EU Parliament committe of the environment

To Matthias Groote, Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, Carl Schlyter  and Dan Jørgensen

European Parliament,

Committee of the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Uppsala, 2012-09-17

Dear Matthias, Gerben-Jan, Carl and Dan,

I'm writing to you as a European citizen worried about developments in the environmental policies in Sweden, the country where I have been living for the last 15 years (being a Dutch native). A Finnish company (Nordkalk) has obtained permission to open a new limestone quarry on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, near the village of Bunge. The locality of the prospected quarry (the Ojnare forest) is the area where two endemic species live: Gabbelfibbla (Pilosella dichotoma) and Gotlandssnok (Natrix natrix gotlandica). In addition over 250 red-listed species have been found in the area and the area has been proposed to become a National park by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. To make things worse, the area is crucial for water-security on an island where rationing of water is necessary every summer. There is no doubt that a quarry in this area will ruin a truly unique forest and seriously put at stake the water supplies for the northern half of Gotland.

The Swedish high court has taken up the case after an appeal was made against the permission to Nordkalk to start a new quarry, by several organizations. One particularly strong argument for the appeal was that the European court has not been queried by any of the Swedish courts, for unspecified reasons. Right now the Swedish minister of the environment, Lena Ek states she does not want to make any statements on the issue in order not to intervene in an on-going court case. I appeal to you to exert pressure on the commissioner of the environment, Janez Potočnik, who in turn should put pressure on the Swedish government to stop the exploitation of this area whatever the outcome of the court case. Nordkalk still has the legal authority and the intention to clear-cut the area and something needs to be done rapidly in order to prevent further damage to this superb natural area.

Faithfully yours,

David van der Spoel,

Uppsala