RWE said that this is not dredging but around the hambach forest, but only to the West and to the East of it. Also, the environmentalists reject.

New Plan on the open pit mining: The hambach forest remains – he remains surrounded by Land. Photo: Reuters

BERLIN taz | After fierce criticism of the plans, the abzubaggern landscape around the hambach forest and to make the competitive forest on the edge of the brown coal open-cast mine Hambach, almost an island, has denied the energy company RWE such a project on Monday. The hambach forest is not going to planned, "in an island situation", the company said.

To one of the "Aachener Nachrichten" - spread map, which is also the " taz " had reported, said RWE: "it is consistent with our ongoing Reflection and planning." Just to the East and, to a lesser extent to the West of the forest is still to be dredged. The Southeast of the forest, this village will not rotten taken not expected to be in the shows a card, which the company published on Twitter. A final decision will be made in the context of the required approval procedures.

The concern that the forest would be through the further removal activities virtually to a Peninsula in the middle of the mine, had been in the Region for fierce criticism. Was caused by Statements of RWE chief Rolf Martin Schmitz in the Aachener Nachrichten. As one of the newspaper published a recording of a phone showed Statements, had Schmitz explained that the two to the South of the open pit nearby villages would have Rotten a lot and Manheim dredged in spite of the decision to the preservation of the forest, in order to win Material for the stabilization of the side slopes of the open pit.

These plans criticized on Monday, the North Rhine-Westphalian Economics Minister Andreas Pinkwart (FDP). "We have been surprised at the weekend by the press coverage, according to the RWE, a wide-ranging Excavation of the areas South of the hambach forest plan," he said on Monday.

"Such plans go far beyond what was conveyed to us from the conversations of RWE with the Federal government so far." The Minister called for, in addition to the hambach forest, the "high-quality agricultural land would need to remain" to the South and West of the forest and other forest areas.

The citizens ' initiative "Buirer for Buir" also criticized the new plans of the company. According to information of the club from the South of the hambach forest and the nearby village of Buir, who was also represented in the coal Commission, there is no need to dredge in the vicinity of the forest ever more, in order to win Material for the stabilization of the embankments. "Sufficient masses of rock lie directly on the dump Sophienhöhe", where the excavated material from the mining is deposited so far will be informed of the Association. "This is not re-cultivated in large Parts yet."

the FEDERAL government rejected the now, RWE plans submitted as "neither logical nor proper" and requested that mining should not be about the current state, in addition to extended. The environmental Association owns a plot of land in the East of the forest and wants to try it, the plans to stop. You will defend the land "with everything we have, more", shared with the FEDERAL government.