Environmental committee invalidates extraction permit for Búrfellshólmi in Þjórsárdal

The Environmental and Natural Resources Appeals Committee has invalidated the permit for material extraction from Búrfellshólmi in Þjórsárdal. The chair of the committee disagrees with this decision.

The local council of Skeiða- and Gnúpverjahreppur had approved a permit for the extraction of up to 50,000 cubic meters of material from Búrfellshólmi as a trial. The company Náttúrugrið filed an appeal against the decision, leading the Environmental Appeals Committee to examine the matter in detail.

The prior extraction permit from the Hekluhafi area east of Búrfell expired four years ago. This permit, issued in 2000 for a duration of 20 years, had an estimated extraction volume of 80,000 to 140,000 cubic meters annually during its validity.

The Skeiða- and Gnúpverjahreppur council justified reinstating the permit by stating that it represented a continuation of using land designated as an extraction site in the master plan and that the area had already undergone environmental assessment. However, the Appeals Committee did not concur with this rationale. They stated that the preparation for the decision was inadequate, lacking sufficient justification for the prior ruling and the environmental assessment covering the proposed activities. They determined that it should have been considered whether the plans required notification to the Planning Agency as a new or modified operation, leading them to reject the permit.

Arnór Snæbjörnsson, the committee chair, submitted a dissenting opinion, arguing that the new permit entailed significantly smaller operations than those covered by the environmental assessment and would not impose increased pressure on the environment, hence not necessitating a new process.