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Building materials on the Tesla construction site near Grünheide
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Sean Gallup / Getty Images
The hearing of critics of the factory of US electric car manufacturer Tesla near Berlin has been going on for four days.
Now the previous chairman of the meeting, Ulrich Stock, has withdrawn.
The head of technical environmental protection at the State Environment Agency and other employees had been confronted with requests for bias.
The Ministry of the Environment rejects the allegations against the agency employee, Stock justifies his withdrawal with the exhausting negotiations.
His colleague, the lawyer André Zschiegner, will moderate the discussion.
The State Environment Agency is not Tesla, Stock defended himself according to the Berlin "Tagesspiegel".
However, the decision must later withstand a legal review.
He complained about the culture of conversation, which means that only a third of the objections have been dealt with so far.
More than 400 objections to factory construction
How many days environmentalists and local residents will continue to debate the possible consequences of the factory is an open question.
One point of criticism from environmentalists on Monday was, among other things, the preliminary approval of pile foundations.
The conservationist Julia Neigel referred to an ordinance on the water protection area for the Erkner waterworks, according to which this is prohibited.
The state manager of the Brandenburg Green League, Michael Ganschow, criticized the lack of a so-called technical article within the framework of the European Water Framework Directive for pile foundations in the groundwater.
The hearing is part of the process for the environmental approval of the Tesla factory.
Because it is pending, Tesla is building through provisional approvals and at your own risk.
414 people or associations had objected to the factory at the State Environment Agency.
Environmentalists and residents warn of excessive water consumption and the consequences for the drinking water supply.
Tesla had reduced the planned water consumption and rejected criticism.
The Strausberg-Erkner water association has meanwhile given the green light to the application to develop the plant in the first expansion stage.
Several weeks ago, the association had not given a positive forecast.
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