NGOs QUESTION EC-FUNDED ROAD PROJECT THROUGH KRESNA GORGE
Several NGOs were in Brussels April 15-19 to press their demand that a highway being built with European Union Phare funds not go through the Kresna Gorge in Southwestern Bulgaria, according to a press release from CEE Bankwatch. The press release claimed that the Italian company building the highway, SPEA Ingegneria Europea, received an additional EUR 394,000 Phare grant to investigate alternative routes, but only produced a two page report and several maps as proof that the road has to pass through Kresna Gorge. 

The gorge is a naturally unique area with high biodiversity; it has been designated an Important Bird Area and is expected to receive NATURA 2000 status, the press release said. Since the road project began in 1997, as part of the EU-supported Trans-European Networks, a group of Bulgarian NGOs has been fighting to have its route altered, the release said. They took their demands to Brussels during the European Commission's "Green Week," April 15-19, the press release said. According to the press release, the activists asked EC officials: "Is the purpose of EU pre- accession money to destroy the nature of their country or to promote sustainable development?" The release also said: "NGOs will ask the Commission to have a closer look at the project and scrutinize how the money for development of the alternatives was used. They will also ask for a serious assessment of the potential damage to biodiversity if the highway is built through the gorge." Contact: 
Petko Kovatchev, tel: (359-8) 842-0453; or Magda Stoczkiewicz,
e-mail: magdas@foeeurope.org; web: http://www.bankwatch.org.

CANADIANS WOULD BUILD NEW NUKE PLANT, BULGARIANS OPPOSING CLOSING OLD ONE
Two Canadian companies, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. and SNC- Lavalin Inc., told Bulgaria they might be interested in restarting work on an abandoned nuclear plant near the Danube port of Belene -- which is one option being considered to replace the Kozloduy plant, according to the Associated Press. Meanwhile, a Gallup poll taken in April showed that 78 percent of the 1,022 Bulgarians questioned disagree with the European Union's call to shut down the four oldest sections of the Kozloduy nuclear plant, according to Agence France Presse (AFP).  

Sofia agreed to close Kozloduy's two oldest reactors by 2003 as a condition for starting EU membership talks in 1999, but Bulgaria wants to be a net energy exporter for the region, and is in competition with neighbouring EU member Greece, according to reports. Seventy percent of Bulgarians polled believed the EU "wants to free the markets for other energy producers," and 59 percent believed that closure would not accelerate EU membership, AFP reported. The government announced on April 9 the idea of replacing energy lost from closing down Kozloduy by restarting construction at the Belene plant, a project that was abandoned in 1990 due to environmental protests and a lack of cash, and may cost as much as USD 2 billion to finish. 
Contact:
The Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Waters Press Office, 
tel: (359-2) 940-6231; or Bulgarian Environment Minister Dolores Arssenova, tel: (359-2) 940- 6222; web: http://www.moew.government.bg

EARTHQUAKE KILLS ONE, RATTLES MUCH OF SEE REGION
An April 24 earthquake, registering 5.7 on the Richter scale, caused one death and more than 100 injuries in the Kosovo town of Gnjilane, and also shook parts of Macedonia and Southern Serbia, according to a report from Deutsche Presse-Agentur. The quake, which had an epicentre near Gnjilane, was felt far away as Montenegro and Bulgaria, the report said, but it added that no tremors were felt in the area of Bulgaria's controversial Kozloduy nuclear power plant. 
Contact:
 Qazim Kukalal, head of division, Department of Agriculture, Forest Division New Economics Faculty, Kosovo, tel: (381-38) 504-604 ext. 6819; or Ministry of Health and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia, 
tel: (381-11) 361-6368.

REPORT: ABOUT 1.5M DECARES OF FOREST BURNED IN BULGARIA OVER 3 YEARS
Almost 1.5 million decares of Bulgaria's forests have burned in the last three years, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Mehmed Dikme told Bulgaria's Parliament, according to an April 26 report from Central Europe Today. A drought in South Eastern Europe, which many blame on climate change, spurred on forest fires throughout the region. Dikme reportedly said that direct losses from the forest fires reached BGN 62 million, a figure that also includes the expense of fighting the fires. He said the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry would start a media campaign to discourage wild fires in the summer season, according to the report. 
Contact:
Bulgarian National Forest Board, tel: (359-2) 988- 1383; or the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Waters Press Office, tel: (359-2) 940-623; 
web: http://www.moew.government.bg

BELARUS CONSIDERS BUYING LITHUANIA'S IGNALINA NUCLEAR PLANT
During an April 26 visit to areas affected by Chernobyl, on the 16th anniversary of the disastrous explosion of that plant, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka announced that his country is considering a plan to purchase Lithuania's Ignalina nuclear plant, which the European Union wants to see closed, according to reports. Lithuania has discussed the idea of partially decommissioning the Ignalina plant by 2005, and eventually closing the whole plant, as part of its negotiations on EU accession.

According to Agence France Presse, Lukashenko said that Belarus specialists had already contacted Lithuanian authorities to offer to take over the Ignalina plant, which is located near Lithuania's border with Belarus. "Our experts have proposed several scenarios to me for buying this plant," Lukashenka was quoted as saying by Radio-Free Europe/Radio Liberty. "It's an excellent plant. Certainly, if the Lithuanians ruin this plant, they will lose a great deal. They won't get what they want from the West." The Ignalina plant is built with a design similar to the Chernobyl plant, where the explosion and resulting radiation is already believed to have caused the deaths of between 15,000 and 30,000 people, many of them in Belarus, according to reports. 
Contact: 
Lithuanian Environment Ministry, tel: (370-2) 610-588

NOW IS TIME FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON WORLD BANK PLANS FOR POLAND
The World Bank, whose funding can be expected to have a strong impact on the direction of development in Poland according to environmental activists, has issued a call for public comment to its Country Assistance Strategy for Poland, by May 7. Polish Green Net distributed a press release urging environmental activists to take a close look at the plan and make their opinions known. "The World Bank has made significant progress in promoting public participation since the last consultations on the Country Assistance Strategy in 1997," Green Net's Robert Cyglicki was quoted as saying in the release. The strategy was developed after consultations in Warsaw, Katowice and Gdansk, according to reports, and now everyone interested is being urged to make comments on the strategy before the May 7 deadline. "It still remains unclear to what extent the input made by civil society will be used to implement concrete activities included in the Strategy," Cyglicki said in the press release. "Nevertheless, for the next two weeks we are going to intensively work to gather input from NGOs. According to official statement from the World Bank, this input will be seriously taken into consideration. "The draft version of the strategy is available on the web, and comments can be submitted there: http://www.worldbank.org.pl.
Contact:
Cyglicki of Polish Green Net, tel: (48-609) 686-793; 
e-mail: robertc@bankwatch.org; or Jacek Wojciechowicz, external affairs officer, World Bank Office in Poland, tel: (48-22) 520-8000; 
e- mail: jwojciechowicz@worldbank.org

SLOVAKIA ADOPTS NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
The Slovak Parliament adopted a National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSSD) on April 3, according to an announcement from the Slovak Country Office of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC). The document is legally binding on ministries and state administrative bodies and "encompasses the complementary economic, social and environmental aspects of Slovakia's development," according to the announcement. "The NSSD's primary goal is a complex human and social development process in harmony with the environment and existing realities. 

Over 200 experts from all sectors of society participated in the document's preparation. This legal document represents the Slovak Republic's commitment to fulfilling the recommendations from the UN Conference on Environment and Development at Rio de Janeiro in 1992." The NSSD was prepared within the framework of a 1999-2001 project that received funding and technical assistance from the United Nations Development Programme and was guaranteed by the Slovak Ministry of the Environment. The project was implemented by the REC Country Office in Slovakia. 
Contact:
Richard Muller, REC Country Office, Slovakia, tel: (421-2) 5263 2942; 
e-mail: rec@changenet.sk; web: http://www.rec.sk

CZECH GROUPS CALL ON FORD TO RELOCATE ENGINE- HEAD PLANT
A consortium of 13 Czech environmental groups sent an April 10 letter to Ford Motor Company demanding that they stop construction of a manufacturing plant on farmland in the Most district of the Czech Republic and use a "brownfield" site instead, according to a press release from the groups. Ford is founder and 25-percent owner of NEMAK Co., which recently broke ground on an engine-head construction facility that is expected to release heavy metals and other toxic substances "in the middle of the last remaining farmland in this part of North Bohemia -- one of the most environmentally devastated regions in both the Czech Republic and Europe overall," the release said. The release said that building in a nearby brownfield site would have much less of an impact on the environment and that several legal actions are being brought against the current project. "Ford claims that it wants to be the world's most environmentally responsible automaker, and yet they own 25 percent of NEMAK's shares," Pavel Pribyl from Friends of the Earth Czech Republic was quoted as saying in the press release. "Ford's potential profit from this NEMAK deal will come at the expense of the Czech environment and public health."
Contact:
Pribyl at Friends of the Earth, Czech Republic, tel: (420-5) 2251-3859; 
e-mail: pavel.pribyl@ecn.cz; or Pavel Franc, Environmental Law Service, Czech Republic, tel: (420-5) 4557-5229; e-mail: eps.brno@ecn.cz

GREENPEACE: DIOXINS AND MERCURY STILL FORM A THREAT AT SPOLANA
Greenpeace issued an April 22 press release calling for the management and board of the Spolana Neratovice chemical plant in the Czech Republic to prevent further leakage of dangerous dioxins into the air and to ensure that toxic mercury from the factory cannot be washed into the Elbe River. "The toxic contamination of Spolana belongs to the worst in the world and represents a major risk to the health of people and environment," Dr. Mirek Suta, Greenpeace toxic expert, said in the press release. The press release added: "The flood-wall that Spolana built over the last weeks around one of the most contaminated buildings is a first and important step to protect the public. 

Nevertheless, this wall does not protect against leakage of dioxins into the air." The plant used to produce a dangerous herbicide, called Arboricid E -- which was used in the production of the Agent Orange, a Vietnam-era herbicide that the US Army eventually abandoned as being too dangerous, the release said. Although the herbicide production was stopped in 1968 after more than 80 employees fell sick, and two buildings were closed more than 30 years ago, a third, less- contaminated building continued operating, before being enclosed in a concrete sarcophagus in 1998, the release said. 

"An air quality assessment around the dioxin contaminated objects showed that the concentrations of highly dangerous dioxins are still 3,000 times higher than the allowed limit in neighbouring Germany," the release said, adding: "Spolana contaminated over the last years one of its production units including buildings and thousands of cubic meters of soil in the direct vicinity of the Elbe River with over 250 tons of toxic mercury. Already, a once-in-20-year flood in the Elbe River would wash through parts of the contaminated area." Greenpeace has been campaigning for protective measures at Spolana for the past year, and the company has responded by building a floodwall around contaminated building A 1030, but more needs to be done, the release said.
Contact:
 Suta of Greenpeace, tel: (420-2) 2431- 9667; 
e-mail: miroslav.suta@cz.greenpeace.org; or Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace campaign director, Czech Republic, tel: (420-603) 569-243; 
e-mail: jan.haverkamp@cz.greenpeace.org

FIRST BLOCK AT TEMELIN NUCLEAR PLANT RESTARTS
The first block of the controversial Czech nuclear plant at Temelin was reconnected to the power grid April 28 and was running at 38 percent of capacity after a two-month shutdown, during which faulty fittings were replaced in the non-nuclear part of the plant and all equipment was revised, according to CTK, the Czech news agency. Meanwhile, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a court in Linz, Austria, rejected a lawsuit that Temelin opponents brought against the plants owners on April 26. The court reportedly ruled that it has no jurisdiction over such an international matter and cannot make rulings that encroach on Czech sovereignty. 
Contact:
Pavel Pitterman, press office, Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety, 
tel: (420-2) 2162-4363; e-mail: press@sujb.cz; or Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace Czech Republic, e-mail: jan.haverkamp@ecn.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.

AUDOBON MAGAZINE SEEKS INTERNS TO WORK IN NYC
Audobon, the bimonthly magazine of the U.S.-based National Audobon Society with a circulation of nearly 500,000, is seeking editorial interns for 13-week periods, according to an announcement published by E-Wire news. "Our mission is to help readers appreciate, understand, and protect the natural world, with a particular focus on birds, other wildlife and their habitats," the announcement said. " We look for upper-level undergraduate or graduate students with some reporting and writing experience and a demonstrated interest in journalism and the environment." The internship would be out of the magazine's New York headquarters, and applications are accepted year-round, the announcement said. To apply, send a cover letter, clips, application and CV to Keith Kloor, "Audubon," 700 Broadway, New York, NY 10003, USA. If you have questions, send an email to kkloor@audubon.org

WASHINGTON-BASED NON-PROFIT SEEKS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Co-op America, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organisation "dedicated to creating a just and sustainable society by harnessing economic power for positive change," is seeking an associate editor, according to an announcement published by E-Wire news. The associate editor will work with the editor to plan, write edit and fact-check the organisation's bi-monthly newsletter, quarterly magazine and other publications, the announcement said. The annual salary would be USD 24,000-USD 27,000, the requirements sought include four years editing and writing experience, and the deadline for applications is July 15, the announcement said. To apply, send cover letter, CV, clips, and three references to: TFR, Associate Editor Job Search, Co-op America, 1612 K St. NW, No. 600, Washington, DC 20006, USA.