In Manisa Alaşehir district, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change re-issued the “Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) positive” decision for the Geothermal Power Plant (GPP), which was canceled by the Administrative Court in 2022 and approved by the Council of State. On December 7, the Ministry issued this decision for 5 GPP wells to be drilled by Sis Enerji Üretim A.Ş. in Turkmen, Baklacı, Akkeçili, Selce, Ilgın and Işıklar regions, while the company has already received EIA permits for 91 wells in the region. While 9 of these are already in operation, the company plans to drill the remaining 82 wells if the way is cleared.

 

According to the map of the 1/100.000 scale Environmental Plan, the power plant and well areas appear as agricultural land, irrigation area and meadow-pasture area, while the previous “EIA positive” decision for this area was canceled by Manisa 2nd Administrative Court in February 2022. The company's Özmen-3 GPP and 2 geothermal resource exploration drilling projects were also canceled by the same court in February 2024.

 

In the court decision, the court stated: “The current mode of operation will have negative impacts on nature, soil or agriculture. In addition, the capacity of the drilling mud ponds, which play an important role in the drilling operation, is insufficient for possible risks. Considering the fact that the file does not present an engineering feasible method for the management of test waters in order to realize the commitment 'The fluid will never be discharged to the receiving environment', it has been concluded that there is no compliance with the law in the 'environmental impact assessment is not necessary' decision given for the project.” 

 

'POSITIVE' DECISION FOR ZORLU

 

On the other hand, an “EIA positive” decision was issued on December 5 for the “Alkan-II GPP” to be opened by Zorlu Jeotermal Enerji Elektrik Üretimi A.Ş. in Alhan and Şahyar neighborhoods in the district. The area where 5 wells are planned to be drilled is considered “agricultural land” according to the 1/100.000 Scale Environmental Plan for the Izmir-Manisa Planning Region.

 

'THE WORD CHANGES AND COMES BEFORE US AGAIN'

 

Speaking about the decisions taken by the Ministry, Ecologist Lawyer Yıldıray Çıvgın said that they have been constantly expressing both in administrative authorities and in courts that the EIA process of canceled projects should be restarted. Noting that the projects canceled by the courts on serious grounds come before them again with very few changes or word changes, Çıvgın said: “We have to file lawsuits on these again. In this way, I think there is a possibility that the citizens will be worn down and intimidated and the projects will be paved the way. The important thing here is not to give up the legal struggle, but also to remember that both the local people and other people living in that region are the main subjects of this struggle. They should support the actual struggle by using their right to protest. The real subject is the people themselves, it is the local people who must struggle.” 

 

GREAT IMPACT ON AGRICULTURE

 

Çıvgın added that the impact of GPPs on agricultural production in the region is huge, and stated that especially Salihli and Alaşehir regions in Manisa are classified as 1st class marginal agricultural land. Stating that there are also many absolute agricultural areas in the region as required by law, Çıvgın continued as follows: “These show that the first activity that should be carried out in the region is agriculture. If an activity other than agriculture is to be carried out, there must be a soil protection project. Currently, there is no such project for the GPPs that want to be built. Since this is not the case, the courts cancel them. For some reason, the governorship or the ministry continues to approve the projects. Alaşehir was once the first in Manisa in tobacco production. Now, when we talk to the producers of Alaşehir, they say that they can no longer do agriculture as they used to and that grapes have almost come to an end. In the expert reports of the lawsuits we filed, agricultural experts generally state that it will harm agriculture. For this reason, they should give up this insistence.” 

 

MA / Tolga Güney