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‘Huge mess’: conservationists dismayed by Tesla factory expansion
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State Office for the Environment – “That is an unusual discussion date”
Tesla’s new Giga factory receives approval but also rejection. That is why the Brandenburg State Environment Office has now faced criticism. Concerns must be addressed before a final building permit can be issued.
Decision of the authorities shortly before Christmas Eve: At the Tesla construction site in East Berlin, trees can be cut down and machines installed. The nature conservation associations are beside themselves.
northAfter the decision of the Brandenburg State Environment Agency to continue building the factory of the American electric car manufacturer Tesla in Grünheide, near Berlin, representatives of nature conservation associations were dismayed. “Taking such a serious decision shortly before the Christmas holidays is no longer understandable for the two nature conservation associations, Nabu and the Green League,” association representatives Christiane Schröder and Michael Ganschow said on Thursday. “The associations find it particularly shocking that the technical supervision of the Ministry of the Environment is exercised in favor of economic interests.”
Schröder and Ganschow refer to a sentence in the letter from the State Environment Agency on Wednesday, in which it is stated that the further construction of the factory no longer has to be linked to the condition that a deposit has actually been provided security for possible dismantling. “As part of the exercise of discretion, the State Environment Secretariat has also taken into account a corresponding directive from the supervisory authority,” he said there.
The Brandenburg Ministry of the Environment had announced that the Brandenburg State had agreed with Tesla an extended deadline of January 15 to deposit 100 million euros for possible decommissioning costs. Tesla had not provided the security deposit until December 17 after advance approval for further deforestation and the installation of machines for the paint shop. So the work was suspended for the time being.
The federal chairman of the Green Democratic Party (ÖDP), Christian Rechholz, accused the State Environment Agency of cheating. “At the last minute, when the trees are being cleared for Christmas Eve, the newspapers are in print and everyone is mentally on Christmas vacation, the authorities allow Tesla to continue building quietly,” he criticized. “This approach is a big mess.”
At the Tesla factory from July 2021 to …
Source: dpa / Patrick Pleul
… 500,000 vehicles roll off the assembly line every year
Source: dpa / Patrick Pleul
A freshly cleared pine forest area
Source: dpa / Patrick Pleul
The construction of Tesla’s first European electric car factory has progressed very rapidly so far. The American electric car maker aims to start production in July 2021. Until now, Tesla has been building through individual interim approvals because the decision on final environmental approval from the state of Brandenburg is still pending. The Brandenburg State Environment Agency is evaluating an audience of nature conservationists and local residents. They fear the negative consequences of the factory for the environment, among other things due to the consumption of water and because part of the work is located in a water protection zone.
