FLOODS CLAIM LIVES, PROPERTY AROUND REGION; 
Rainstorms and the resulting floods that hit the region around Aug. 8 caused two deaths in Bulgaria, two deaths in Romania and possibly four deaths in the Czech Republic, while also damaging hundreds of homes, according to published reports. In Bulgaria, where hundreds of homes were flooded, two farmers were killed by lightning, and in Romania, where seven counties have been hit, a child and an elderly man were swept away when a river overflowed in Gorj County, according to an Aug. 9 report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE). In the Czech Republic, four were feared dead in flooding that hit the southern part of the country and was especially hard in the southern capital Ceske Budejovice, according to an Aug. 9 Reuters report. 

In Istria County in Croatia, 136 litres per square metre of rain pelted the city of Pazin in Istria County on Aug. 11, and homes were flooded in the Makarska area, according to the Foreign Press Bureau. In villages in the Cserehat area of northern Hungary, residents were evacuated from several homes, and the nearby city of Miskolc, which usually receives 700 millimetres of rain a year, was doused with 186 millimetres in the first 10 days of August, according to the Hungarian News Agency. The region has been hit by increasingly severe flooding over the years, and environmental causes, ranging from over-clearing of trees, over-development along floodplains and climate change, have been blamed for the problem. 
Contact:
Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Waters Press Office
tel: (359-2) 940-6231
or Czech Environment Minister Milos Kuzvart,
tel: (420-2) 6712-2719 or (420-2) 6712- 1111
or 
Croatian Environment Ministry, Andjelka Bedrica, assistant minister, Division of Environmental Protection, tel: (385-1) 610-6556; 
e -mail: a.bedrica@mzopu.hr
or
Hungarian Environment Ministry, Dr. Adrienn Terdik, Department for Public Relations, tel: (36-1) 457-3386; or Romanian Environment Ministry 
tel: (40-1) 410-0246 or (40-1) 410-0215; e-mail: biodiv@mappm.ro

HIGH WATER BREAKS PIPE, SPILLING 8 TONS OF OIL INTO ROMANIAN RIVER
An oil pipe damaged by floods spilled eight tons of crude oil into the Prahova River in Romania, but the 15-kilometre-long spill was mostly contained before it reached the Danube River, according to reports. The spill occurred around 7 p.m. July 31, in the Ploiesti oilfield north of Bucharest, when a pipe from an oil well owned by Conept broke, according to Roxana Suciu of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe's Country Office Romania. Due to flooding in the Parhova, "the water has a very high speed, with a flow of 200 cubic metres per second," Environment Minister Petru Lificiu was quoted by Reuters as saying. "The operation is extremely difficult." The spill was brought under control by Aug. 2, Suciu said. One of Europe's worst environmental accidents in recent years -- the January 2000 Tisza River cynaide spill, which began at a gold mine in Romania and also affected Hungary and Yugoslavia -- was brought on by heavy flooding. 
Contact:
Romanian Environment Ministry tel: (40-1) 410-0246 or (40-1) 410-0215
e-mail: biodiv@mappm.ro

GTZ GIVES EUR 290,000 FOR 11 PROJECTS IN SEE REGION
Eleven cooperative projects, involving 30 non-governmental organisations from South Eastern Europe, have been chosen to share in a total of EUR 290,000 in grants, given by the German-government-owned GTZ Corporation and administered with the assistance of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC), according to an Aug. 5 announcement from the REC. The projects that the NGOs proposed to undertake address needs ranging from "protection of the threatened and endangered species of the Balkans, to other issues, such as sustainable agriculture, water, climate change and genetically modified organisms," and REC experts were involved in selecting grant winners from among the many applicants, according to the announcement. 

The NGOs involved include 10 from Bulgaria, seven from Yugoslavia, four from Romania, three from Croatia, three from Macedonia, two from Bosnia and Herzegovina and one from Albania, the announcement said. GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit) supports about 2,700 development projects worldwide, "chiefly under commissions from the German Federal Government," according to their web site. "GTZ's aim is to improve the living conditions and perspectives of people in developing and transition countries." 
Contact:
Entela Pinguli, grants manager, REC NGO Support Programme, 
tel: (36-26) 504-065; e-mail: epinguli@rec.org; or GTZ: http://www.gtz.de/english/index.asp

BULGARIA TO ASSESS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF DESTROYING MISSILES
Dismantling of weapons at Bulgaria's Soviet-era SS-23 missile complex in the village of Telish, near Pleven, was scheduled to begin Aug. 12, amid concerns about the environmental impact of the work, according to reports. Defence Minister Nikola Svinarov on Aug. 7 announced the schedule for the missiles to be taken apart, for transport to the Zmeevo military testing ground, where they will be destroyed, but his ministry stressed that the potentially hazardous work of destroying the missile engines would not begin until an environmental impact assessment was conducted to determine the safest way to proceed, according to a reports from the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency and BBC. 

The missiles were to be decommissioned by Oct. 30, as part of an agreement that will see Bulgaria join the NATO military alliance, but residents around the Zmeevo site, in southern Bulgaria, have raised concerns about the possibility that destroying the missiles could have serious environmental consequences. On Aug. 2, about 300 cars blocked a road near Zmeevo for an hour, to protest the missile destruction, and 11,000 residents have signed a petition opposing the action, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE). Environment Minister Dolores Arsenova said that "if the method chosen raises even the slightest doubt about possible environmental damage, the Environment Ministry will not approve it," according to an Aug. 2 report from RFE. 
Contact:
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

WORLD CONGRESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS IN SRI LANKA SET FOR OCTOBER
A World Congress of Environmental Journalists, organised by the Sri Lanka Environmental Journalists Forum, The Commonwealth Environmental Journalists Association and the Asia Pacific Forum Of Environmental Journalists, is to be held Oct. 27-31 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, according to an announcement. Approximately 100 participants from 50 countries are expected to discuss the theme: "The Role of Media on Peace & Environment in the Millenium," the announcement said. Applications to attend, and abstracts, are encouraged. For information or an application, 
Contact:
Dharman Wickremaratne, president, Asia-Pacific Forum of Environmental Journalists, tel: (94-1) 873131; e-mail: afej@sri.lanka.net

FIND ENVIRONMENTAL EVENTS IN THE REC'S DATABASE
The Environmental Events Database of the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe lists information on conferences, workshops, seminars and exhibitions that are taking place in Central and East Europe, or are of relevance to the region. To view the database, which has been put together as part of a project under the Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for South Eastern Europe, visit: http://www.rec.org/REC/Databases/Events/EventsFind.html

NEW WEB SITE REPORTS ON ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN YUGOSLAVIA
EkoForum from Belgrade, a non-governmental organization for sustainable development and protection of the environment, has announced the launch of their new web site, which reports on the condition of the environment in Yugoslavia, as well as sustainable development in that country and abroad. See the site at: http://www.ekoforum.org.yu