June 29, 1999 * Volume 2 Number 4
CONTENTS:
B A L K A N C R I S I S
REC report for EU ministers details war's damage
A preliminary report on the environmental damage caused by the war in Yugoslavia -- put together by a team of experts from the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) -- was made public on June 28. The report, entitled "Assessment of the Environmental Impact of Military Activity During the Yugoslavia Conflict," was prepared under contract to the European Commission's DGXI and presented to the EU Council of Environmental Ministers in mid-June. Because the report has a regional focus, it includes analyses of transboundary damage and the environmental impact of refugee movements in Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, FYR Macedonia and Romania. While it is only a "snapshot" of the situation, and additional monitoring is clearly necessary, this document represents one of the most extensive studies on the subject thus far. The report is accessible from the front page of the REC's web site at: www.rec.org. Further information can be obtained from Mary McKinley at the REC, e-mail: mmckinley@rec.org.
Bulgaria to query Yugoslavia about river pollution
Bulgaria's Environment Ministry said on June 28 it would ask its counterpart in Yugoslavia to explain heavy pollution in the Timok border river, according to Reuters. The colour of the Timok river, which flows into the Danube near the town of Bregovo on the border with Yugoslavia, had changed to grey and even black on June 27 and many dead fish had been seen floating later in the day, environment officials were quoted as saying by Reuters. Environmental officials said the pollution could have been caused by a Serbian copper mine near the town of Bor, which had been bombed during NATO's air campaign against Yugoslavia in the past three months, according to the report. Contact: Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Waters, tel: (359-2) 8472-2000; fax: (359-2) 810-509, 981-1186.
Romania wants dam on Danube as part of Balkan reconstruction
Romanian Transportation Minister Traian Basescu said on June 21 that Romania would like to see a new dam on the Danube River included in Western-led plans for Balkan reconstruction, according to a report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Basescu said the dam would be an alternative to the Bulgarian plan for constructing a second Danube-crossing bridge between Vidin and Calafat and would be more advantageous as it could ease train and road traffic over the river and also provide an alternative source of power to Bulgaria's controversial Kozloduy nuclear plant, the report said. Contact: Basescu at the Ministry of Transportation, tel: (40-1) 222-3636; or the Romanian Ministry of Water, Forestry and Environmental Protection, tel: (40-1) 410-6394; fax: (40-1) 312-2599.
Web sites contain articles about depleted uranium threat
Two web sites contain extensive articles and links on the subject of depleted uranium weapons. According to several sources, depleted uranium weapons, which were reportedly used by NATO while bombing Yugoslavia, can have a dangerous impact on the environment for years after they are used. See the web site at: http://www.web-light.nl/VISIE/ud_main.html.
Russia says it has satellite data on state of Yugoslav environment
Russia has satellite data on the state of the environment in Yugoslavia, Deputy Chairman of the State Environmental Committee Amirkhan Amirkhanov said at a news conference on June 25, according to a report from Itar-Tass, the Russian news agency. The leader of a special working group formed under the U.N. Environmental Program will soon come to Moscow to assess the Yugoslav ecology, and meet with staff of the Russian Ministry for Civil Defense and Emergencies, the State Committee for Hydrometeorology and the State Environmental Committee to decide on the working group's parameters and format, the report said. Contact: Amirkhanov of the Environmental Committee, tel: (70-95) 124-0471; fax: (70-95) 254-8283, e-mail: wwfrus@glas.apc.org.
A R O U N D T H E R E G I O N
Floods take lives, damage property around CEE region
At least 15 people died in rainstorms in Romania, and severe weather also did damage in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Moldova, according to a June 24 report from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. In Romania, seven villagers died in the eastern province of Buzau after torrents from surrounding hills flooded their homes and eight others were killed elsewhere around the country -- including four who were struck by lightning, the report said. In Hungary, roads and railway lines were closed after rainstorms and gales caused heavy damage over a two-day period, the report said. Contact: Romanian Ministry of Water, Forestry and Environmental Protection, tel: (40-1) 410-6394; fax: (40-1) 312-2599.
N U C L E A R
Austrian official: Temelin could keep Czechs out of EU
A senior Austrian parliamentarian caused an uproar among Czech legislators by saying on June 23 that his country cannot approve the Czech Republic's accession to the European Union unless Prague ratifies an agreement on evaluating the environmental impacts of projects like the Temelin nuclear power station, according to reports. Karl Schweitzer, chairman of the parliamentary environmental committee said in Prague on June 23 that Czech plans to go ahead with the completion of the controversial power station in the South Bohemia region are a major obstacle to EU accession, according to Radio Prague. Schweitzer has asked Czech members of parliament to press for an early signing of this agreement and he expects Temelin to be tested for its likely impact on the environment, Radio Prague reported. Contact: Karl Schweitzer, e-mail: karl.schweitzer@fpoe.at; or Czech Environment Minister Milos Kuzvart, tel: (420-2) 6712-2719 or (420-2) 6712-1111.
Slovakia plans to shut down reactor by 2010-2012
The Slovak economy minister expects the oldest reactor at a Soviet designed nuclear power plant, a potential stumbling block to European Union accession, will be shut down by 2010-2012, according to a June 23 report from Reuters. Some representatives of fiercely anti-nuclear Austria have threatened to block Slovakia's EU membership over Jaslovske Bohunice, a late 1970s plant about 60 kilometres from the Austrian border, but Slovakia says it cannot afford to close the plant, the report said. Safety features at the plant have undergone several upgrades in collaboration with international nuclear energy organisations, using Western technology, according to Reuters. Contact: Slovak Environment Ministry, tel: (421-7) 516-2306.
Lithuania may begin Ignalina nuclear plant closure in 2005
Lithuania could begin closing the first bloc of the controversial Ignalina nuclear power plant in 2005, though the entire decommissioning of the Soviet-era plant may take 20 years, Deputy Economics Minister Viktoras Valentukevichius said on June 24, according to Reuters. After a meeting of a working group looking at the closure of the plant, Valentukevichius said a hard date for the closure would be put to the government and parliament, possibly as early as the last week of June or first week of July, according to Reuters. Valentukevichius said closure of the entire plant could cost between $3.25-3.75 billion, and that his country would need help beyond financing with the decommissioning if it were to take place, Reuters reported. Contact: Lithuanian environmental spokeswoman Natalija Gedvilaite, tel: (370-2) 723- 25; e-mail: Leidybos.biuras@nt.gamta.lt.
Moldova postpones vote on Bulgarian nuclear waste transit
The Moldovan parliament on June 24 postponed a ratification vote on the 1997 agreement on the transit of nuclear fuel from the Bulgarian Kozloduy nuclear plant, according to a report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. This is the second time that the legislature has refused to ratify the agreement -- signed by Moldova, Bulgaria, Russia, and Ukraine in 1997 -- to allow spent nuclear fuel from Bulgaria to be transported through Moldova to Russia. Although the Moldovan cabinet supports the plan, members of parliament representing the Christian Democratic Popular Front and the Party of Moldovan Communists decided to postpone the vote, according to the report. Contact: Bulgarian Atomic Energy Committee, tel: (359-2) 720-217; or The Ecologist Movement of Moldova (Miscarea Ecologista din Moldova), tel: (373-2) 237-149; e-mail: ren@dpmi.moldova.su.
E U A C C E S S I O N / P A N - E U R O P E A N
Funded by European Commission's DG-XI and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
35 European nations sign water safety agreement
Thirty-five European nations signed a protocol on water and health to curb the re-emergence of diseases such as cholera and typhoid, according to a June 21 report from Reuters. Officials attending the World Health Organization's Third European Ministerial Conference agreed to the legally binding agreement designed to ensure safe drinking water for the region's 870 million people, the report said. Under the protocol, which covers lakes, waterways and rivers, countries must meet targets for water supply, quality and treatment. The WHO has said that one in seven people in its European region, over 120 million people, lack safe drinking water. The protocol will make it illegal to distribute unhealthy water and a country whose neighbour violates the agreement will be protected by law, according to Reuters. More than 70 ministers from 51 countries attended the WHO meeting, the largest gathering of health and environment ministers in Europe. In addition to the water protocol, ministers adopted a charter on transport, environment and health designed to reduce car pollution, which is killing more people than road accidents in some countries, Reuters reported. The next WHO European ministerial conference will take place in Hungary in 2004, according to Reuters. Contact: Kaj Barlund, director, UN/ECE Environment and Human Settlements Division, tel: (41-22) 917-2370; fax: (41-22) 907-0107; e-mail: kaj.barlund@unece.org; or Viv Taylor Gee, e-mail: vge@who.dk.
Scientists warn of climate change's threat to European health
Global warming and changes in rainfall patterns may have wide-ranging impacts on health in Europe, a team of researchers announced in the "British Medical Journal," according to a June 21 report from Environment News Service (ENS). One particular ill-effect of global warming that the researchers mentioned is the type of flooding that has been plaguing Central and Eastern Europe in recent years, according to ENS. Contact: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, fax: (44-171) 277-0283; e-mail: m.prince@iop.kcl.ac.uk.
Directory lists European environment and health groups
"The European Directory of Environment and Health Organisations" has just been published, according to an e-mail from Rowshan Hannan of the UNED-UK. The directory, which contains information about 302 organisations can be found on the internet at:
W H O W E A R EAbout 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.
Copyright 1998 by the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe
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