For the first time worldwide, the transmission of both a direct and an alternating current is supposed to be carried out on the same electrical tower, a so-called hybrid mast in Eitelborn, Germany. As the health- and environmental impacts of this ULTRANET pilot test are unclear, local activists are protesting against the project. According to the activists, security- and environmental aspects are neglected for economic reasons. The concerned citizens are not actively informed about the on-going procedure so that they were neither aware of the network development plan, nor of the possibility for consultation and the resulting possibilities for public participation. Furthermore, at no point in time was it possible for them to file a lawsuit against the plan. These circumstances constitute a clear violation of the Aarhus Convention, an international treaty, which stipulates the right to access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters.
