Opinions This is a debate post. The post expresses the writer’s views.
It is unusual for Lysakervassdragets venner (LvV) to send its membership magazine to non-members. However, such a serious misjudgment has been made in the matter of power supply between Hamang and Smestad that LvV had to make both the political environment and nature conservation circles aware of the scope of the tunnel alternatives. This post has been adapted from two articles that appeared in the April issue of Fodnytt.
The neighbors of Lysejordt are of course very concerned about the construction period with noise and the complete break in the daily connections that tunnel digging means. The call to Save the Land of Light is an absolutely necessary initiative. LvV’s concern is the permanent effects that a tunnel intervention will mean for Lysakerdalen, which is the name the State Administrator gives to the planned nature reserve.
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LvV has been involved right from the first consultation round about the power line from Bærum, in 2018. We saw what a threat it meant to the Lysejordet – the beautiful free area in the very west of Oslo. In early 2020, we pointed out that in its input to the consultation Oslo municipality had forgotten the large drainage line that crosses the Lysejord and which is in conflict with one of the proposed tunnel cross-layers.
After the municipalities complained about NVE’s license for an overhead line, LvV experienced that the process was closed to anyone other than the complainants, the agencies and the Ministry of Energy. We, as active contributors in the initial phase, were not invited to participate in inspections, and were rejected when we asked for our own inspection with the ministry. This was after the municipalities had a well-publicized conference with the minister.
It has become clear that the Ministry of Energy made its decision without familiarizing itself with the long-announced conservation plan that the State Administrator in Oslo and Viken (SFOV) finally put forward in February. The ministry’s justification relates only to the sentence in Statnett’s application that the tunnel facility will be temporary and that any changes when the project is completed sometime before 2040 will be minor.
The cable tunnel’s need for ventilation towers and pump houses are not mentioned in the decision, simply because the need has not been investigated, even though these are inevitable for a tunnel with a low point midway.
According to Statnett’s drawings, the cable tunnel will pass under the Lysakerelva, immediately south of the former miller’s residence Roligheten. The tunnel’s low point must be here to ensure that there is enough dense rock between the river water and the electricity cables. Groundwater inflow and heavy gases such as CO2 will accumulate here. From here, water contaminated with blasting debris must be pumped up, … and out into the Lysaker River? Air concentrated with CO2 and other heavy greenhouse gases must be ventilated from here.
Here, pumps and fans will switch on and off in the middle of the narrow natural corridor along the river, which is one of the main reasons why the State Administrator wants to protect Lysakerdalen.
The State Trustee’s case managers presented the protection plan at the LvV’s annual meeting in early March. A question from the audience – whether conservation could protect the valley from Statnett’s tunnel project – made it clear that the tunnel alternative was news to the people from SFOV. Two weeks later, there was an information meeting about the conservation plan at Bekkestua library. The answer to the same question was “I have spoken to the case manager at the Ministry of Energy today and can say, if necessary, we will find a solution”. Then there was only one and a half working days left before Minister Aasland’s announcement immediately after Easter.
It is the municipalities that have offered the forest along the Lysakerelva to a nature reserve under the scheme Voluntary forest protection. The municipalities retain many rights over the forest. The rest of the open spaces must be protected by the municipal master plans that were adopted and confirmed in 2017. The large construction area that will be reduced with road fills and cuttings is designated Conservation zone C – H570 cultural environment conservation with explanation:
For areas and facilities shown with this consideration zone, facilities for traffic and accommodation must be located and designed so that important conservation considerations are taken care of. Measures subject to application within the consideration zone must be submitted to the City Antiquary/County Conservator for a statement before a decision is made.
The cultural history of the lands that Emil Lyse once leased can be traced back to Ullern mill. It was built in the 1820s, and expanded to commercial operation in 1865. Transporting grain and flour to and from the mill required many horses, which were looked after by the mill’s own stable master while they grazed the fields after the trips from Vækerø or Oslo. Horse farming continued until the 1970s.
I came to the area nearly forty years ago. We had found a home with a car-free school road and access to a wonderful, long nature area. After I discovered Ullern mill, I wanted to understand how the landscape and history are connected. About twenty years ago, Oslo Elveforum made contact and encouraged the formation of a friends’ association. Work on the municipal sub-plan was underway and the public was to participate. The association’s efforts culminated in the booklets Forvaltningen av Lysakervassdraget (2008) and Lysakerelva (2020). The latter was written to encourage people to use the open spaces. Because green areas must be used, and people do that now more than before.
If the tunnel is built from Lysejordt, LvV’s efforts have been in vain. Because no one can believe that nature in the area survives five years covered with stone and gravel and asphalt, and with residential and office barracks and washing facilities for trucks and runoff towards the Lysakerelva, and with noise screens and fencing.
Statnett did not want a tunnel, and neither does the public. Another route for the power supply must be investigated.
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