Keskkonnaamet publishes this announcement under Section 58(3) of the General Law on the Environment (KeÜS).

Keskkonnaamet announces that  OÜ MERKO KAEVANDUSED (registry code: 14872152) (address Järvevana tee 9g, Kesklinna linnaosa, Tallinn, Harju maakond, 11314) on the basis of an application submitted by the Environmental Board on 27.10.2022, environmental permit No HARM-102 for the extraction of mineral resources belonging to the company (hereinafter environmental permit) was amended.

The OÜ MERKO MINES applied for the extension of the current environmental permit No HARM-102 by 15 years, the extension of the mining reserve of the semi-intermediate sand quarry II by 4.21 ha, the extension of the mining reserve service area of the semi-intermediate sand quarry II by 8.16 ha and the amount of coating to be extracted by 19 ash m3.

The applied Poolvahe sand quarry II is located on state-owned properties in the village of Raudoja in Anija Parish, Harju County, semi-Poolvahe sand quarry (cadastral identifier: 14001:003:0233; Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture and authorised authority Maa-amet) and Kolga Forest 81 (cadastral identifier: 14001:003:0234; State asset Governor Climate Ministry and authorised authority State Riigimetsa Majandamise Keskus).

In accordance with the proposals set out in the preliminary assessment of the EIA, in order to prevent or mitigate any adverse environmental impact of the proposed activity, the following secondary conditions shall be entered in the environmental permit No HARM-102:

- before expanding the quarry area, analyse groundwater in nearby salmon wells (on the Haaviku property, the Pajutuule property and the Puraviku property) for the following parameters: water temperature, conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen content, chemical permanganate oxygen demand (COD-Mn), potassium (K +), sodium (Na +), magnesium (Mg2 +), calcium (Ca2 +), chloride (Cl -), sulphate (SO42-), hydrogen carbonate (HCO3 -), total iron (Feüld), manganese (mn), total nitrogen (general), ammonium (NH4 +), nitrite (NO2-), nitrate (NO3-), total phosphorus (Pure) and phosphate (PO43-). If the owners of salmon wells identify changes in groundwater, the holder of the permit shall carry out further analyses and measure the water level.
- in the event of an impact on salmon wells close to the quarry site due to a reduction in water levels, measures must be taken to ensure that the residents are supplied with water.
- in order to minimise possible pollution, the maintenance of mining and processing equipment must be regularly inspected and maintenance of machinery carried out only on dedicated sites.
- in order to eliminate potential breakdowns and fuel or oil pollution caused by accidents, the quarry must have the necessary amount of absorbent (e.g. peat, sawdust or synthetic absorbents) to collect the pollution.
- in the event of an accident, the pollution must be immediately localised and the Environmental Board, the Police and border Guard Board and the Rescue Board must be informed.
- during the rainfall-poor period, if the average outdoor temperature of the day is more than +5 degrees Celsius and mining activities are carried out, the holder of the environmental permit is required to dip in the quarry the intra-quarry roads used for the transport of the well;
- roads within a quarry and sand deposition areas shall be so arranged that the dust released as a result of the activity of the quarry remains within the territory of the quarry and that the activity does not cause the limit values for pollution levels to be exceeded in the near-surface air layer at the boundary of the production territory and, under dry climatic conditions, to use load covers for sand transport or to select the appropriate driving speed so that fine sand particles do not escape the load.
- Kolga Forest the intended purpose of 81 land units (cadastral identifier: 14001:003:0234) must be defined as mining and quarrying land. The amendment of the intended purpose shall be organised by the holder of the permit. 
 
The administrative act and other relevant documents are available at At the offices of the Environmental Board across Estonia

In digital format, the documents are available at https://kotkas.envir.ee/menetlus/M-121967 in the Environmental Decisions information System of the Environmental Board.