Tesla Grünheide: Approval is followed by disillusionment

After the approval for the start of production at the Tesla Giga-Factory Berlin-Brandenburg in Grünheide on Friday, a court ruling from the administrative court on Saturday has already shaken the tight schedule. Due to a procedural error, the responsible water association Strausberg-Erkner (WSE) is not allowed to extract any water at the Eggersdorf waterworks according to the court's decision, as reported by the dpa. On Saturday, the association described this as a "fiasco." According to the association, the worst-case scenario has occurred. It concerns the total amount in the waterworks of 3.759 million cubic meters per year, which now cannot be extracted, said spokeswoman Sandra Ponesky to the German Press Agency.

"If the state does not react quickly and issue a tolerance for water extraction until the procedure has been completed, we essentially no longer have enough for public drinking water supply, and thus also not for Tesla," the association complains.

The state of Brandenburg's approval was granted under conditions, which the Californian e-car pioneer intended to fulfill within two weeks according to government information, in order to then quickly begin production. The administrative court had declared the approval for an additional water extraction at the Eggersdorf water intake as "illegal" and "not enforceable." The court cited procedural errors as the reason and thus partially upheld the lawsuit of the environmental associations Green League and Nabu.

The public must be involved retrospectively - this takes time

The State Office for the Environment (LfU) did not involve the public in the decision to increase the withdrawal amounts from 2.5 to 3.57 million cubic meters per year, the court further stated. The public involvement must now be made up for. Only then can the increased extraction start. The duration of this process is open. However, legal remedies can still be lodged against the decision.

"This is just what happens when you try to push through such a complex industrial settlement with the pedal to the metal," said the lawyer for the environmental associations, Thorsten Deppner, who initially considered the court decision a success for the conservationists, to dpa.