Residents of Piirsalu in Estonia concerned about explosives factory construction
Estonian authorities plan to build an explosives production plant in the village of Piirsalu in Läänemaa County. Local residents say that decisions on the project are being made without properly taking their views into account. The facility is to produce up to 1,200 tonnes of RDX per year and create at least 75 jobs, ERR News reports.
Position of local authorities
The Lääne-Nigula municipality supported the construction of the plant. Mayor Janno Randmaa said that better-paid jobs are an important argument for an area with a declining population.
Council chairman Sven Kester, who lives a few kilometres from the planned site, does not consider the facility a threat. According to him, it will be a chemical plant that complies with European standards. The area already has a tactical training ground of the Estonian Defence Forces and a shooting range of the Estonian Defence League, Kaitseliit; a Soviet missile base was previously located there.
Concerns about water and the environment
Piirsalu is located away from the main road, and the village has neither a shop nor a school. The river, where salmon live, has protected status. Residents fear the possible impact of the plant on the environment and their quality of life.
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Village elder Lea Lai raised the question of what would happen if the wells dry up. She mentioned the village of Salajõe in Läänemaa, where a peat producer installed a drinking water supply system after lengthy disputes. According to her, residents had to spend a long time proving that there was a problem.
Indrek Sirp, adviser on defence industry development at Estonia's Ministry of Defence, said that a groundwater study conducted as part of the environmental assessment does not predict an impact on local wells. According to him, the plant will draw water from deeper aquifers than those used by local residents.
Defence industry arguments
Rein Kruusmaa, a member of the Risti subdistrict council, said that residents are developing development plans, but projects promoted by developers are implemented first, including wind and large solar parks, as well as a defence industry park. Sirp stressed that Europe needs explosives for ammunition production and that the plant will create conditions for ammunition production in Estonia.
