The State Ecological Inspectorate in Zakarpattia Oblast is delaying the inspection report of one of the two companies involved in the construction of a wind farm in the Runa valley and is not making it public.
This was stated by members of the Ukrainian Environmental Protection Group (UPG), who filed a complaint against the construction with the supervisory authority in April.
The activists said that the environmental inspectors explained their refusal by the need to collect additional information, and that they would respond in 20 days. However, the UPG emphasized that according to the law, the inspection report is signed on the last day of the inspection, meaning that the environmental inspectors have had it for a long time.
Environmentalists suspect that the SEI inspectors “did not see” any violations, contrary to the position of the relevant ministry.
"The work on the destruction of the Runa valley is ongoing right now. Therefore, we want to get an explanation from the leadership of the central office of the State Environmental Inspectorate – acting Ihor Zubovych and his first deputy Dmytro Zaruba," the members of the UPG emphasized.
Photo: Mark Melnychenko.
Photo: Mark Melnychenko.
They recalled that recently, at a field meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management, which took place in Zakarpattia, these officials said that “the environmental inspection is more open to the public than ever.”
“Where is this openness if you are hiding even official documents that are public information?” the activists asked.
In early May, EcoPolitic reported that despite widespread publicity and an official appeal from environmental activists, the State Environmental Inspectorate did not react to the fact that Turiansky Wind Park LLC was building wind turbines in the Runa valley without a positive environmental impact assessment (EIA).
We also told you that the Zakarpattia District Administrative Court refused to protect the Runa meadow from illegal wind turbine construction.
