Cementa has requested leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The company claims that the Supreme Land and Environmental Court did not have sufficient expertise in hydrogeology to decide the case.

The expert was a biologist

The Supreme Land and Environmental Court in this case consisted of three legally qualified judges and a technical council consisting of a person who is a biologist.

Cementa writes in its appeal that it should have been a hydrogeologist because the trial is largely about groundwater issues.

 - The important thing is that those who participate and judge have knowledge of the industry that is affected and of its impact on the environment.

It is difficult for a person to have competence in everything, and here it was just one person, says Rebecca Wennerberg who is an environmental lawyer at IKEM, which is the innovation and chemical industries' industry and employer organization.

 But Jan Darpö, who is a professor of environmental law at Uppsala University, does not agree with that reasoning.

Good scientific knowledge

- It is usually said that the Technical Council must have sufficiently good general and scientific knowledge to be able to assess the quality of the investigation, even in matters where he is not deeply familiar with, he says.

Environmental goals are often very complicated and cover a large scientific field with input from many different parties.

- It is not the intention to have an expert for every area, says Jan Darpö.

Went on the opponents' arguments

However, Cementa claims that the alleged lack of competence led the court not to make an independent assessment of the relevance of the criticism but to rely entirely on the arguments of the other parties.

In this case, they are primarily the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the County Administrative Board of Gotland County.  

- Of course, I can not comment on the assessment in this case, but on a general level I have great confidence in the Land and Environmental Court's competence in scientific matters, says Jan Darpö who has read many environmental judgments over the years.

He says that the court looks at the application, the comments, the appeal and requests additions from the applicant.

Then it is the Supreme Land and Environmental Court that decides the quality of the investigation and whether it meets the requirements of the Environmental Code, which is largely based on EU law.

Several authorities were negative from the beginning

 - What stands out in this case is that several authorities were negative from the beginning and appealed the verdict in the first instance.

It is not uncommon for them to do so, but when they do, it is with weight.

When important authorities appeal, then you must be prepared for the Supreme Court to change the lower court's decision, says Jan Darpö.