Why Amasra Doesn't Want a Thermal Power Plant!

Why Don't the People of Amasra and Bartın Want a Thermal Power Plant?

Grounds for objection to thermal power plant

The problems that will arise as a result of the construction of the thermal power plant will cause irreparable damage. In this context, our reasons for not building the thermal power plant, which were presented to the 2nd Review and Evaluation Meeting and have not been taken into consideration so far, are as follows: (Atmış, 2014):

“Hema Integrated Thermal Power Plant Project;

1. It will cause the economic structure of Bartın province to deteriorate.

2. This project, which is dependent on foreign partners, foreign capital, foreign technology, imported coal and foreign workers, will increase foreign dependence on energy.

3. There is no place for this power plant within the borders of Bartın in the Zonguldak-Bartın-Karabük Environmental Plan.

4. According to the regional development plan prepared by the Western Black Sea Development Agency (BAKKA), it is a threat to the local economy.

5. It threatens the urban protected areas of Amasra and Bartın, as well as the Küre Mountains National Park, Turkey's first PANParks Certified national park.

6. It will eliminate this feature of Amasra, which has been included in the UNESCO Temporary Heritage list.

7. The location where the power plant will be built is among the "regions where eco-tourism will be developed" in the 2023 Turkey Tourism Strategy.

8. The region is shown as an "Ecotourism-Focused Development Region" in the 2007-2013 Tourism Action Plan.

9. In the SWOT Analysis prepared under the title of "Environment and Forestry" of Bartın 2023 Strategic Objectives and Provincial Development Plan; thermal power plants are seen as a threat.

10.It requires the evacuation of Tarlaağzı and Gömü Villages and other nearby settlements.

11. It threatens agricultural production in villages such as Karasu, Güzelcehisar, Saraylı, Gürgenpınarı, which practice greenhouse cultivation, strawberry and hazelnut farming.

12. It threatens tourism activities in İnkumu, Amasra, Güzelcehisar, Çakraz and other coastal settlements.

13. Even after 9 years, the investor company could not move on to the coal production phase.

14. Although all the local people are against the thermal power plant, the situation is tried to be shown as the opposite with surveys and reports that do not reflect the truth.

15. The company's EIA public participation meeting could not be held due to the reaction of thousands of people.

16. The company is having difficulty even finding a suitable place to hold an EIA Public Participation meeting in the region due to public reaction.

17. The place where thermal power plants are planned to be built is a more suitable geography for wind power plants due to its high wind potential.

18. Considering that the company plans to build two separate thermal power plants with a capacity of 2640 MW in the region, it needs to extract 13 million tons of coal annually from the existing mines. At best, only 1/10 of this amount can be extracted annually from existing mines.

19. For the reasons stated in the additional reports, it is clear that imported coal will be burned in the thermal power plant.

20. The number of jobs announced to the public is unrealistic.

21. The power plant will end tourism activities in the region, fishing, strawberries, hazelnuts, etc. agricultural activities and forest products will be damaged. Employment loss in these sectors is not taken into account.

22. It is clear that cooling water will cause serious damage to the marine ecosystem.

23. Damage to the marine ecosystem will cause damage to fishing activities.

24. Since it will be used as an ash storage area by opening wells and galleries for coal mining, the "Kavşak Water Basin", which provides Bartın's drinking water, will be damaged, and the drinking water provided free of charge to the population of approximately 100 thousand people will be in danger.

25. Yapılması planlanan desülfürizasyon sistemi kükürt ve küçük kül parçalarını %100 oranla tutamayacağı gibi, 1320 MW’lik bir termik santralde yılda yaklaşık 4 milyon ton yanacak kömürden kaynaklanan azot oksitleri, karbon monoksit ve karbondioksiti, kömür ve küldeki radyoaktif maddeleri filtre edecek bir sistemden bahsedilmiyor. Santral kaynaklı hava, toprak ve su kirliliğinin boyutları yeterince hesap edilmiyor.

26. The allegedly scientific report about the "inversion" that will have fatal consequences determines that it is not dangerous only in the summer months when the inversion is at a low level. He does not make a clear determination about the other nine months in which inversion was seriously dangerous.

27. There have not been enough studies on endemic and endangered plant and animal species in the region.

28. The environmental damage that will be caused to the region by more than 10 thermal power plants installed and planned to be built on the Ereğli Amasra line has not been taken into account.

29. If ash storage facilities cannot be built in the junction water basin, approximately 650 thousand tons of ash will be dumped into the Black Sea annually.

30. If the coal produced in Amasra is used in the thermal power plant, it is not explained where the annual 3 million tons of lavvar residue that will arise after the lavvaring process will be stored.

31. The effects of thermal power plants on human health, such as bronchitis, emphysema, acute and chronic lung diseases and vascular diseases, as well as the damage they will cause to the psychological health of the society and the striking decreases in the quality of life, are not taken into account.

32. The amount of natural forest area to be allocated as the power plant area is 380 hectares. Hundreds of hectares of natural forest ecosystem will be eliminated for the power plant building, limestone quarry and ash storage area, and intense land and landscape degradation will occur on the historical and touristic Amasra beaches.

33. The port to be built for coal imports will destroy the Tarlaağzı beaches used by thousands of people in the summer, and the fishing shelter used by hundreds of fishermen will be destroyed.

34. The EIA Application of the Western Black Sea Integrated Thermal Power Plant was not found suitable in terms of location selection, on the grounds that it was located in the same place as the Bartın Thermal Power Plant, which was not formatted in 2010. However, Hema Integrated Thermal Power Plant is located on the same coordinates as Bartın Thermal Power Plant, which was not formatted in 2010.

resources

Atmış, E., 2009. An EIA Application File Review for Amasra Thermal Power Plant. Forest and Hunting Magazine 6 (2009) 1-11.

Atmış, E. 2014. Opinion of Bartın University Faculty of Forestry for the 2nd Review and Evaluation Meeting of the Hema Integrated Thermal Power Plant Project EIA Report.

Çelik, N. and Murat, G., 2008. Evaluating the Economic Structure of Bartın Province with Digitized Swot Analysis. 2nd National Economic Congress. 20-22 February 2008. Dokuz Eylül University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Department of Economics. Izmir.

Öztürk, A., 2014. From various articles published in Halkın Sesi Newspaper.

* Prof. Dr. Erdoğan Atmış, Bartın University Faculty of Forestry Faculty Member, Bartın Platform Executive Board Member.