August 4, 1998 * Volume 1, Number 7
N A T U R A L D I S A S T E R
Deadly Floods Dominate Region's Environmental News
Floods that claimed more than fifty lives and caused millions of dollars in damage in eastern Slovakia and parts of the Czech Republic and Poland have dominated the region's environmental news for the past two weeks. As t his publication goes out, the final death toll and total damage of the floods seemed likely to rise, but on July 30, the situation was as follows: In eastern Slovakia, where overflowing rivers on July 20-21 did the most devastation, 43 flood-related deaths were reported and 15 people were still missing, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The radio news service also reported that Interior Minister Gustav Krajci estimated the cost of the damage at up to 1.5 billion Slovak crowns ($43 million). Six people were killed in the Czech Republic and the damage caused by July 22-23 floods in the Rychnov district in Eastern Bohemia reached 1.5 billion crowns ($47.7 million) on July 29, the district office said, according to Radio Prague. Flooding from torrential rain on 22-23 July resulted in the death of four people in Poland and three in the Czech Republic, according to Radio Free Europe. The news service said that the hardest hit areas were Klodzko and Walbrzych provinces, which suffered severe flood damage one year ago. Last year, more than 100 people were killed in extensive flooding in the region, which hit hardest in Poland.
Contact: Czech interior ministry: (420-2) 335-1111; or Czech environment ministry, tel: (420-2) 6712-2040; or Polish interior ministry: (48-22) 210-251; or Polish environment ministry: (48-22) 250-001; or Slovak interior ministry: (421-7) 323 659; or Slovak environment ministry: (421-7) 516-2306.
B A C K G R O U N D E R
Telematics Offers a Way to Dilute Threat from Floods
The devastation caused by deadly floods in eastern Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic might have been avoided if sophisticated environmental warning systems were in place in the area, according to those familiar with the new technology.
A Czech city that suffered heavily from last year's regionwide floods was reported on July 16 as announcing its decision to take advantage of this new technology, called telematics.
In eastern Slovakia, where the majority of the more than 50 flooding deaths occurred, officials noted that residents had insufficient warning time. "In some villages people had literally half an hour to escape," the head of the Presov district government office, Emil Blicha, reportedly told Reuters. According to Jerome Simpson, an environmental information specialist who recently co-organised a conference on environmental telematics in Central and Eastern Europe, a telematics system would have "undoubtedly" made a difference.
The city council of Olomouc, Czech Republic, which was hit by floods last year, has announced plans to install such a system in its town and a number of nearby villages, according to a report by Radio Prague. The alarm system will be installed at 30 to 40 different locations and should cost an estimated 10 million Czech crowns, according to Radio Prague.
"Olomouc is specifically thinking about an alarm system for resident evacuation in case of flood," according to Simpson. "This operates on the basis of minimising the damage of the flood as it happens, rather than flood p revention. It might work by relying on a geographically distributed network of automatic monitoring stations equipped with sensors and analysers that monitor changes in water levels and which not only deliver this monitoring data, but turn it into useful information for local town administrations."
While such a system will probably give citizens adequate warning of a pending crisis, Simpson said, there are more pro-active telematics applications for flood-prone areas. "A European Commission-funded Telematics project like EMAIL takes the issue of flood prevention one step further by supporting decisionmakers with information in a multi-media format that serves as a platform for modeling, mapping, analysis and reporting, thereby enabling administrators to eliminate the threat of flash-flooding long before it can even happen," he said.
"Telematics can be applied in a number of ways," Simpson said. He noted that systems can automatically announce a flood threat via different media, ranging from sirens to e-mail to newscasts. He added that telematics applications are not merely for floods: "The principles can be adapted for any number of phenomena; for example, oil pollution spills, sudden changes in water or air quality, earthquakes, etc.."
Contact: See findings of the telematics conference on the web: http://www.rec.org/determine; or contact Simpson directly, tel: (06-26) 504-000; or contact Wolfgang Boch, Head of Sector, DGXIII-C6, European Commission tel: (32-2) 296-3591.
A R O U N D T H E R E G I O N
New Hungarian Government Annuls Decision to Build Dam
Hungary's new cabinet on July 23 annulled a decision by the previous government to start construction of the controversial dam at Nagymaros, according to reports. The decision was apparently influenced by Hungary's new chief adviser on environmental protection, Janos Vargha, whose appointment was announced less than a week before. Vargha, a founding member of the Danube Circle environmental group and a leader of the 1989 anti-dam demonstrations that helped bring down Hungary's communist regime, was quoted by Hungarian and international wire services as saying that the September 1997 verdict of the International Court of Justice in The Hague does not oblige Hungary to continue construction work on the dam. Since 1989, Hungary has fought to prevent the proposed hydroelectric dam project on the Danube, but the previous Hungarian government interpreted the court's decision in The Hague as meaning that Hungary was obliged to cooperate on the project. Vargha disagreed with that assessment. "The most important element of the court's verdict is that nothing must be further built," he was quoted as saying by local and international wire services. Meanhwile, a study by Dutch experts, which was commissioned by the previous Hungarian government, said cooperating on the dam project would be better for Hungary than abandoning it in many respects, including water level, river-side wells, ecology and navigation, the daily "Vilaggazdasag" reported on July 29.
Contact: Hungarian Ministry of Environment and Regional Policy, tel: (36-1) 457-3300.
Slovakia Misses Meeting as EU Hopefuls Told: No Shortcuts
In apparent retaliation over their feud with Austria about a nuclear plant, Slovakia was notably absent from an informal meeting in Graz, Austria, for environment ministers of 10 nations seeking EU membership, according to a report by the Environmental News Service. Austria is continuing its opposition to Slovakia's Mochovce nuclear power plant, which began operating last month. Speaking at the Graz ministerial meeting, EU Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard said it was difficult to influence EU member states on nuclear power, let alone non-members, the report said. She then went on to say that no countries will be allowed to enter the EU until they meet that body's environmental standards, according to the news service. "There would be no question of opening the door to enlargement if EU standards were not reached - without exception," Martin Bartenstein, the Austrian environment minister, who hosted the meeting, was quoted as saying by Environmental News Service.
Contact: Austrian environment minister Bartenstein, tel: (43-1) 313-040; or Slovak Environment Minister Jozef Zlocha, tel: (421-7) 516-2306, fax: (421-7) 515-2438.
B U S I N E S S A N D E N V I R O N M E N T
MOL Takes Advantage of Environment Loan Program
The Hungarian oil company MOL Rt. is the first company to take out a loan >from a special line of credit offered by EBRD-Phare-Budapest Bank Rt. for environmental-related projects, according to a report from the latest issue of "Environment & Health Online." MOL will use the Ft 400 million (USD 1.8 million) loan to finance the environmental work at the Dunai Finomito refinery, including the expansion of waste processing and the reduction of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions, the report said. The ECU 17.5 million ($19.2 million) line of credit is available until 2010 and is aimed at financing production capacity development in environmental projects and investments to reduce pollution, the report said.
Contact: Maria Erdes, Environmental Affairs Manager, MOL Rt., tel: (36-1) 464-1601.
Czech Firm Plans Green Projects
CEZ a.s., the Czech power company, plans to invest 6.7 billion Czech crowns (USD 200 million) in environmental protection projects by the year 2000, bringing the firm's total environmental investments in the 1990s to 42.5 billion Czech crowns, according to a report from the latest issue of "Environment & Health Online." The company's previous environmental investment has gone toward projects such as desulfurizing, fluid boiler installation, electrical separators, and denitrification of combustion products, the report said.
Contact: CEZ a.s. tel: (420-2) 2408-1111; e-mail: info@hs.cez.cz.
Creative Funding to Aid Polish Environmental Investment
Bank Przemyslowo-Handlowy (BPH) of Poland plans to set up a consortium of banks to finance environmental-related modernisation projects proposed by the Siersza power plant in Trzebinia, according to the latest issue of "Environment & Health Online." The consortium will offer the plant USD 128 million in credit to modernise its generating units, the report said.
Contact: Elektrim Power Plant Division, tel. (48-22) 830-0415.
W H O W E A R E
About Green Horizon
Green Horizon is a free newsletter designed to help journalists stay ahead of environmental news in Central and Eastern Europe. Twice a month, we'll offer tips on upcoming stories to watch for, as well as information and ideas to help you develop in-depth pieces about the region's environment. Green Horizon is produced by the Media Information Service (MIS) of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe. The goal of the MIS is to assist the media in covering environmental issues. It is funded by the European Commission's DG-XI and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
For a free subscription, research assistance or to find a source: Send
e-mail to: GreenHorizon@rec.org, or call Tom Popper at (36-26) 504-000, fax (36-26) 311-294.
Funded by European Commission's DG-XI and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
