Another side:
"In his role as an environmental engineer, David Berggård works with several companies' new ventures in Norrbotten.
The green transition puts pressure on the county board
REPORTAGE: COUNTY GOVERNMENT 2024-10-24
Fossil-free steel and innovative industries will make Sweden greener and richer. For Norrbotten, this can mean great opportunities - but the employees at the county board are struggling under the hard pressure.
It is September and the sun is shining in Luleå.
Fredrik Hedlund sits in a red armchair in the county board's reception and thinks aloud about the question of when it all really started. He himself stepped in as communications manager at the County Administrative Board in Norrbotten County nine years ago.
- And it was probably just before the pandemic that it started, concretely.
Since then, columns have been written about what has come to be called "the green transition". SEK 1,100 billion will be invested in northern Sweden until 2040, according to a calculation, and gigantic industrial projects are emerging. Expectations of climate-related and economic gains are high.
At the County Board in Norrbotten County, it was noticed how top politicians and business leaders from all over the world suddenly started wanting to fly in to see what was going on.
- I didn't think that when I started, states Fredrik Hedlund, who has also had to handle inquiries from international media, such as the Financial Times.
What is happening now is extremely exciting, he thinks.
- It's about how much money the companies invest - and everything goes very quickly. At the same time, the funds we have received over time have not kept pace with development.
That opinion has also been expressed by the governor
Lotta Finstorp . The head of the County Administrative Board in Norrbotten County has pointed to the duality in the authority's situation. The county is the location for unique industrial ventures, but it also means a lot of pressure:
"That we constantly have the whip on us that everything needs to go faster, while at the same time we have received fewer resources," said Lotta Finstorp in an interview with the Altinget news site this summer.
While the companies want to get permission for their new, sometimes large, projects - with demands for quick processing to get them started - the county administrative board has its task. Before the permits can be granted, the county administrative board must firstly ensure that all rules are followed, and secondly deal with the conflicting interests that may exist. These are questions about mining, reindeer husbandry, industrial and energy investments, water issues, expansion of roads and railways...
For this, the authority does not get much help from Stockholm, stated Lotta Finstorp in the Altinget. The county board therefore becomes "the bug in the system when we don't have the resources", says the governor.
"The pressure on us is extremely high and my employees are working very hard right now," she told the news site.
One of the employees whose working day has been affected is ST member
David Berggård . A trained eye would see it already at the change in his study.
During his 24 years as an environmental engineer at the authority, his office has been filled. In towering bookshelves, specialist books are crowded among binders with permits, maps and drawings - many documents as old as the 1950s. On the walls hang photographs of mines and a large process map of the purification of flue gases in LKAB's pellet plant. A protective mask dangles from a drum major awaiting the next case in a toxic environment.
David Berggård himself calls the room "overcrowded". That's the way it is, he believes - everything is required for him to be able to do a good job. But a big difference compared to a few years ago is the growing piles of pending cases that tower over the desk.
- It's not like you can clean one thing and then take the next one. Now everything is happening at the same time, says David Berggård.
The description of the workroom is his own - Audience employees are not allowed to see it. Since a year ago, the County Administrative Board in Norrbotten County has tightened up the safety regulations, with reference to the fact that the premises are classified as protected objects. Therefore, Publikt's reporter and photographer do not enter behind the glass doors in the authority's reception either.
Instead, David meets Berggård in the entrance. Dressed in a small-patterned shirt and dark overcoat, he has visitors' badges and an inspection report in his hands.
- Time to jump into the car, he says.
David Berggård drives his silver Volkswagen through Luleå. We are on our way to Talga, the Australian-based company that has received permission to build Europe's first battery anode factory in the Norrbothnian city. The anodes are to be made of natural graphite and mainly used in the manufacture of electric car batteries, in a process which, according to the company, should greatly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Outside a fenced off large blue building made of corrugated metal, David Berggård picks up the mobile phone.
- The county board here. Now it's burning!
A second later the gate opens.
In his job at the environmental protection unit, David Berggård performs two types of tasks. The first is about permit review, mainly for companies in the mining and steel industries.
The second is supervision. There, the work consists of checking that the companies that have been granted permits also comply with the laws and conditions on which the permits are based, as well as being available for advice when needed.
Even if David Berggård carries the inspection protocol, today's visit to Talga is not a sharp inspection. Instead, it is mainly about giving Publikt an image of the civil servant's work and at the same time updating itself on the company's status.
Talgas site manager Stefan Sandberg shows around the pilot plant.
Emma Själin, public affairs manager at Talga, shows David Berggård the location of the future factory.
At the entrance, we are received by site manager
Stefan Sandberg and
Emma Själin , who is public affairs manager. A review of Talga's business concept will soon begin. About how the natural graphite is to be mined in the company's mine in Vittangi – a permit application that encountered tough patrols – and then enriched nearby, to be transported in the next step to the anode factory in Luleå.
The building is a pilot plant. The actual factory, for which David Berggård worked on the permit process, will be built in what the municipality calls Luleå Industripark. An enormous area, today consisting of sly and gravel fields, where the high-tech industries of the future will emerge.
"We must be able to explain to people what we are doing. Because what exactly is the green transition? Everyone talks about it so much, but what is it, concretely?”
David Berggård, environmental engineer.
While we pass a 15 meter long machine with a lifting crane, ovens and hoppers, David Berggård asks questions about graphite and its areas of use. In a sharp inspection, the questions would have been much more detailed, he says.
- We must be able to explain to people what we are doing. Because what exactly is the green transition? Everyone talks about it so much, but what exactly is it?
The concept is diffuse, he believes. The technology is complicated for anyone to understand. Inside the facility's laboratory, he picks up a thin sheet of copper with a black graphite jig on it.
- Is this the green transition? It is important to be able to explain and make concrete, also for aunt Agda, what it is we are giving permission for.
In recent years, completely new types of cases have started to come to the County Administrative Board in Norrbotten County. More difficult cases, notes David Berggård.
According to
Susanne Friberg , head of the community department, the authority is currently working, for example, with around thirty so-called A cases - that is, cases relating to activities that usually have extensive environmental impact. The number changes continuously, but at the moment it means that the county administrative board has five to seven more A cases than last year, says Susanne Friberg.
David Berggård is one of two employees at the authority who work with examination and supervision of the large mining and steel industry in the county. Until last year there were three, but the colleague who quit has not been able to be replaced, he says.
The pressure on the employees has increased, he confirms.
- We had a lot of work before, but there has been a significant increase in the workload. There are many complicated issues – about water, reindeer husbandry, mining – that are of national interest but that do not exist elsewhere in Sweden. We have no one else to ask. And these are questions where there are not always simple answers, says David Berggård.
He asks a rhetorical question: "How much should people's houses be allowed to shake during mining?"
- How do you draw such a line?
As the green transition has begun to be rolled out, various kinds of conflicts have also arisen. There is such a difference between those who think that the county board's work with permit review is too slow, and those who emphasize the need to follow laws and stand up for natural values.
David Berggård compares the transition to a hot air balloon. Both financial and climate incentives mean that many are eager to see it take off. Therefore, voices are also raised who want to throw out luggage for luggage.
- They think the officials are making a fuss about it. Investigations into species protection issues, noise levels and environmental protection "we don't have time to wait for", they say. But many lack knowledge. And as civil servants, we have to follow the laws, says David Berggård.
The work at the county board is still fun, he emphasizes, but the hardening climate is worrying. There is a lack of understanding and disrespect among some companies, politicians, the media and individual residents for the different roles of the actors, he believes.
- It has become a
blame game , says David Berggård.
Now it happens that the county administrative board gets to make decisions and that he and his colleagues get to receive hateful comments.
- That takes quite a toll on the officials. They blame "stupid authorities" and we don't even get the opportunity to explain that we follow the law and practice. It is quite consuming.
As section chairman for ST within the County Administrative Board in Norrbotten County,
Karin Lindgren receives reports from all different parts of the organization. She states that it varies how stressed the employees are. The approximately 340 employees work on widely different things – everything from transport, environmental protection and safety issues to social sustainability, housing and business.
- It is so different what questions the members work with. Some are less affected, while others are very affected, says Karin Lindgren.
Those who work with the green transition experience the greatest pressure. At the same time, not everything is about the transition. The authority has a strained economy, which has forced the management to set priorities.
- This means that it is not always possible to replace people who quit, so colleagues have to take over the tasks instead. And for the services that actually come out, it is difficult to find competent people in the county.
Currently, it is tough to attract the right personnel, says Karin Lindgren.
- We are where we are, at the top of the country. Not everyone wants to be here, with the cold and snow. After all, the new industries that are emerging here can offer completely different salaries than what the county administrative board can.
She finds the situation worrying. If the development continues, the authority's management needs to make a decision that certain assignments can no longer be carried out, she believes.
- Then it has to communicate to a higher power that we have not received money and in fact cannot do everything. We are bureaucrats - not magicians.
Karin Lindgren has no doubt that the management is aware of the problem with the workload, but points out that concrete measures and priorities are needed.
- It could actually get to the point where competent people end up at the county board, which could lead to further strain. So you need to do the best you can for the staff who are here, so you can keep it.
Last year, sickness absence at the County Administrative Board in Norrbotten County was around the average for Swedish authorities. But
Robert Svanberg , ST member and chief protection officer, states that he has received more and more cases on his desk.
- When I look at my calendar, I see that it has gone from being perhaps 5-10 percent with union work environment issues to now being probably 20 percent. So it's a fairly significant increase, he says.
Robert Svanberg emphasizes that the work environment at the agency is fundamentally good. The cooperation with the employer works well. But the fact remains – new industrialization has resulted in higher workloads, he notes.
- There are many of these companies that we don't know how to deal with. We have a brand new steel mill to be built, the last time that happened was well into the 1940s. So much of the old knowledge is long gone. It requires a lot from us to build it up again.
The basic problem is clear, says Robert Svanberg: many large company establishments - and a shortage of personnel. The solution is just as obvious, he believes.
- We need more money so we can hire people to meet this ruljangs. It's like in any company.
It's not like the County Board of Norrbotten County didn't try to get that extra money. Governor Lotta Finstorp's speech in the Alting this summer was far from the first time the authority had sent signals about the need.
In a conference room next to the reception on the premises in Luleå, acting HR manager
Susanne Nilsson - also an ST member - explains that the authority has for many years requested more money to cope with the pressure.
- In recent years, we have asked for 11 million, but so far the government has chosen not to direct money to Norrbotten specifically, she says.
The boom in itself is fantastic for Norrbotten, says Susanne Nilsson: "We could have been a county where you put a big cross over it and said: 'we can't invest anything here'." It's not like that, it's a huge interest".
Earlier this year, the County Administrative Board in Västerbotten County was awarded SEK 10 million to help other county administrative boards streamline their permit processes in 2024. Talks about the distribution are ongoing, but according to Susanne Nilsson, the County Administrative Board in Norrbotten County seems to be able to receive half a million to one million kroner per year from those funds.
She believes that all the units at the authority that work with the transition - about half of all units - are in need of reinforcement.
What could you do for the 11 million that you cannot do today?
- We could hire new employees and thus be able to maintain a higher pace - which I think both companies, courts and government expect us to do. Nor would we be as vulnerable.
The employees are distributed over so many policy areas that there are very few individuals working on the same issue. That makes the organization vulnerable, which raises the stress level, says Susanne Nilsson. To counter this, the management downgrades and reprioritizes tasks and moves resources internally, she explains.
It remains to be seen how large grants the County Administrative Board in Norrbotten County will be awarded next year. In the budget bill, the government proposes that the country's combined county administrations should receive a financial supplement, among other things for efficient permit and supervision processes. However, how much will accrue to Norrbotten will only be announced in the regulation letter later this year.
But even if the need for supplementation is great, it is also important that it is long-term, emphasizes Susanne Nilsson.
- So it's not for three years and something we then lose. The processes we work with go on for many, many years before they are in port, she says.
SSAB's plan is for the steel manufacturer's characteristic blast furnace to begin to be phased out in six years, when a new fossil-free steel mill is ready.
When the visit to Talga is over, David Berggård drives down towards Hertsöfjärden. On the other side of the water is the silhouette of SSAB's colossal blast furnace.
He was there on supervision a couple of days ago, he says. In six years, the old landmark will begin to be phased out in favor of a new, fossil-free steel plant. The investment is estimated to cost SEK 52 billion and will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 90 percent.
“The challenges now overshadow. But we are also looking forward to the reduced emissions.”
David Berggård, environmental engineer.
Even though he has almost 25 years in his professional role and is pressured by the workload, he still gets down to business. He does not forget the positive side of the boom in Norrbotten.
- The challenges now overshadow. But we are also looking forward to the reduced emissions, says David Berggård."
Fossilfritt stål och innovativa industrier ska göra Sverige grönare och rikare. För Norrbotten kan det innebära stora möjligheter – men medarbetarna på länsstyrelsen kämpar under den hårda pressen.
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