| Whale sanctuary threatened by terminal plan
The Italian government has given approval for a liquefied natural gas terminal to be installed on a huge ship anchored 12 miles off the coast of Livorno, in Tuscany, in the middle of a whale and dolphin sanctuary.
 The sanctuary of the Mediterranean covers an area of about 100,000 square kilometres from the coast of Tuscany in Italy to Toulon in the south of France, and includes the whole of Corsica and the northern coast of Sardinia. It is home to all kinds of whales and dolphins, including striped dolphins, fin whales and sperm whales but now Italy proposes to build a huge floating plant inside the sanctuary which will take delivery of pressurised liquid natural gas from 40 or 50 tankers per year, bringing it from as far away as Nigeria.
The floating terminal will use the natural heat of the sea-water to warm the liquid natural gas, which will then be pumped through a pipeline for distribution on land. To prevent the pipes bringing the sea-water on board from becoming clogged with limpets, mussels or algae, concentrated chlorine bleach will be added to the sea water, then jettisoned back into the sea at the end of the process. Opponents are hoping to persuade the coast guard and/or the Livorno port authority to block it.
To get the plant approved, the area where the ship will be moored was reclassified as "an industrial site". Protesters say it is the first time part of the sea has been so defined anywhere in Europe, and sets an atrocious precedent for any industrialist hoping to dodge approval problems ashore by putting a polluting factory or other plant on a ship.
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