Supreme Court accepts Auvere oil shale plant building permit claim
The Supreme Court has accepted a claim from an environmental NGO which applied for the cancellation of the building permit of a new shale oil production facility in Auvere, Ida-Viru County.
The Tartu-based top court's administrative review chamber took under consideration an appeal from NGO Loodusvõlu which requested canceling the construction permit for the planned Enefit280 Auvere plant, to be operated by state-owned Eesti Energia subsidiary Enefit Power.
The Supreme Court had in August rejected an appeal for preliminary legal protection in respect of the plant, also filed by NGO Loodusvõlu, after the first-tier Tartu administrative court and the second-tier Tartu circuit court had dismissed appeals from the organization, in the circuit court's case in June this year.
The Supreme Court noted in August that: "The appellant has raised some serious questions, especially regarding the shortcomings of the environmental impact assessment. Therefore, the administrative board finds the appeal's prospects for success to be clearly not low, but also not overwhelming."
The €286-million oil shale plant is due to go live in 2024.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
