, will increase considerably. Like all other countries around the Baltic Finland made a commitrnent at the HELCOM Ministeral Meeting in 1988 to reduce the national emissions of phosphorous and nitrogen with 50 per cent by the year 1995

HUGE - BUT UNPROFITABLE

According to the report of the Government Institute of Economic Research the project is not profitable even if all the costs of envirorLmental damage are left out. This conclusion differs greatly from that of the report produced by the Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry, which estimated the project to be most profitable with annual revenue of about FIM 5-10 million. However, the annual profit should be reduced by the costs of environmental damage

STRONG LOCAL OPINION

The local inhabitants are strongly against the building of the reservoir. To them it wouid mean a dramatic and irreversible change in their natural environment. Their traditional outdoor activities will be restricted. Some people will be forced to move altogether

FINLAND OUGHT TO MAKE AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT FOR VUOTOS !

Finland has signed the Espoo Convention, the 1999 Helsinki Convention and the Declaration on the Protection of the Arctic Environment. These three international agreements should be taken into account when considering the building of the Vuotos Reservoir The impact of the Vuotos project in the northern parts of the Gulf of Bothnia calls for the Finnish authorities to negotiate w ith the Ss,redish authorities in this matter.

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