News Releases
Ilisu Hydropower Environmental Impact Report
03 Jul 2001Balfour Beatty plc, the international engineering, construction and services group, announces today that it has received a copy of the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIAR) for the proposed Ilisu hydropower project in Turkey. The executive summary of this report is now available on www.balfourbeatty.com/aboutus and on www.ecgd.gov.uk.
This report is the culmination of many months of intensive investigative work, initiated in 1997, undertaken by a team of independent international experts. The work was financed by the Swiss-led construction consortium of which Balfour Beatty is a member and which is examining the potential for proceeding with the project.
The report (which is available in full on CD-ROM from the Export Credits Guarantee Department at a cost of £5) identifies and details the principal environmental and social challenges associated with the project and recommends appropriate action on the part of the project’s proponents, the Turkish General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSI) and of other Turkish authorities. It sets clear benchmarks that need to be achieved before the project can move forward.
Whilst Balfour Beatty is neither the promoter nor the proposer of the project, it is taking an active and responsible role in evaluating, with other parties, the environmental and social impacts of the project in order that appropriate decisions can be taken.
The Export Credit Agencies, including the UK Export Credits Guarantee Department, have made it clear that they will only underwrite finance for this project if the Turkish Authorities are able to meet certain conditions.
Publication of this report will offer, for the first time, the proper opportunity for fully-informed comment from interested parties, as is appropriate for a project of this size and complexity.
Together with the response of the Turkish authorities to the report’s recommendations, the EIAR will, in due course, form the basis for the decisions of Balfour Beatty, the Export Credit Agencies potentially involved in underwriting finance for the project and other parties with a potential interest in the project.
The Environmental Procedures and Guidelines of the Ex-Im Bank of the United States and OECD Good Practices for Environmental Impact Assessment of Development Projects have been used as the main references for the study and resulting report.
ENDS
Enquiries to:
Tim Sharp
Tel: +44 (0)20 7216 6884
www.balfourbeatty.com/aboutus
