MOSCOW, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- The consortium of companies overseeing the Nord Stream gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea said an environmental report on the project is due in March.
"The transboundary environmental report (Espoo Report) for the Nord Stream gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea will be ready for public participation in early March," the consortium, Nord Stream AG, said.
The $12 billion Nord Stream would travel from Russia to the Gulf of Finland and across the Baltic Sea to Germany. Construction for the project is complicated by World War II munitions strewn along the floor of the Baltic Sea and by environmental concerns from the littoral states.
Nord Stream AG is a joint venture between Russian energy monopoly Gazprom, Germany's E.ON and BASF and the Dutch gas company Gasunie.
Dirk von Ameln, the permit director for Nord Stream AG, said the permit process is a vital step toward implementation of the project, RIA Novosti reports.
"The start of public participation on our Espoo Report will mark an important milestone for Nord Stream, and confirms that we are on schedule to start transporting gas from Russia to Europe in 2011," he said.
