ROUND THE REGION
ROMANIANS HOSPITALISED, TONS OF FISH DIE, AFTER NEW
SPILL IN JIU RIVER
Five people suffering from stomach pains were admitted to the hospital in
Craiova, Romania, after eating fish from the Jiu River, which was poisoned
by an ammonia spill on Feb. 15, according to a Feb. 17 report from
Reuters. Faulty equipment at the Doljchim chemical plant in Craiova, about
290 kilometres west of Bucharest, spilled an unspecified amount of ammonia
into the Jiu river and killing an estimated four tons of fish, the report
said. Officials have seized about 170 kilograms of fish from villages
along the river and from Craiova markets, according to reports. Managers
at the plant were fired for failing to monitor the situation, and Prime
Minister Adrian Nastase ordered an inquiry into the causes of the spill,
according to Reuters.
Contact:
Romanian Environment Ministry,
tel: (40-1) 410-0246 or (40-1) 410-0215;
e-mail. <biodiv@mappm.ro>;
or the
Baia Mare Task Force,
tel : (32-2) 299- 666;
e-mail: <env-danubetf@cec.eu.int>;
or the
Eco-Counseling Center of Galati,
tel: (40-36) 460-827 or (40-36) 435-521.
CZECH FRIENDS OF THE EARTH WANTS HUNTING LAW
THAT PROTECTS MIX OF SPECIES
Friends of the Earth Czech Republic (FoE CZ) is battling a proposed Czech
law on hunting that would continue to encourage over-breeding of deer and
allow hunting of endangered predators, according to the Feb. 19 edition of
the group's monthly newsletter. After lobbying by FoE CZ, several members
of Parliament have come up with an alternative law that they feel will
satisfy hunters and ecologists, the group said. "Reintroduction of
the wolf and lynx in Czech mountains is considered vital for reduction of
the deer population and thus reconstruction of the native species
mix," the FoE CZ newsletter said.
Contact:
Igor Genda, forest campaigner, Friends of the Earth Czech
Republic,
tel: (420-5) 4521-4431;
e- mail: <igor.genda@ecn.cz>.
HUNGARY CONCERNED ABOUT CROATIAN DAM
PROJECT
Hungarian Environment Minister, Bela Turi-Kovacs on Feb. 16 expressed
serious concern over Croatian plans to build a power plant on the Drava
River, near the border with Hungary, according to a report by Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE). Croatia had reportedly decided to build the
project on their own, after Hungary chose not to get involved. Turi Kovacs
said plans to divert the river for a 3.5 kilometre stretch could seriously
endanger the flora and fauna along the river, according to RFE.
Contact:
Turi-Kovacs,
tel: (36-1) 201-2964;
or
Croatian Environment Minister
Bozo Kovacevic,
tel: (385-1) 378-2143 or (385-1) 378-2144.
CZECH ENVIRONMENTALISTS MAY BLOCK
CAR PARTS PLAN
Officials in the Czech city of Plzen have criticised environmentalists for
forcing Mexican aluminium auto parts maker Nemak to consider backing out
of plans for a six billion crown (USD 160 million) plant deal in a Czech
industrial zone, according to a Feb. 12 report from Reuters.
"Environmentalists have run a media campaign, and I'm afraid that
Nemak is worried these initiatives are capable of postponing the project
to the point where it would affect its own commitments," Plzen deputy
mayor Jiri Bis was quoted as saying. Plzen resident Ivan Cipera, who has
helped gather over 9,000 signatures against the project, says that the
plant would make the already poor environmental conditions in Plzen even
worse -- and that it has no place in a light industry zone, Reuters
reported. The project would be one of the country's largest foreign
investments to date, the report said.
Contact:
Dr. Viktor Bankovsky, Plzen Department of Environment,
tel: (420) 69 212 180.
CENTRAL EUROPEAN GROUP ADOPTS POLICY ON
MAD-COW DISEASE
The member countries of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA)
have adopted a common policy designed to prevent the spread of BSE, also
known as mad-cow disease, according to a Feb. 16 report from Radio Prague.
Agriculture ministers of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland,
Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia met in Prague to discuss adopting a joint
approach to prevent the spread of BSE and measures to renew consumer
confidence in beef, the report said. In a declaration coming from the
meeting, the ministers said their countries were BSE-free and the risk of
the disease appearing in the region was extremely low, according to the
report. The countries have committed themselves to a ban on feeding cattle
with bone meal, to producing bone meal using technology that would remove
the threat of the disease and to introducing wide- spread testing of
slaughtered animals, the report said.
Contact:
Petr Polacek, director, Foreign Relations Department, Czech
Agriculture Ministry,
tel: (420-2) 2181-2257;
web: <http://www.mze.cz>.
SLOVAKS SENDING RARE NETTLE SEEDS TO PRINCE
CHARLES
Slovakia is sending seeds for a rare breed of nettle tree to Prince
Charles, for planting in his country seat in Highgrove, England, according
to a Feb. 17 report in Central Europe online. Charles admired the rare
vegetation during a visit to the Badinsky virgin forest in central
Slovakia last year, according to the report. Charles's estate in Highgrove
contains a garden which offers shelter to many protected and rare plant
species.
Contact:
Slovak Ministry of Environment,
tel: (421-7) 5956-2306.
BRIGITTE BARDOT OUTRAGED BY DOG 'DEATH CAMPS' IN
ROMANIA
French animal rights campaigner Brigitte Bardot condemned on Feb. 16 what
she called "death camps," where stray dogs rounded up in Romania
are placed, saying they should be immediately closed, according to a Feb.
17 report from Agence France Presse. In a letter to Prime Minister Adrian
Nastase, Bardot, a former actress, said her foundation would be lobbying
the European Commission in Brussels in the next few days over the
treatment of animals in Romania, the report said. The problem of stray
dogs is currently the source of intense debate in Bucharest, where 22,000
people were bitten by dogs and packs of strays regularly attack people on
the streets, the report said. Mayor Traian Basescu is planning to order
the killing of stray dogs starting next month, despite protests from
Bardot and other animal rights groups, who argue for sterilisation
programs instead, the report said.
Contact:
Brigitte Bardot Foundation,
tel : (33-1) 4505-1460;
fax : (33-1) 4505- 1480;
web: <http://www.fondationbrigittebardot.fr/uk/index.html>;
or
Mihai Antonescu, Bucharest Sanitary Engineering and Ecology Department,
tel: (40) 16 138 660.
NUCLEAR
CZECHS PLEDGE COOPERATION WITH TEMELIN
FOES; PLANT TO RESTART SOON
The controversial new Czech nuclear power plant at Temelin was set to go
back online before Feb. 24, after a month-long shutdown for repairs, but
the Czech government is promising to address international concerns about
the safety of the plant, according to reports. The Czech Environment
Ministry announced Feb. 15 that they will respect the judgement of
Austrian and German experts, as well as the European Union, all of whom
questioned the safety of the plant, according to Radio Free Europe, Radio
Liberty (RFE).
The International Atomic Energy Agency began a safety inspection of the
facility on Feb 13, according to Reuters, and in response to these
indications that the Czech government was cooperating with opponents of
the plant, Austrian environmentalists announced on Feb. 15 that they would
temporarily put off blockades of crossing points at the borders between
the two countries, RFE reported. The blockades had drawn concern from
Austrian trucking companies, according to Radio Prague. But Austrian
anti-nuclear activists are still prepared to fight the issue, and to help
them do so, they have hired renowned American lawyer Ed Fagan, who is
famous for defending victims of the Nazis, according to Radio Prague.
Fagan, who recently won billions of dollars for people forced to work for
German firms during World War II, vowed to keep Temelin from going into
full operation, Radio Prague said.
Contact:
Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety,
tel: (420-2) 2422-3139;
fax: (420-2) 2162 - 704;
e-mail: <karel.bohm@sujb.cz>;
or
Czech Environment Minister Milos Kuzvart,
tel: (420-2) 6712-2719 or (420-2) 6712- 1111;
or
Greenpeace Austria,
tel: (43-1) 545-4580;
or
Upper Austrian Parliament Chairman Josef Puehringer,
e-mail: <LH.Puehringer@ooe.gv.at>.
NGOs QUESTION ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ASSESSMENT AT KOZLODUY
Environmental non-governmental organisations in Bulgaria circulated a Feb.
15 press release saying that the Ministry of Environment and Waters was
rushing the public hearings about the environmental impact assessment
report of Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant. The release said that
the hearings, which were to end Feb. 15, were inadequate, because the
government had not fulfilled its legal obligations to conduct an in-depth
impact assessment report at the plant every five years. The NGOs sending
the release complained that, without more detailed information, the public
hearings could not be conducted properly.
Contact:
Polina Kireva, ZA ZEMIATA,
tel: (359-2) 963-3125 or (359-88) 954-090;
e- mail: <zemiata@iterra.net>;
or
Petko Kovachev, CEE Bankwatch network (Bulgaria),
tel: (359-2) 920-1341 or (359-88) 420-453;
e- mail: <ceie@iterra.net>;
or
Bulgarian Atomic Energy Committee,
tel: (359-2) 720-217.
WESTERN FIRMS TO MODERNISE BULGARIAN NUKE
PLANT
Bulgaria's State Energy Agency announced Feb. 16 that a consortium of
European firms, consisting of Germany's Siemens AG, France's Framatome and
Russia's Atomenergoexport signed a USD 235.5 million deal to modernise the
two 1,000-megawatt reactors at Bulgaria's Kozloduy nuclear power plant,
according to a Feb. 19 report from Reuters. US's Westinghouse Electric had
signed a deal on Feb. 14 to do other upgrading projects on the reactors,
the report said. Meanwhile, according to Reuters, the power plant
announced that it was ready to begin operating its new unit for
reprocessing and conditioning low and intermediate level radioactive waste
by Feb. 9. The long-delayed USD 30 million project will allow the plant to
process solid waste generated by Kozloduy's four 440-megawatt and two
1,000-megawatt water pressurised reactors of Soviet-design, Reuters
reported.
Contact:
Bulgarian Atomic Energy Committee,
tel: (359-2) 720-217;
or
Bulgarian Environment Minister Dr. Evdokia Maneva,
tel: (359-2) 882-577;
web: <http://www.moew.government.bg>.
EU, EBRD
POLAND: EU MEMBERSHIP WOULD HELP US TO CLEAN UP
FASTER
Poland could meet European Union environmental standards much faster if it
were a member of the EU and had access to the union's environmental funds,
Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek told Swedish Prime Minister Goran
Persson during a Feb. 7 meeting, according to Reuters. Buzek said Poland
was already spending EUR 2-2.5 billion, or 1.8 percent of gross domestic
product a year, to raise environmental standards, and further spending
would hurt Polish companies, the report said. Poland has said it should be
allowed to join the EU before fully meeting EU environmental standards,
because the country must spend EUR 30-40 billion over 10-15 years to bring
environmental protection to the level of EU countries, according to the
report. Buzek reportedly noted that this level of spending would be much
easier to achieve, much faster, if Poland could join the EU before
reaching full compliance.
Contact:
Anna Kalinowska, Polish Ministry of Environmental Protection, Natural
Resources and Forestry, Bureau of Education and Public Relations,
tel: (48-22) 825-2003;
e-mail: <info@mos.gov.pl>.
EBRD PRESIDENT WANTS TO ESTABLISH BALTIC
ENVIRONMENTAL FUND
The president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
announced at a Feb. 16 press conference in Helsinki that his organisation
is considering setting up an environmental fund to coordinate
environmental projects in the Baltic region and northwestern Russia,
according to a report from Reuters. "We would like to consider the
idea ... of creating by the EBRD and I hope ... other institutions such as
the Nordic Investment Bank, what we call a Northern Dimension
environmental fund," EBRD President Jean Lemierre was quoted as
saying. He said the fund's idea was still at an initiative level, with the
capital base and timetable still unclear, but it would pay attention in
particular to nuclear waste and other environmental problems in Russia,
according to Reuters.
Contact:
the EBRD,
tel: (44-171) 338-7931;
e-mail: <nixb@ebrd.com>.
NEWS FOR JOURNALISTS
NEW UNEP WEB SITE OFFERS WEALTH OF ENVIRONMENTAL
INFO
The UN Environment Program launched a new web site on Feb. 8 that gives
users access to information about the world and the state of the world
using technology that, until now, was only available for military use,
according to a report from the UN Wire news service. The web site offers
maps, satellite pictures and access to databases worldwide -- as well as
more traditionally presented but highly useful regional and national
environmental profiles.
See for yourself at: <http://www.unep.net/>.
Another site offering satellite images is now being hosted by the European
Space Agency at <http://www.infeo.org>.
