TALLINN, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - The Estonian parliament on Tuesday expressed serious concern over the possible environmental fallout from the Nord Stream gas project and said it should not be allowed to go ahead.
The Nord Stream pipeline, which will carry gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, bypassing Poland, Belarus and Ukraine, is being built jointly by Russia's Gazprom, Germany's E.ON Ruhrgas and BASF-Wintershall, and Dutch gas transportation firm Gasunie with an estimated price tag of $12 billion.
Estonian MPs said in particular that the project's developers "failed to take into account the specifics of the Baltic Sea as a sensitive ecosystem."
The pipeline will not pass through Estonia so it has no direct say in the project, but it can present its point of view to transit countries.
Estonian MPs urged their colleagues in other Baltic states to wield their power and closely supervise environmental risk assessment and the process of granting construction licenses.
The environmental safety of the project, which is due to go on stream in 2012, has been queried by several transit countries, including Finland.
On October 20, Denmark became the first country to approve the pipeline's route. The Danish Energy Agency said the pipeline would run through 88 km (55 miles) of Denmark's territorial waters and 50 km (31 miles) of its exclusive economic zone.
