THE North European Gas Pipeline, a joint project between Russias Gazprom and Germanys BASF and Eon, is likely to push back its 2010 in-service date because of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of second world war chemical weapons dumped in the Baltic Sea. The most deadly agent is mustard gas, which causes cancer and birth defects.

The $5bn (Pounds 2.75bn, E3.99bn) gas pipeline, which will run some 1,200km, will be laid in the Baltic Sea close to hazardous toxic waste. This could hold up the project, some experts warn.

The pipeline covers a stretch of the Baltic Sea from Portovaya bay, close to St Petersburg, to Greifswald in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomeriania, Germany.

Gazprom, which has a 51% stake in the gas pipeline project, is building the pipeline to meet western Europes increasing demand for energy and avoid the expensive transit fees paid to countries like Lithuania and Ukraine.

With total annual capacity of the pipeline expected to reach 55bn cubic metres by 2013, Russia will supply Germany with more than half its gas requirements.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schrder was appointed chairman of the pipeline consortium in March this year with an annual salary of E250,000.

The consortium maintained it has done an in-depth analysis of the environmental impact of the pipeline. The pipeline has been placed in such a way that it doesnt come near the munition chemical dump sites, the spokesperson said.