Nord Stream construction to retreat from Sweden, near Poland

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The Nord Stream route of natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany has been corrected. The Nord Stream AG project operator has confirmed that decision was taken to lay the pipe to the south of Denmark's Bornholm Island. Initially, it was to pass the island on the north.

Last year, after controversy arose around the pipeline's crossing the disputed Polish-Danish territory, and Warsaw's being uncompromising adversary of the pipeline, another way was chosen — to the north of Bornholm. The new option of pipeline construction was also massively criticized. This time, it was attacked by environmentalists who brought to notice its being unsafe for navigation and environment, arguing that disposals of chemical weapons were located north of Bornholm. This time, it was decided to return to the south option, laying it, however, round all the disputed locations.

The company earlier informed that the new option was coined “S-Route” due to its more curved trajectory. It is a “result of careful assessment of many factors, such as security of navigation and envoronment,” the company comments. “The bypass of the known locations where conventional and chemical weapons had been disposed of was the priority in our choosing the route.” Soil sample tests analyzed in laboratories of the Danish Hydraulic Institute (DHI) and Finnish Institute for Verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention (VERIFIN) proved the new S-Route to be safer for environment. Besides, despite its sinuation, the new way will be even shorter than initially planned. It is also going to be less problematic, for it will have less intersections with cable lines and largely bypass wildlife reserves, areas of active navigation, fishing, and tourism.