OPEN LETTER – CALL FOR SUPPORT
Fellow citizens
The Coordinating Committee of the stakeholders of Thassos was born out of the need to express the universal opposition of its inhabitants to the attempted storage of industrialCO2 pollutants from SE European countries in the depleted oil field of Prinos. Energean, an Israeli-British majority-owned company, plans by government decision to store up to 3 million tonnes of CO2 per year for the next thirty years according to the estimated capacity of the wells.
With the Municipality of Thassos in front, we serve the solid, non-negotiable mandate of the society of our island, the Bay of Kavala and the wider region of our Region, to thwart the transformation of our blessed land into a cavern of foreign industrial waste. We defend our right to live in a safe and uncontaminated environment for us and our children in the place we were born and love. We have already collected 6000 signatures of citizens opposing the project and we continue.
What we all have in common is that the project is neither “green” nor sustainable, and worse, it threatens our very existence. Our valid objections stem from our study of the data that form the belief that our safety, our island’s productive fabric and our unique natural environment are being put to a dangerous irreversible test FOREVER!
Really how much security can such a project provide when:
- It is developed within a stone’s throw from densely populated, paratropical areas with a strong tourist production footprint. In the case of Thassos, we are talking about our “backyard” and not a 250 km away from beaches like in Sleipner Norway. Why do we have to be guinea pigs?
- No study can predict the consequences of an unexpected accident over the centuries. Why should we live in permanent insecurity from the possible occurrence of a serious accident that could even endanger our lives?
- Our region is tectonically active. Our proximity to the great Anatolian Rift makes us witness frequent seismic tremors. Hence there is always lurking the risk of release of the stored gas in the event of a major earthquake with uncharted risks to the safety and health of the inhabitants. Why do we have to live on a time bomb in the company of a nightmare for ever?
- The quality of “fresh water” in underground aquifers, from which drinking water is largely drawn, can be affected by the injection of CO2into wells.
- The CO2 can escape through weak spots in the rock. The high content of seawater CO2 will lead to a depletion of biodiversity, fish breeding habitats and food chains will be destroyed, with irreparable damage to fisheries.
- In an environment of increased gas pressure inside the reservoirs, sudden explosions (blow outs) can occur.) with an escape risk. It is difficult or impossible to control the composition of the mixture of the stored exhaust gases, possibly including radioactive ones.
Fellow citizens
CCS is not an effective answer to the climate crisis because it is neither “green” nor sustainable:
- Experience to date shows that CCS projects around the world have largely failed (88%) and have been abandoned, such as in Algeria (SALAH), Australia (GORDEN), etc.
- It gives the “kiss of life” to the prolonged use of fossil fuels that are responsible for global warming on the one hand and puts the brakes on the energy transition to clean, renewable forms of energy on the other.
- Alternative sustainability options are neglected as nature knows them. For example, greening large burnt areas with trees would clean up the atmosphere as they act as huge carbon sinks.
- CCS is the “green” flushing of pollution with a big “business” in the background.
“Crisis begets Croissants”, the climate crisis is not being addressed. The big winners will be heavy industry as the huge costs of capture, transport and storage will be borne by taxpayers.
- The companies are relieved of their responsibility to store the goods after 30-40 years. After that, the responsibility of overseeing and controlling the facility will always be the responsibility of any government. This is a costly process and requires a high level of expertise that we do not have as a country.
For Thassos and the wider region of the Gulf of Kavala, the storage of CO2 in Prinos is a deeply anti-development planning that violates their spatially established character as an excellent tourist destination. It is not a sustainable development, it is the death of the tourism industry from which thousands of people have incomes with a significant contribution to our national economy and certainly incomparably multiple of that of Energean who gave the public the humiliating amount of 65000 euros!!! in 2023 from the exploitation of the deposit. This project irreparably damages the prestige and reputation of Thassos as a flagship of tourism in the An. Macedonia & Thassos’ reputation and the reputation of Thassos in the region of Macedonia & Thassos’ reputation in the area of the region of Macedonia & Thassos. Thrace. It condemns a unique natural environment of a place visited by 1 million tourists a year by smudging it with unimaginable amounts of foreign industrial waste. Next to beautiful coasts and green landscapes, heavy industrial infrastructure will be developed in its most polluting version with pipelines and cargo ships running alongside our beaches, chasing cruise ships and yachts away from our seas.
Fellow citizens
Our country is facing a dangerous historical challenge. The problem to one degree or another concerns all citizens of our Region. Each of us, depending on the role we play, will be judged by future generations for our attitude. We all have a duty to stand up to the height required by the circumstances with all our strength and to prevent the “dumbing down” of our region. Now, before it is too late, before we regret why … we got caught in our sleep and condemned our country to a perpetual adventure of no return. We owe it to ourselves, to our children, to our children’s children.
To protect the “emerald of the Aegean” from the… “plunder” of modern pirates so that it can continue to sail well into the future with the prosperity of its passengers and its dowry intact.
We ask you all together to stand in solidarity, united for the vindication of our struggle.
We invite you:
- To meet the universal demand of the people of our region.
- Support our struggle by listening to our anxieties for the future of our country.
- Use all the weapons that each of us has for the outward-looking nature of our demands and their diffusion in the public sphere in order to prevent the grim scenarios that are planned in our absence for our country.
- With your help, our unanimous, resounding message will travel to Athens, Brussels and every corner of Greece:
Our gifted island, its people and its productive footprint are not destined for collateral damage, nor will they be sacrificed on the altar of foreign or domestic economic interests.
ON THE MOVEMENT OF THE THASOS INSTITUTIONS AGAINST THE STORAGE OF CO2 IN THE FOUNTAIN OF KAVALA
THE PANETHASSIAN STEERING COMMITTEE
BAGENA OLGA
ANASTASIOS BOZATZIDIS
LASCARINE DIAQUEME
CARANDELOS YANNIS
VANGELIS CARTRIDGE
MERACLES COMASTAS
KALILIOPI ΟΙΚΟΝΟΜIDOU
PAPACHYRIAKOU HARALAMBOS
PASCHALIS KING
GEORGE PASCHALIS
SAMIOTTI STEFANIA IRENE
TAHMADZIDIS YIORGOS
ΦΩΤΙΑΔΗΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΗΣ
CONTACT: email:thassosagainstCO2@gmail.com
