Estonia ? Estonia decided Thursday it will not allow a German-Russian consortium to conduct a survey of its exclusive economic zone in the Baltic Sea for a planned underwater gas pipeline.

The survey was necessary for a possible rerouting of the 750-mile pipeline that will deliver natural gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

“Each coastal country has full sovereignty and a right to make decision involving its own waters,” Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said in a news conference. “Furthermore, we think the Baltic Sea is not a proper place for such a pipeline.”

Estonia’s refusal won’t stop the $7 billion project – dubbed Nord Stream – from proceeding toward its 2010 launch. The pipeline’s route, approved last year by the consortium, does not cross into Estonia’s territorial waters.

“Our intention with this application was to meet Finland’s request and to find ways to minimize environmental impact,” said Jens Muller, a spokesman for Nord Stream AG in Switzerland.

Finnish experts believe the seabed in Estonia’s economic zone could be flatter and thus more environmentally sound for the route, Muller explained. The possible rerouting would have meant going into Estonia’s economic zone by only several hundred yards, he said.