We have written many times in the past about the challenge to European energy security posed by Gazprom’s Nord Stream pipeline project, and our correspondent Grigory Pasko has actually traveled along the entire route of the pipeline for an extensive online series of articles and a future documentary film. In addition to the messy politics of the affair and the disgraceful hiring of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, there are also considerable security and ecological risks posed by the project. According to a rather shocking new article published in the German paper TAZ on Jan. 18, the Nord Stream joint venture is planning on flushing this Baltic pipeline with many tons of toxic cleaning fluid, which will later be dumped in the sea. What follows is an exclusive translation of the article – the original German version can be read here.

Rinse for the Gazprom Pipeline Poisonous Brew for the Baltic Sea The Gazprom pipeline is to be rinsed with billions of litres of a poisonous alkaline solution, which will be directed into the sea. This is lethal for fish. By Reinhard Wolff, TAZ STOCKHOLM – Parts of the Baltic will have to reckon with a massive toxic shock in connection with the planned pipeline between Russia and Germany. The pipeline is to be 1,200 km long. And the Nord Stream consortium, which is led by Gazprom, is planning to flush it with a poisonous “cleaning fluid” before going online, in order to clean and furbish the pipeline’s interior surfaces.