Archived press release

Pipeline protest at amec agm

8 May 2003

Construction giant AMEC faces protests and questions at its AGM today (Thursday 8 May) over its involvement in a host of controversial projects across the world, including the Baku-T'blisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

Campaigners from Friends of the Earth and the Baku Ceyhan Campaign will:

• Protest outside the AGM, where they will construct a giant pipeline.

• Publish a report highlighting controversial AMEC activities across five continents. The `AMEC Counter Report' can be found at: www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/amec_counter_report_2002.pdf (PDF† 471K)

• Attend the AGM where they will ask questions about the pipeline and other controversial projects that AMEC is involved with.

AMEC is building the Georgian section of BP's 1,750 kilometre oil pipeline, the Baku-T'bilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which runs through through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The pipeline will cause huge social and environmental disruption, including damage to a national park and threatening internationally important water springs [1].

AMEC is also involved in other controversial issues. For example, SPIE, a subsidiary of AMEC, is accused of bribery in Lesotho. SPIE has been named as having paid about $119,000 to Marsupha Sole, the Chief Executive of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) [2]. AMEC denies that it is linked to the case [3].

AMEC is also:

• Part of the consortium building the controversial Birmingham Northern Relief Road [4]

• Criticised for it's Environmental Impact Assessment for the Chalillo Dam in Belize

• Coming under criticism for its work on the Victor diamond mine in Canada.

Friends of the Earth's Corporates Campaigner Hannah Griffiths said
"AMEC should face up to its responsibilities and stop putting profit before people and the environment. Our report shows that AMEC is no stranger to controversy, and highlights why we need new national and international laws to force companies to operate sustainably."

Kate Geary of the Baku Ceyhan Campaign said
"The BTC pipeline is riddled with environmental, social, human rights and financial concerns. AMEC should pull out immediately. The Baku Ceyhan Campaign will continue to join with and support the communities that will be affected by the pipeline until their voices are heard."

George Magradze of The Greens Movement of Georgia (Friends of the Earth Georgia)
"We are especially concerned about the proposed route through the Borjomi region. This project should not be implemented at the cost of damage to our unique natural resources."

A Friends of the Earth briefing on why it is targeting company AGMs can be found at: www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/corporates/resource/media.html

Notes

[1] The Baku-T'blisi-Ceyhan pipeline is hugely controversial:

• Threats to the Environment. In Georgia, the pipeline will go through the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, which contains the springs that produce Borjomi Mineral Water - Georgia's largest export. Georgia's Environment Minister protested that the pipeline builders "are requesting the Georgian Government to violate our own environmental legislation" by routing through the National Park.

• Piping hot climate change. When the oil transported by the pipeline is used it will release 160 million tonnes carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year. This is more than twice the amount the UK has promised to cut.

• Local communities kept in the dark. The pipeline will affect hundreds of communities. Local consultation and compensation measures fall woefully short of the consortium's claims. Furthermore, although communities along the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline are in desperate need of energy supplies, the project will not provide any oil to them, and is unlikely to provide any benefits at all.

• Corporate Takeover. BP has signed agreements with the governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey which allow it to operate outside almost all national laws. The Tbilisi-based NGO Green Alternatives said: "The requirement to compensate the consortium for any disruption caused to the 'economic equilibrium' of the project by new social and environmental laws severely curtails the development possibilities for our country."

• Conflict and human rights. The pipeline would pass through or near seven areas of civil unrest. This means military forces may patrol sections of the pipeline, further inflaming tensions within three countries known for their poor human rights records. Georgia has made major moves towards militarization of the pipeline.

[2]. Marsupa Sole, the former chief executive of the LHWP has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for receiving bribes from multinational companies. In the final judgement of the Sole case, SPIE was named as having "corruptly offered payments" of the equivalent of approximately $119,000 to Sole. SPIE is being prosecuted in Lesotho later this year. Another company Acres has already been found guilty and fined £1.6m.

[3] For example in its 2002 sustainability report, AMEC says that "SPIE has clearly stated that it has no legal association with the case" and that SPIE no longer has "association with, or relationship to, the Lesotho contracts in question".

[4] The BNRR was strongly opposed by local people but is currently under construction, destroying 27 miles of green belt and 2 Sites of Special Scientific Interest. It will encourage further development along the route.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust