Opponents seeking to stall pulp mill project file appeal of court ruling
After an administrative court rejected an appeal at the end of September by opponents of a project to build a large pulp mill in Tartu County, the opponents have contested the ruling by listing new reasons why the administrative acts and national designated spatial plan concerning the pulp mill should be revoked.
The civic environmental association Eesti Metsa Abiks (Helping Estonia's Forests, EMA) has filed an appeal against the ruling by which the administrative court last month turned down their request for provisional legal protection in view of the prospect that the administrative acts and the national designated spatial plan concerning the construction of the pulp mill of Est-For Invest OÜ will be revoked.
In the complaint, the NGO wants the procedure to be halted because of failure to previously include them in the process to a sufficient degree.
Est-For Invest is planning on building a €1 billion pulp mill near Tartu, in Southern Estonia, which would process approximately 2.5-3.3 million tons of pulpwood per year for export.
According to initial forecasts, the mill would begin production in 2022. The planned average production capacity is up to 750,000 tons of bioproducts per year. The final product will be exported.
Representatives of Est-For have said that launch of the plant will not increase forest harvesting volumes in Estonia.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: BNS
