PR:People in Pyhäjoki have been disregarded because of the Fennovoima nuclear plans

Press Release 26.3.2015

People in Pyhäjoki have been disregarded because of the Fennovoima nuclear plans
In the Hanhikivi cape in Pyhäjoki, Finland, Fennovoima is cutting forests and destroying delicate nature to build a road for the nuclear plant. Now they have permits from the local municipality to cut down about 100 hectares of ecologically valuable area by the end of April, which is one fifth of the whole Hanhikivi cape.

The Finnish decision in principal was given for the plant conditionally, and there are many important questions open: whether there will be enough Finnish or European stakeholders in the project or what will be the plan for the nuclear waste. If the plant is never built, the area is spoilt for nothing. The Hanhikivi natural habitats of the land uplift coast and the threatened and protected plant and bird species are too valuable to waste. The springtime is especially bad timing because of the migratory birds and nesting time. Finnish media is quiet about what is going on in Pyhäjoki. Local NGO, Pro Hanhikivi, has worked to protect the area and resist the nuclear project for eight years. Finnish government has granted Fennovoima expropriation rights and would leave the land for Fennovoima or Rosatom even if the project would not go forward. Local cottage and land owners have appealed Finnish ministers but nobody seems to take real interest. At the moment the police have been been informed on the system that Fennovoima uses: the cut the forest first, build the road and then get the necessary permits, in the name of ”landscaping”. The police was also notified on the company marking the shore rocks for a harbour without a permit, but that led to no consequences. The locals wonder, if the company has no respect for them or the nature now, what will be like in the future?

More about the nature of Hanhikivi cape:
 * http://www.hanhikivi.net/pdf/hanhikivi_brochure_en.pdf

Anti-nuclear Volunteer, Friends of the Earth Finland Tiina Prittinen +358-40-5548869, [mailto:tiinaDOTprittinenATmaanystavatDOTfi tiina DOT prittinen AT maanystavat DOT fi]

Pictures from the road and forest cuts and the the still untouched sea shore 21.3.2015 (creative commons): (also the landscaping permit, ”Maisematyölupa” is in dropbox, in Finnish – page 3, blue area shows the area that is going to be cut down)
 * https://www.dropbox.com/sh/isaixz4c8yi93tt/AAD2zd2MnW2leRCdNf0f94APa?dl=0