There have been many trips around the expansion of Preem's refinery in Lysekil. Now the issue has been with the government that is examining the matter on the basis of increased carbon dioxide emissions. The Land and Environmental Court will prepare the matter before the government takes over, a work that will begin next year.
On Friday, the County Administrative Board of Västra Götaland decided that Preemraff may remove ancient remains on the site. According to the county administrative board, the decision is not related to the government trying to expand the refinery at the site.
- This work was started at an earlier stage, when Preem applied to expand the work area and is in need of removing ancient remains. The government's review is another process, if one does not get approved by the government, the site will be used for other industrial activities, says Mats Herklint, head of cultural environmental testing function at the county administrative board in Västra Götaland.
Remains from the Bronze Age
He says that an earlier preliminary investigation of the ancient remains has been carried out where it has not been indicated that they need to be preserved.
- It was done in connection with the detailed plan that was adopted in 2007. You will find finds on the site, which we have seen in the preliminary investigation, that there are settlements, graves, remains from the Bronze Age. So you will probably find remains from bronze casting, among other things, the finds will be deposited in museums, ”says Mats Herklint.
Archaeological Survey: 15 million
Before removing the ancient remains, an archaeological survey must be made, which will cost Preem SEK 15 million.
- It is a large archaeological survey that costs a lot of money that we hope will be available to the public. The County Administrative Board cannot withdraw its decision, but what can happen is that the company withdraws if they do not want to pay that much. It is quite common to make such a decision when it comes to the development of larger residential areas, infrastructure and industrial areas.