Plans to build a gas drilling platform and pipeline in the North Sea off the coast of the island of Schiermonnikoog in the Northern Netherlands have been put on hold by a Dutch court because of the potential damage to nature.
The court ruled that it is not clear what the impact of nitrogen compound emissions associated with the rig and gas extraction will mean for vulnerable areas in the neighbourhood, news portal DutchNews.nl reported Wednesday.
The case was brought by several environmental organisations from the Netherlands and Germany.
The Dutch government gave the green light to the project last June, despite plans to phase out the use of natural gas because of its impact on the environment.
Work on the project will now stop until a new court case in September which will look at the case in detail and make sure all licencing conditions have been met.
Source: Kuwait News Agency