September 4, 1998 * Volume 1, Number 9
A R O U N D T H E R E G I O N
Polish oil spill stopped before German border
A Polish fire department official said on Aug. 25 there was no danger that an estimated 20 tonnes of fuel oil, spilled on Aug. 23 by a mineral wool factory on Poland's Odra river, would reach Germany, Reuters reported. Firefighters laid barriers in three places on the river and retrieved several tonnes of oil during the three-day operation, according to the report.
Contact: Polish Environment Minister Jan Szyszko, tel: (48-22) 253-355; or Environment Ministry General Director Adam Mierzwinski, tel: (48- 22) 258-629.
Lithuania says oil terminal will be ready to handle
spills
Rejecting Latvian claims that there is no preparation for potential accidents at the Butinge oil terminal, the Lithuanian Environment Ministry issued a statement on Aug. 24, saying that the Danish company Carl Bro Evision International has already drawn up a plan for dealing with oil spills, according to a report. Officials said the terminal, being built on the Lithuanian coast near the Latvian border, will also have all necessary clean-up equipment available before opening, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Lithuania also announced, on Aug. 17, that two deputy environment ministers will head a commission charged with supplying information about the construction to the minister and the general public, the news service said.
Contact: Carl Bro International, tel: (45-4) 348-6060; or Lithuanian environmental spokeswoman Natalija Gedvilaite, tel: (370-2) 723-251; or Latvian Environment Minister Anatolijs Gorbunovs, tel: (371-7) 026-400.
Estonian, Latvian NGOs cooperate for bio-diversity
Nongovernmental organisations in Estonia and Latvia are hoping that their joint project will soon lead to an international agreement to protect biodiversity in a wetland that sprawls across the borders of their two countries. The Estonian Fund for Nature and the Latvian Fund for Nature recently co-operated in a project entitled "Protection of High Bidoversity through Latvian-Estonian Cross-Border Protected Area," according to a report on the project. The project involved many activities focused on protecting a diverse 140- square-kilometer wetland which provides a natural habitat for many rare and endangered species, the report said. A key output of the project was a draft "Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Government of Estonia on Management of Transboundary Protected Areas." Participants hope for a signing this fall, according to the report. The project was funded by a Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) grant.
Contact: Eerik Leibak, Estonian Fund For Nature, tel: (372-7) 428-443; or Inga Poznaka, Latvian Fund for Nature, tel: (371- 7) 322-852.
Meciar stresses Slovakia's need for nuclear
power . . .
After attending the start-up of the first reactor at Slovakia's controversial Mochovce nuclear plant on Aug. 28, Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar said that, to be self-sufficient in energy, Slovakia will have to rely on nuclear power by 2003, according to a report. Meciar said water power is insufficient, and stressed that 59 percent of the Slovak national power company's electricity is already produced by nuclear plants, the report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE) said. The Mochovce plant has incurred strong protests from neighboring Austria, which considers the Soviet-designed plant potentially unsafe. Meciar said that the second reactor at Mochovce will be launched within a year, RFE reported.
Contact: Plant operators Slovenske Elektrarne, tel: (42-17) 569-1111; or Greenpeace Austria, tel: (43-1) 545-4580.
. . . while dispute over hydropower continues
Slovak and Hungarian officials continued to haggle over an international court ruling about the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros dam on the Danube, according to reports. Hungary's new environmental advisor, Janos Vargha, said on Aug. 30 that The Hague verdict obliged the sides only to seek a solution for environmentally sound and economic operation of the facilities but did not mean it is necessary to build further dams, according to MTI, Hungary's news agency. On Aug. 20, Slovak Foreign Ministry spokesman Milan Tokar said Bratislava cannot improve relations with Hungary without respect for "obligations stemming from The Hague International Court ruling" on the dam dispute, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE) reported. In July, Hungary's new cabinet annulled an earlier decision to start construction of a dam at Nagymaros, the last part of what was to be a joint hydro-electric project. Hungary's government plans to appoint a commission to decide how to proceed with the controversy RFE reported.
Contact: Slovak Environment Minister Jozef Zlocha, tel: (421-7) 516-2306; or Dr. Judit Moser of the Hungarian environment ministry's press office, tel: (36-1) 201-2619.
GEF grant to help improve Czech energy efficiency
The World Bank today approved a Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant of USD 5.8 million for the Kyjov Waste Heat Utilization Project to improve the efficiency of the Czech Republic's energy sector on Aug. 27, according to the International Development Network news service. The report said the project has two main goals: first, to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from the Kyjov district heating system by increasing the energy efficiency and reliability of heat and power supply to the Vetropak Moravia Glass factory and heat supply to the city of Kyjov; and second, to achieve local environmental benefits by reducing the proportion of lignite in the fuel-mix for heat and power generation.
Contact: Hutton Archer, of the GEF office, (1-202) 458-7117; or Czech environment ministry, tel: (420-2) 6712-2040.
E N V I R O N M E N T A N D B U S I N E S S
Paint firm is first in Estonia to gain ISO certificate
AS Baltic Color, the largest producer of paints in Estonia, recently became the first Estonian company to receive an ISO environment certificate, according to a report by Environment & Health Online. The Finnish Certification Board issued the firm an ISO 4001 certificate in July, the report said. Baltic Color is owned by the Finnish firm Tikkurila OY and the Swedish firm Alcro-Beckers. Its largest export markets are Ukraine, Latvia, and Lithuania, according to the report.
Contact: AS Baltic Color, tel: (372-6) 563-337; or Tikkurila OY, tel: (358) 985-7731.
Jeans firm invests in environmentally friendly
plant
The Hungarian jeans manufacturer Mustang Rt. will open new, environmentally friendlier facilities this month, according to a report by Environment & Health Online. After recently modernising its tailoring and sewing division, the firm spent 3.5 million USD on a new dyeing and washing section, which provides for environmental facilities such as a modern 400,000-USD sewage treatment plant, the report said.
Contact: Mustang Rt., tel: (36-1) 185-0445.
Dutch environmental consulting firm expands in
region
ARCADIS, a Netherlands-based consultant involved in environmental and construction-related work, has expanded its influence in the region with its purchase of Grebner GmbH, which has offices in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, and 12 locations in Germany, according to an Aug. 31 press release. Grebner is also involved in environmental and construction consulting, the release said.
Contact: Joost Slooten, ARCADIS, (31-26) 377-8604.
J O U R N A L I S M N E W S
Environmental technology publications available
online
Two surveys in the series "The Environmental Technology Market in Central and Eastern Europe," which were recently produced in print form by The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) are now available online. The two books are subtitled "An Overview of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia" and "An Overview of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Incorporating an Environmental Business and Government Directory)." These surveys describe current market conditions and signal possible future directions, according to the REC. They are the most comprehensive report yet prepared, taking into account the viewpoints of technology providers, buyers, consultants, researchers, and policymakers, a statement from the REC said. Some sections of the publications are password protected, and users will have to apply for their passwords, but much of the information can be viewed online by the public.
Two Romanian journalists fined in libel cases
Two Romanian journalists working for the Botosani "Monitorul" newspapers were fined 100 million lei (USD 11,250) after being convicted of libel, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the Associated Press reported recently. The journalists had written that a local politician had abused his position by quashing court proceedings against his son, who was accused of demolishing a building that was listed as a protected historical monument, the Aug. 28 and Aug. 31 reports said. This is the third time in recent months that journalists have been sentenced for libel in Romania.
Contact: Alexandru Savulescu, Romanian Association of Environmental Journalists, tel: (40-13) 123-9478; International Federation of Environmental Journalists, tel: (33-14) 805-4607.
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.
