Lysekil approves Preem expansion

The court has given the go-ahead and also the neighboring municipalities. But the last word, before the government decides on Preemraff’s planned expansion, in Lysekil was with the municipality. On Wednesday afternoon, it was clear that the City Council would also say yes to the extension, after a vote in which 27 votes in favor and three against were counted.

– Previously, on behalf of the municipality, I have been in favor of the government making this evaluation. But for the government to be free to make this assessment, the municipality must approve the expansion, said City Councilor Jan-Olof Johansson (S) during the meeting.

Therefore, the municipality does not use the municipal veto that could have stopped Preemraff’s planned expansion.

A large majority voted in favor of the plans in front of a packed rostrum at the Oscars society house Wednesday night. However, when the decision was made, several of the attendees broke into singing in protest at the imminent approval. The person was expelled from the room with the help of security guards.

The Green Party and the Left Party also objected, arguing that the municipality should reject Preem’s opportunity to expand in Lysekil.

– It is not reasonable to invest in fossil infrastructure with such a steep increase in carbon dioxide emissions, by one million tons per year. It would greatly impede Sweden’s municipality, region and opportunities to achieve its climate goals, Maria Granberg (MP) said during the council and was met with applause from the audience:

– During a climate crisis where we have to reduce our emissions and we cannot start by increasing them and then reducing them in the future. All emissions must go down and that now.

About 50 protesters outside before the meeting.

At the end of last week, Greenpeace carried out a blockade of the Preemraff oil port, and during the week the police have been preparing for climate activists to come to Lysekil to demonstrate on Wednesday.

About 50 protesters had gathered with the wind outside the Oscars. One of them was Mathilda Åhall, who traveled from Gothenburg to protest.

– It’s about starting to take a position and not just sitting and thinking behind your computer screen, but acting. Right here, right now, it’s politicians sitting in their little room, but making decisions that have to do with global politics and climate justice for the entire world’s population, he says.

Åhall, who was at the scene with a banner from the radical environmental organization Extinction Rebellion, did not think the protesters would have a better chance of swaying the decision.

– They’ve already decided. But you can’t know until later what effect each action will have. The effect it can have at this point is to show that this is not accepted and that nothing should go unnoticed. You who are sitting in this meeting are responsible for this.

Several tours since 2016

The dispute concerns the environmental permit Preem applied for in 2016. The County Administrative Board approved the application, but after most appeals, the issue ended up on the table of the Supreme Court of Lands and Environment. Before the court had time to make a decision, the government decided to take over the trial, and the decision is now in the hands of the government.

Preem wants to convert heavy oil, a kind of waste product that is produced when crude oil is refined, into ship fuel. Due to the high sulfur content of heavy oil, several countries have banned its incineration.

With the new plans, the entire refinery had grown and carbon dioxide emissions had increased by more than a million tons each year. This had made Preemraff the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in Sweden.

In the environmental permit that the company has requested, there is also the possibility that Preem uses renewable raw materials. The company wants to mix raw materials from the forest to a greater extent in the production of fuel.