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Elbe dredgers win micro point over environmentalists over saving hemlock

THE dredging of the lower Elbe to provide greater access to bigger ships into the Port of Hamburg moved a micro-step further with a recent ruling against environmentalists in Federal Administrative Court.

Environmentalist efforts seeking to preserve the habitat of the "hemlock water dropwort", one of the few poisonous plants still left in northern Europe, suffered a setback when the court ruled that the alternate plans to keep plant thriving elsewhere were sufficient for the plant's protection.

This involved an additional measure compensating for the loss of stocks of the hemlock water dropwort, which was later solved by the discovery of a suitable area for the plant on Billwerder Island.

Still, the court said, "areas have to be found that are tidal providing this plant with a stable, almost undisturbed development", and this must be included in the planning permission application.

Said Hamburg Senator Frank Horch: "I am pleased that with Billwerder Island, we have been able to find a suitable area for the development of the hemlock water dropwort. This means that we have reached another milestone."

He said it was now the job of the planners to firm up these planning measures. "We are informing the EU Commission about the judgment and the new Billwerder Island solution," he said.

Both the Federal and Hamburg authorities have checked a number areas to find one suitable for protection of the poisonous plant.

"Taking the achievable compensatory scope for the hemlock water dropwort into account, the technical feasibility and the ecological effect, Billwerder Island area has proved to be especially well-suited," said the City of Hamburg press release.