While Norway has an enviable position with regard to legislation and public participation in key decisions relating to environmental issues, it should be remembered that, as such there is no foolproof system. For instance, information on access to justice remains scant and not readily available in Norway.
While public participation in Norway has come a long way and Norway enjoys a high environmental profile, there are still cases where public participation was not included at the initial stages of a project.
One example is the railway tunnel which was under construction at Romerike. Proper procedures had not been followed and public participation was lacking in the initial stages. The issue at hand was that chemicals used to seal the cracks in the tunnel were hazardous to workers' health and to the environment — a subject which had been documented earlier in Sweden, where the chemical compound was banned. Nevertheless, the chemical compound was still used. As a result, efforts to seal the cracks in the tunnel were too slow, which resulted in leakage of water containing the chemical toxins, thus posing a threat to the drinking water in the vicinity, and to the health of the construction workers.
The project planners were aware that the water-table levels would also drop as a result of the tunnel construction. However, since then it has dropped lower than they had anticipated.
As a result of this incident the water level has decreased drastically in the lakes nearby, which is a popular recreation ground, and it will take decades before the ecosystem is back to normal.
Through public initiative this threat to the environment was exposed and the project was reassessed and delayed until these problems had been resolved by the relevant authorities. Now cement is being use to seal the tunnel. Several environmental groups, including Bellona, were involved in protesting against this project.
A vigilant civil society combined with legislative tools is vital to averting environmental catastrophes.
The Global Environmental Fund (GEF) has been formed to cover additional costs incurred as a result of pursuing activities that result in global environmental advantages. The four areas that can receive funding are: climate protection, biodiversity, protection of the ozone layer and the international water problem.
The Norwegian Government is in the process of developing a national monitoring system to secure the implementation of EIAs. This is to ensure that environmental concerns are integrated in sector policies and decisionmaking both at the municipal and regional level planning stages. Results will be published on an annual basis in the reports, "The Environmental Profile of the Government," and "The Environmental State of the Nation."
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to all those people and organizations that took the time to assist me in compiling this report during a very limited time schedule. I would especially like to thank the following contributors:
Ms. Irene Bauer - Ministry of Environment
Mr. Ole Kristian Fauchald- Ministry of Environment
Mr. Richard Fort - Ministry of Environment
Mr. Jostein Leiro - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Arne Simonsen - Norwegian Central Information Service
Mr. Oystein Thomassen - Fridtjof Nansen Institute
Ms. Helena Bank - Norwegian Friends of the Earth
Mr. Kare Olerud - Norwegian Friends of the Earth
Mr. Ananthakrishnan - Norwegian ForUM for Environment and Development
Ms. Fe Sanchis Moreno - TERRA Environmental Policy Centre, Spain