Norway is to allow mining waste to be dumped in its fjords after the government won a court case against environmental organisations trying to block the plan, theguardian.com writes.
After a 15-year dispute, the private company Nordic Mining has been given the go-ahead to dispose of 170m tonnes of mining waste at the bottom of the Førde fjord, which critics say will threaten marine life and put biodiversity at risk.
Norway joins only two other countries – Papua New Guinea and Turkey – that still grant new licences for marine waste disposal.
The court ordered Friends of the Earth Norway and Nature and Youth, the two environmental organisations who brought the case, to pay legal costs of about £110,000.
They could still take the case to the court of appeal, but say their resources are currently too diminished to continue the fight, though they are hoping for external support.
Critics have accused the government of ignoring its own advisers, the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
