The long-debated route for a new oil pipeline that has been threatening the protected nature reserve of Zitny Ostrov has still not been decided on, but information leaked by daily Hospodarske Noviny may appease environmentalists, who have been doing everything to make sure the unique nature reserve is not destroyed.
The pipeline is to stretch between Bratislava and the refinery at Schwechat, Vienna, meaning no route is ideal, but it now looks like the pipeline will run through the Petrlzalka borough of Bratislava, according to the daily, which cites project documentation that it managed to obtain.
The company responsible for the project, Bratislava-Schwechat Pipeline (BSP), is already surveying the land and going ahead with preparatory work, with the daily quoting Robert Nemcsics from the company as saying it is the “most plausible alternative”.
Activists in the NGO called No To the Pipeline who have been fighting for years to prevent any destruction the pipeline might cause, do not want any structures to be built within city limits as it would devalue nearby properties and pose a secure risk to the people living in the borough, Bratislava’s largest. Their proposed solution, however, would mean an extra 100 km of pipeline as it would go through the hills of the Little Carpathians to the north of Bratislava.
Bratislava City Hall has already rejected the pipeline running through its territory, but discussions are still ongoing between the city councillors and the representatives of the Ministry of Economy. When exactly a final decision will be made is unknown, but the economic aspects of the project are sure to sway the decision in the end, so some kind of compromise will probably have to be found.
Does the oil companies pay the landowners an onetime easement fee?
Dobre’ (the only Slovak word I remember)