CYIL Vol. 7, 2016

CYIL 7 ȍ2016Ȏ DO THE EUROPEANS HAVE THE RIGHT TO GET INFORMATION ABOUT… of a NPP, chose Astravets.” 71 The Ministry of Environment stated that Belarus “did not provide any information whether any modern seismic investigations had been carried out, even though there were four moderate earthquakes recorded in the area, where the nuclear power plant is being built, in 1887–1908.” 72 The information regarding possible impact of the NPP on the environment, that is, on the Neris River, which flows out of Belarusian territory and flows through Lithuania, and also on the surrounding areas and residents, has not been provided. If the Neris were contaminated with radioactive waste, this factor would pose a threat to the supply of drinking water to a large number of Lithuanian residents. Nor the Lithuanian authorities have information about the emergency response plans that are necessary to plan the evacuation of Vilnius city in case of a major accident in the Ostrovets NPP.” 73 The problems with the information were set out in the Lithuanian submission to the Compliance Committee of the Aarhus Convention. Lithuania noted that the documents provided by Belarus were properly translated only in 11 June 2013. Before that, on some occasions (for example, at the public hearing organized on 2 March 2010) the documents were either not translated or translated improperly. 74 Furthermore, the information was provided with a very short advance time span (or sometimes without it) for the Lithuanian institutions and public to become acquainted with it. Regarding Article 6, para 6 of the Aarhus Convention, which guarantees the access of the public to all information relevant to decision-making and available to a public authority, it can be stressed that the Ministry of Environment of Lithuania had contacted the Belarusian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection and had repeatedly requested the provision of details about the impact of the Project on the Lithuanian public and environment and other safety issues of the project; but the information was not supplemented and provided. 75 As Lithuania requested information about any adverse impact of the proposed Project on the Lithuanian population and elements of the environment (air, drinking water, fauna and flora of the Neris River etc.) and indication of the measures to be taken by Belarus in order to mitigate this adverse impact, however, the answer provided was that the constructed NPP will have no impact on the population and environment;

71 The Ministry of the Environment of the Republic of Lithuania ‘Astravets nuclear power plant – so many questions, so little answers’ (Communication Division, 23 February 2016) accessed 31 May 2016.

72 Ibid . 73 Ibid . 74 Submission of Lithuanian ( supra n 32). 75 Ibid .

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