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CONTENTS:
FOCUS ON SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE
EC aid to BiH to include EUR
6.5M for environment
REC publishes survey on networking
for SEE NGOs
Workers add safety features
at Kozloduy nuclear plant
ELSEWHERE AROUND CEE
Activists: Pit mine in Hungary
may threaten national park
Sweden gives Estonia a ship
for containing oil spills
Lithuania reiterates offer
to close Ignalina by 2009 if EU pays
Fission begins at second block
of Temelin nuclear plant
EUROPE AND THE WORLD
13
Danube basin countries agree to cooperate for sake of river
World Environment Day is June
5
Estonia seeks transition period
for oil shale conversion
European Environment Agency
updates its web site
FOCUS ON SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE
EC AID TO BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA TO
INCLUDE EUR 6.5M FOR ENVIRONMENT
The European Commission's 2002 programme to support Bosnia and Herzegovina's
participation in the European Union Stablisation and Association process
totals EUR 71.9 million, and EUR 6.5 million of those funds are earmarked
for environmental programmes, according to a May 29 report from European
Water Management News (EWMN). The money is to be distributed through the
CARDS programme, which is the EC's main financing instrument for South
Eastern Europe, the report said.
The 2002 environmental aide for Bosnia and Herzegovina
would fund the development of an environmental regulatory framework and
a national environmental monitoring system, river basin management and
improved waste management, according to the EWMN report. The rest of the
EUR 71.9 million in CARDS funds for Bosnia and Herzegovina would pay for
democratic stabilisation (EUR 25 million), justice and home affairs (EUR
16.5 million) economic and social development (EUR 13.4 million) and administrative
capacity building (EUR 10.5 million), the report said. The programme is
to be published online at the EuropeAid Co-operation Office's website:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/projects/cards/index_en.htm.
Find more information at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/w21/6.htm
REC PUBLISHES SURVEY ON NETWORKING
FOR SEE NGOS
The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC)
has announced the publication of a survey of non-governmental organizations
in eight South Eastern European (SEE) countries to assess their need for
NGO computer networks. The survey reportedly found that NGOs would like
to use electronic networks as a means to strengthen their voice, with
the media and the public, but they require both training and funding to
make these networks a reality. "Environmental NGOs taking part in
the survey expressed a very positive attitude towards electronic networking
and demonstrated high expectations," according to the executive summary
of the report.
The full report can be downloaded online at: http://www.rec.org/REC/Programs/SEE_Networking/NetworksAtWork.html.
To order the print version of this, or other REC publications, go to:
http://www.rec.org/REC/Publications/publications.html
WORKERS ADD SAFETY FEATURES AT KOZLODUY
NUCLEAR PLANT
Work began on May 28 to put a special condenser at the Kozloduy nuclear
power plant that will help in locating breakdowns, according to the news.bg
web site. The condenser "should compensate the lack of a protective
shield of reactors 3 and 4, and could extend the exploitation of the reactors
by 15 years," the report said. Meanwhile, according to news.bg, the
American Westinghouse Company chose the Bulgarian Company Enemona as subcontractor
for modernisation work on reactors 5 and 6 at Kozloduy. The work, which
is to start in July would include installation of a new information system
for controlling the safety of the two reactors, news.bg reported. Contact:
Bulgarian Atomic Energy Committee: tel: (359-2) 720-217
or 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
ELSEWHERE AROUND CEE
ACTIVISTS: PIT MINE IN HUNGARY MAY
THREATEN ENVIRONMENT OF NATIONAL PARK
The owner of a sand pit mine bordering on Kali Medence National Park in
Hungary has apparently already lowered the local water table through mining
activities, and by creating an artificial lake, and will cause further
damage to the local environment if it goes through with plans to develop
a fishing resort, according to a statement from a local group called Kisorspusztai
Olimpi-Konok. The group, which says it represents neighbours of the park
and the mine, complained that the public is not being granted access to
information about the environmental impact of the mine's activities. The
group called for the mine to refrain from work that affects the local
landscape, water table and environment until it adequately informs the
public of its plans and allows for public hearings on the environmental
impact of its work.
The sand mined on the site is said to be a special variety
used in steel-making. After operating for years under socialism, the mine,
which was privatised and sold to Kvarc es Asvany Kft., apparently with
little public notice, seems to be working on the basis of an out-dated
environmental impact assessment and does not appear to be meeting the
full requirements of offering public information on its operations, the
Olimpi-Konok statement said. The neighbours have heard, but cannot confirm,
that Kvarc es Asvany Kft. is planning to fence in their entire property,
effectively cutting off a dirt road that provides residents of the village
of Kisorspuszta with access to the main road, according to the statement.
Similar road closings by the mining company in the past
mean that, with a new fence, there would only be one road offering access
to the village, but this road is not capable of handling the traffic,
the statement said. Traffic would become even worse if the mine chooses
to build a fishing resort, the statement said. And the company's thus-far
unconfirmed plans to develop a fishing resort would also involve extensive
construction and further reduction of the water table in an area next
to a national park, the statement said.
Contact:
Kisorsi Olimpi-konok, tel: (361) 336 0944 or (361) 336 0945.
SWEDEN GIVES ESTONIA A SHIP FOR CONTAINING OIL SPILLS
Sweden donated a special ship designed to contain oil spills to Estonia's
Border Guard on May 15, "in effect doubling the service's ability
to cope with water pollution" according to a May 24 report from Radio
Free Europe. The 40-metre ship, which was built in Germany as a trawler
in 1966, was converted in 1985 with the addition of oil gathering equipment,
a water cannon and tanks designed to contain polluted water, the report
said.
Contact:
Peeter Eek, Estonian Environment Ministry, tel: (372) 626-2861
or Enn Lenk, Estonian Water Works Association, tel: (372-6) 563-685
e-mail: evel@ewc.ee
LITHUANIA REITERATES OFFER: WE'LL
CLOSE IGNALINA BY 2009 IF EU PAYS
A draft national energy strategy, published May 22 by the Lithuanian Economy
Ministry, says that the Ignalina nuclear power plant can be closed by
2009, as the European Union has requested, but only if the EU pays for
the EUR 2.4 billion cost of closure, according to Reuters. Without EU
assistance, the draft says, the plant would have to keep operating until
2017, Reuters reported. The European Commission has said it would give
EUR 70 million a year, between 2004-2006 for Ignalina's closure, and committed
EUR 40 million to an international fund that would give a total of EUR
203 million for closure efforts through 2005, Reuters reported. But Lithuanian
Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas has said that the EU should cover all
the costs of closing the plant.
Contact:
Lithuanian Environment Ministry, tel: (370-2) 610-588; or Dr. Stasys
Motiejunas, Lithuanian Ministry of Environment, Radioactive Substances
Unit, tel: (370-2) 611-110
e-mail: s.motiejunas@aplinkuma.lt.
FISSION BEGINS AT SECOND BLOCK OF
TEMELIN NUCLEAR PLANT
The Czech State Authority for Nuclear Safety (SUJB) on May 29 granted
permission for the Temelin nuclear power plant to begin fission reaction
in its second block, according to a report from CTK, the Czech news agency.
SUJB chairperson Dana Drabova reportedly said it will take as much as
36 hours after the start-up before the first fission reaction takes place.
On the basis of the experience with the first reactor, Drabova estimates
that it will take about a month before the second reactor's output reaches
35-38 percent of its capacity, at which time it can be connected to the
power grid, CTK reported.
The Temelin plant has been widely criticised by environmentalists
at home and abroad. Activists in Austria, where anti-nuclear sentiment
is strong, fought to prevent the construction of the plant, which was
begun several years ago and then delayed. The Czech government has said
that, with upgrades, the Temelin plant is safe, and they maintain that
their country needs the energy source.
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.
EUROPE AND THE WORLD
13 DANUBE BASIN COUNTRIES
AGREE TO COOPERATE FOR SAKE OF RIVER
Delegations from 13 Danube basin countries on May 27 adopted a declaration
on cooperation for environmental and economic improvement of the Danube
River area, according to a report from Hina, the Croatian news service.
The meeting was organised in cooperation with the International Commission
for the Protection of the Danube. The declaration produced at the meeting
reaffirmed existing agreements to serve the Danube and defined six areas
for further cooperation: economic development, navigation, environmental
protection, tourism, culture and sub-regional cooperation, the Hina report
said.
The document outlined a continual process of cooperation,
based on biannual conferences of foreign ministers from all participants,
and set the next ministerial conference for 2004 in Bucharest, the report
said. According to the report, the agreement involves the European Commission,
the Stability Pact for South-East Europe and 13 countries in the Danube
basin: Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Germany, Moldavia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Yugoslavia.
Contact:
International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River,
tel: (431-260) 605-738; web: http://www.icpdr.org/pls/danubis/DANUBIS.navigator.
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY
IS JUNE 5
June 5 is World Environment Day, a day established by the United Nations
to help bring attention to the importance of the environment, according
to the web site of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). "World
Environment Day is also a multi-media event, which inspires thousands
of journalists to write and report enthusiastically and critically on
the environment. It is a visual event, with television documentaries,
photo exhibits and displays, as well as an intellectual event for those
who organize and participate in seminars, roundtable meetings and symposia.
In many countries, this observance provides an opportunity to sign or
ratify international conventions."
To find out more, see the UNEP web site at: http://www.unep.org.
You can also find out about UNEP's activities at: http://www.unep.ch
ESTONIA SEEKS TRANSITION
PERIOD FOR OIL SHALE CONVERSION
Estonia, which is heavily dependent on oil shale for its electricity,
asked for a longer transition period for its oil shale industry in European
Union accession negotiations, according to a report from Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty (RFE). Most of Estonia's power comes from two oil-shale burning
plants, which are currently being renovated. Oil shale creates more air
pollution than many other kinds of fuels. The EU has urged Estonia to
open up its energy market to free competition immediately, a move that
would probably make the country more reliant on Russian oil or natural
gas, but Estonia would like to prolong its transition from shale oil,
RFE reported.
Contact:
Peeter Eek, Estonian Environment Ministry, tel: (372) 626-2861.
EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT
AGENCY UPDATES ITS WEB SITE
The European Environment Agency has redesigned its web site to make it
easier find news and information about the environment of Europe.
Check out the site at: http://eea.eu.int
Copyright 2000 by the Regional Environmental Center
for Central and Eastern Europe
Ady Endre út 9-11
2000 Szentendre
Hungary
Tel: (36-26) 504-000
Fax: (36-26) 311-294
E-mail: GreenHorizon@rec.org
Web: http://www.rec.org/
Funded by the European Commission's DG-XI and
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
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