Ethylene pipeline south

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Marking post for the ethylene pipeline south near Heuchlingen

The Ethylen-Pipeline Süd ( EPS ) is a pipeline that was completed in summer 2012 and runs between Münchsmünster (Bavaria) and Ludwigshafen am Rhein (Rhineland-Palatinate). It is 370 km long and runs from Münchsmünster in a largely westerly direction along the Transalpine Oil Pipeline (TAL) , crosses the Rhine near Karlsruhe and then heads north to Ludwigshafen. It is intended to connect to the existing Münchsmünster-Gendorf ethylene pipeline , which was built in 1971 and 1972 and connects the Münchsmünster petrochemical plant near Ingolstadt with Gendorf in the Bavarian chemical triangle . After almost a year of trial operation since its completion in summer 2012, the ethylene pipeline was finally put into operation on July 19, 2013.

Manufacturers and consumers

Ethylene ( IUPAC name: Ethen ) is an important chemical intermediate and is required for a variety of plastics such as polyethylene , polystyrene and PVC . The gas can only be transported economically in the pipeline. The cracker of LyondellBasell in Münchsmünster and OMV - refinery in Burghausen together produce about 650,000 tons of ethylene annually, with the capacity of both plants is approximately equal. The main buyers are the ethylene oxide operations of Clariant near Gendorf, the EDC operations of Vinnolit , Borealis and Wacker Chemie - all located in the Bavarian chemical triangle , as well as the polyethylene manufacturer LyondellBasell in Münchsmünster.

technology

The pipeline is 370 km long and 25 cm in diameter. To be on the safe side, the pipeline can be shut off every 12 to 18 km by means of a slide valve using a remote control and thus put out of operation. Round-the-clock monitoring takes place in the control room of Evonik Industries AG in Marl, which is responsible for technical operations management . The pipeline is regularly flown over and walked over by helicopter .

Ethylene pipeline south

Since 2005 the EPS consortium has been planning to use a pipeline to connect Bavarian ethylene producers and consumers to the north-west European ethylene network. A line (25 cm diameter) from Münchsmünster to BASF in Ludwigshafen am Rhein (Rhine crossing near Karlsruhe ) is planned. Most of the pipeline crosses Baden-Württemberg. The construction costs, which are now estimated at 200 million euros, are subsidized by the Free State of Bavaria with 45 million euros. This only became possible after lengthy negotiations with the EU in 2005, which gave way after initial resistance, but capped the funding shares. This was preceded by the reconstruction of a production facility in Münchsmünster that was destroyed by fire in December 2005, the profitability of which is to be improved by the EPS extended to Ludwigshafen. The completion of the pipeline, which will be laid along existing pipeline routes ( transalpine oil pipeline ), was originally planned for 2008. Due to legal disputes with property owners in Baden-Württemberg, the construction progress of the EPS was significantly delayed. The pipe-laying could therefore only be completed in spring 2012. The investors argue that the connection to the chemical centers around Ludwigshafen, Cologne , Gelsenkirchen and finally to Antwerp and Rotterdam should provide Bavarian ethylene producers and consumers with greater operational reliability and flexibility. They are of the opinion that due to the island location of the southeast Bavarian chemical sites, if one plant fails, there is a risk that the entire network will come to a standstill.

Laws

Bavarian Pipeline Expropriation Act

The Free State of Bavaria is financing 45 million euros of the total costs of the EPS, which are now estimated at 200 million euros. In order to support the accelerated construction, the Bavarian state parliament passed a so-called right-of-way law, which, by means of announced expropriation , is intended to induce the landowners to grant the rights of way of their property for the construction of the ethylene pipeline by contract. It came into force on July 1, 2008. Its full title is "Law on expropriation for the construction and operation of a pipeline system between Münchsmünster and the state border with Baden-Württemberg near Nördlingen (Bavarian Pipeline Expropriation Act - BayRohrlEnteigG)". The special law is used by the Pipeline Consortium to expropriate 15 Ingolstadt property owners. Ultimately, however, it was only used in four cases.

Baden-Württemberg Ethylene Pipeline Act

An expropriation law with almost the same wording as the Bavarian model was passed by the Baden-Württemberg state parliament in November 2009 and became legally valid at the beginning of December 2009. It is entitled "Law for the establishment and operation of an ethylene pipeline system in Baden-Württemberg (Baden-Württemberg Ethylene Pipeline Act)". In some municipalities, especially in Alfdorf (Rems-Murr-Kreis) as well as Mutlangen and Iggingen (Ostalbkreis), it is met with vehement criticism from the citizens and property owners concerned. You have now organized yourself into two initiatives against the project, one of which has filed a lawsuit against the decision to approve the plan by the Stuttgart Regional Council. In Alfdorf and the neighboring town of Pfahlbronn, citizens demonstrated in November and December 2009 against the planned construction of the ethylene pipeline south through their district and put up banners.

Regardless of this, the construction company EPS applied to the regional council of Stuttgart for immediate execution of the planning approval in mid-December 2010. At the same time, EPS made the first applications for provisional possession instruction, a preliminary stage of expropriation. Among other things, a property owner from Riesbürg (Ostalbkreis) is affected . The lawyers of the Alfdorf interest group have filed a lawsuit against this assignment to the Stuttgart Administrative Court and questioned the general interest in the construction of the EPS, which must be the basis of any expropriation. Their central arguments are that it is a project with a private sector focus, and alternatives are also very possible. Regardless of this, the construction of the pipeline has been very strongly advanced in the Stuttgart administrative region since spring 2010. Woods that the route traversed have already been cleared, and in some sections the humus layer in the future working strip has been removed. Despite the ongoing legal disputes, EPS declares that it intends to complete the pipeline by the end of 2010. After the administrative court of Stuttgart ordered the suspensive effect of the action against the decision of the RP Stuttgart on expropriation and the early assignment of possession (decision of April 14, 2010 -5 K 755 / 10-), the VGH Baden-Württemberg changed this decision and rejected the applications for the suspensive effect of the action (decision of 23 August 2010 -1 S 975 / 10-). The VGH is of the opinion that the basis for expropriation (the BWEthylRohrlG) does not meet any concerns, that its prerequisites for expropriation are given and that the immediate implementation of the project is required for reasons of public welfare. With regard to the planning approval, this decision reveals the opinion of the VGH that this also does not meet any major concerns. The plan justification to be demanded was confirmed. The concerns raised by the plaintiffs regarding the route selection, the safety of the facility, the dismantling safeguard, the compensation for disadvantages, the general welfare requirement supporting the plan approval were examined and not confirmed. The Federal Constitutional Court, which was subsequently appealed, rejected the application for an interim order by decision of September 6, 2010 (1 BvR 22397/10). It made it clear that the EPS “is a project that has been almost unanimously endorsed by the Baden-Württemberg state parliament and that its implementation has a special public interest”. In the opinion of the BVerfG, this general interest also speaks in favor of the implementation of the project as soon as possible.

With the decision of November 14, 2011 -8 S 1281 / 11-, the 8th Senate of the Administrative Court of Baden-Württemberg lifted the partial construction freeze. There is no reason to temporarily stop the construction and commissioning of the Ethylen-Pipeline-Süd due to possible safety concerns. The security concerns would not prevent immediate execution, since it is highly unlikely that the main thing was carried out. The planning ensures, as required by law, that no dangers to people or the environment can be caused, and sufficient precautions have been taken in accordance with the state of the art. This already results from the fact that the project complies with the Technical Rule for Pipelines (TRFL) published by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. As an administrative regulation specifying norms (such as the TA Lärm or TA Luft), the TRFL also has an external binding effect, with the result that the administrative courts are also bound by it. In a further decision of November 14, 2011 -8 S 1420 / 11- in the matter of EPS, the VGH rejected a complaint against the decision of the Stuttgart Administrative Court of March 31, 2011 -5 K 3546 / 10-, with which the VG was restoring had rejected the suspensive effect of another plaintiff's action. In this decision, the VGH makes it clear that the plaintiffs are essentially based on non-validated findings on the spreading behavior of the medium, and their theses could not be derived from Research Report 285 of the Federal Institute for Materials Research (BAM), since it does not make any statements on this .

On the basis of the oral hearing on March 29, 2012, the Stuttgart Administrative Court brought the lawsuits by property owners (plaintiffs) against the state of Baden-Württemberg, represented by the Stuttgart Regional Council, with which the plaintiffs opposed the planning approval (construction and commissioning) of the ethylene Turn pipeline south (EPS), rejected (Ref .: 5 K 3728/08, 5 K 3321/10, 5 K 3342/10 and 5 K 3400/10). In these main decisions, the VG essentially follows the arguments of the VGH in its two decisions of November 14, 2011 (8 S 1420/11 and 8 S 1281/11). In all proceedings, an application for approval of the appeal was submitted to the VGH BaWü, which will probably only be decided in spring 2013.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Article on commissioning in the Donaukurier
  2. ↑ Report on the start of regular operations on Focus-Online, accessed on July 19, 2013
  3. ↑ Article "Peasant uprising against industry and the state" from July 27, 2008 in Süddeutsche Zeitung

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