Environmental non-governmental organisations are warning that leaving the unused Nord Stream 2 pipeline on the bed of the Baltic Sea could cause environmental damage. Legal uncertainties mean it is unclear what will happen to the 11 billion euro German-Russian gas project, writes Tilmann Steffen in the newspaper die Zeit . Once regular maintenance and monitoring of the pipeline are halted, its deterioration will begin, including the breakdown of the pipeline's plastic coating and the rusting of the steel pipes, according to Kim Detloff, a marine expert at the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU).

"If the pipeline is not needed and has lost its purpose, it should be dismantled," explains K. Detloff. The non-governmental organisation Environmental Action Germany (DUH) is warning of potential climate-damaging methane leaks, given that the Russian company Gazprom has filled the pipeline with 360 million cubic metres of gas – currently worth approximately 400 million euros and enough to heat 225,000 detached houses for a year, the article states. (...)