The state plans to build an explosives plant in Piirsalu that would produce up to 1,200 tonnes of RDX a year and create 75 or more jobs.

The area is already home to a Defense Forces tactical training area and a Defense League shooting range. A Soviet missile base was once located here.

The local Lääne-Nigula government supported the building of the plant.

"The arrival of jobs has some impact in areas with a declining population. Since a sufficient number of better-paying jobs are expected there, that is quite an important argument," said Mayor Janno Randmaa.

Council Chairman Sven Köster, who lives in Piirsalu a couple of kilometres from the site of the planned plant, does not see the explosives plant as a threat.

"It will be a proper chemical plant that meets European standards. During the Soviet era, there were Soviet servicemen there – with their missile forces, they certainly caused more pollution," he said.

Piirsalu is a village away from the main highway, with no shop or school. But salmon live in the river, which is why it is a nature conservation area. Many locals are concerned about how the explosives plant will affect the natural environment and their quality of life.

Village elder Lea Lai asked what would happen if the drilled wells run dry. The village elder recalled a case in Salajõe village in Lääne County, where, after lengthy disputes, a peat producer built a drinking water system.

"It is assumed that the developer or the municipality will then dig us a new well. We know that Salajõe village did not get a well for ten years. They had to prove it, prove it, prove it," Lai said.

The Ministry of Defense said studies show this is not an issue.

"As part of this environmental study, we have also carried out a groundwater study. It shows that there should in fact be no impact on local wells. The plant would draw its water from deeper groundwater layers than the local wells," said Indrek Sirp, special adviser for defence industry development at the Ministry of Defense.

Rein Kruusmaa, a member of the Risti subdistrict council, said residents draw up development plans, but when development actually arrives, it happens over the heads of local people.

"The local government operates on the basis of its development plan. Unfortunately, none of the measures in the development plan are implemented. What gets implemented are the things brought here under pressure from developers. Be it a wind farm, large solar parks, or a defense industry park," he said.

Sirp said that Europe needs explosives for the production of ammunition. In addition, the plant would create the conditions for producing ammunition in Estonia.

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