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Mensagem enviada por: "Humberto Adami Santos Junior" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ---------------------------------------------- humberto adami [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Mensagem original----- De: Tom Popper <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Para: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Data: Quarta-feira, 4 de Agosto de 1999 03:45 Assunto: Green Horizon, Aug. 3, 1999 >******************** >GREEN HORIZON > >Environmental story ideas and tips >on news to watch in Central and Eastern Europe > >Aug. 3, 1999 * Volume 2 Number 5 >******************** > >-------------------- >CONTENTS >-------------------- >BALKAN CRISIS > UN team: War hasn't caused "major eco-catastrophe" > British scientist says worst effects of DU yet to come > Serbian minister blames bombing for unseasonable weather > WSPA disaster relief team to help Kosovo's stray dogs > >AROUND THE REGION > Landslides, floods claim lives in Romania and Hungary > Floods in Hungary cause $210 million in damage > EC seeks NGOs to join in dialogue on accession > Environmentalists defend trees in Czech national park > Albanian government looking to locally produced energy > Lithuanian oil terminal operation disrupted > Baltic to gain from Kaliningrad sewage upgrade > Bulgaria has lowest birth rate in Europe > Hungarian power plant plans wind turbine > >NUCLEAR > EU to screen region's mushrooms for radioactivity > Austrians speak against Temelin in Brussels > Czech cabinet votes against continued uranium mining > Another delay in spent fuel transport from Bulgaria to Russia > Western, Russian firms to upgrade Bulgarian nuclear plant > >EU ACCESSION > Talks on enlargement and environment to begin next year > Poles may get EURO 200 million from EU for environment > >JOURNALISM NEWS > Online environmental magazine seeks submissions > Web site covers information society and CEE environment > >WHO WE ARE > About Green Horizon > >-------------------- >BALKAN CRISIS >-------------------- >UN TEAM: WAR HASN'T CAUSED "MAJOR ECO-CATASTROPHE" >The head of a United Nations expert team said on July 27 there was no >evidence that NATO bombing had caused any major ecological >catastrophe in Yugoslavia, but there is a need for urgent action to deal >with some of the damage, according to reports. Pekka Haavisto, a >former Finnish environment minister and chairman of the United >Nations' Balkan Task Force, said that much of the environmental >damage his team did find were the result of poor environmental >practices that have been used by industry for the past 20 years our >more, according to Reuters. Although the Yugoslav environment needs >to be cleaned up, Haavisto said, "I don't speak about a major eco- >catastrophe," and there is no apparent radiation problem from depleted >uranium bombs, according to Reuters. The overall findings of the UN >team tend to confirm the original projections of a REC preliminary >report on the environmental damage caused by the war. Haavisto was >speaking to reporters at the end of his team's 10-day tour of sites in >Serbia, including Kosovo. The 17-strong team, which included two >experts from the REC, visited eight towns where NATO hit a wide range >of targets -- including fuel refineries, fertiliser plants and petrochemical >units -- in the air war from March 24 to June 12, according to Reuters >and other sources. Contact: The Balkans Task Force has a web site at: ><http://www.grid.unep.ch:80/btf>. > >BRITISH SCIENTIST SAYS WORST EFFECTS OF DU YET TO COME >A British scientist says NATO's use of depleted uranium ammunition in >the war over Kosovo could cause as many as 10,000 deaths from >cancer over time, according to a July 30 report from Alex Kirby of BBC >Online Network. Despite a UN team's statement that it had found no >elevated levels of radiation in the war zone, researcher Roger Coghill >said Greek scientists had reported in June that radiation levels rose >above normal whenever the wind blew from the direction of Kosovo, >according to reports. Coghill said the maximum effect of the depleted >uranium will be reached about six months after the war, and he thinks >the first cancers -- probably leukaemias -- will start to show up about a >year after that, according to the BBC report. Contact: Kirby's story can be >seen on the web at: ><http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_408000/408122.stm> >; Coghill's research lab has a web site at: < >http://www.cogreslab.demon.co.uk>. > >SERBIAN MINISTER BLAMES BOMBING FOR UNSEASONABLE >WEATHER >Serbian Ecology Minister Branislav Blazic on July 29 blamed NATO's 11- >week air bombardment of Yugoslavia for unseasonable spring and >summer weather in the Balkan region, according to a report from >Reuters. Blazic was quoted by Beta news agency as saying an >unprecedented amount of rain had fallen in the region, and that military >activities -- including the unusual amount of airplane fuel burned by >NATO jets -- had brought about the rain by affecting the upper >atmosphere, Reuters reported. Contact: Serbian Environment Ministry >(381-11) 657-143; or Yugoslav Federal Hydrometeorological Institute, >Slavko Maksimovic, director, tel: (381-11) 645-779; fax: (381-11) 646- >369. > >WSPA DISASTER RELIEF TEAM TO HELP KOSOVO'S STRAY DOGS >A disaster relief team from the World Society for the Protection of >Animals (WSPA) was to arrive in Kosovo on Aug. 2 on a mission to help >deal with thousands of stray dogs that are roaming city streets in the >region, according to a press release distributed by e-mail. The team >will link up with several veterinarians in the town of Prizren in an attempt >to deal with the problem of thousands of stray dogs that are roaming >the streets and forming packs scavenging for food, according to the >release. Many of these dogs are sick and injured, and some army units >have already started shooting them in an attempt to prevent them from >becoming a problem and spreading disease, the release said. The >WSPA-led team hopes to collect strays from the streets, treat and clean >them in a temporary shelter and re-home as many dogs as possible in >a program that they hope will become a model for other towns in >Kosovo, the release said. Contact: Jonathan Owen, WSPA Press Office, >tel: (44-171) 793-0540; web: ><http://www.wspa.org.uk/news/pressoff.html>. > >-------------------- >AROUND THE REGION >-------------------- >LANDSLIDES, FLOODS CLAIM LIVES IN ROMANIA AND HUNGARY >At least 13 people were killed and 23 injured in a landslide caused by >heavy rain and floods near a dam on the Raul Mare River in the Retezat >mountains in western Romania, according to a July 13 report from >Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE). Romanian Radio reported on >July 13 that one person drowned in Cluj County, the RFE report said. >Reuters reported that at least six people were killed as the result of >landslides caused by floods in Hungary. Three persons were buried in >a wine cellar in Siklos, south of Budapest, and three drowned in Heves >County, in northwestern Hungary, Reuters said. In Bulgaria, floods >caused heavy damage in two villages near the town of Montana, north >of Sofia, according to RFE. Contact: Romanian Ministry of Water, >Forestry and Environmental Protection, tel: (40-1) 410-6394; fax: (40-1) >312-2599; or Dr. Judit Moser of the Hungarian environment ministry's >press office, tel: (36-1) 201-2619. > >FLOODS IN HUNGARY CAUSE $210 MILLION IN DAMAGE >Floods have caused damage costing more than Ft 50 billion ($210.5 >million) in Hungary so far this year, government spokesman Gabor >Borokai told a news conference on July 27, according to a report from >Reuters. Borokai said the first set of floods, brought on by an early >melting of a record amount of snow followed by heavy rains, caused >damage of Ft 31.3 billion in the spring, Reuters reported. He said an >additional Ft 20 billion in damage was caused by flooding this >summer, which followed weeks of torrential rains that broke several >decade-old records in certain regions of the country, Reuters reported. >Contact: Dr. Judit Moser of the Hungarian environment ministry's press >office, tel: (36-1) 201-2619. > >EC SEEKS NGOs TO JOIN IN DIALOGUE ON ACCESSION >The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe >(REC) is organising a series of conferences to facilitate dialogue >between environmental NGOs in the region and officials in the >European Commission on the subject of accession. The REC is now >conducting a search for the best NGOs to involve in the process. >According to a statement from the REC, the project, sponsored by the >EC's Directorate General XI, aims to encourage open discussions >about EU accession between EC staff and representative >environmental NGOs from the 11 accession countries (Bulgaria, >Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, >Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia). NGOs from other CEE countries >could also be involved and informed of the dialogue, the statement >said. Project plans call for four conferences in the next two years. The >first conference is to take place in Brussels in October. Anyone from an >NGO who wants to participate -- or anyone who knows of an NGO that >they feel should be involved in this dialogue -- is urged to contact the >REC by sending an e-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. For fastest >processing, put the words "NGO-EC" in the subject line. > >ENVIRONMENTALISTS DEFEND TREES IN CZECH NATIONAL PARK >Several dozen Czech environmental activists were staging an ongoing >blockade of trees in the Sumava National Park to protect them against >woodcutters, according to a July 28 report from Radio Prague. The >environmentalists are ready to go on with the peaceful blockade for >several months, the report said. Widespread felling of trees in the most >strictly protected areas of the Sumava National Park started several >days ago after approval from the environment ministry earlier this year, >the radio reported. The ministry argued that the trees needed protection >against the spread of bark-beetle, but a group of leading Czech experts >have issued an appeal calling for a halt to the felling, claiming that such >harsh intervention in the best preserved areas of forest is unnecessary, >the report said. Contact: A web site about the Sumava National Park is >available at: <http://www.jiznicechy.cz/asc/uk/prizaj/sumava.html>; or >contact: Czech Greenpeace, web: <http://www.greenpeace.cz>; or >Czech Environment Minister Milos Kuzvart, tel: (420-2) 6712-2719 or >(420-2) 6712-1111. > >ALBANIAN GOVERNMENT LOOKING TO LOCALLY PRODUCED >ENERGY >Officials of the Ministry of Public Economy and Privatisation in Tirana, >Albania, are considering hydro-electric plants as a way to produce >power closer to the customers, the Albanian Daily said on July 5, >according to a report from Central Europe Online. The ministry is >looking for potential investors into eight proposed local hydro-power >stations on the River Vjosa in southern Albania, where the energy >potential has gone unrealised thus far, the report said. Most of >Albania's electricity comes form hydro-power plants in the north of the >country, on the Drini River, which has caused problems in distribution -- >especially because southern and middle Albania are the greatest >consumers of energy, the report said. Contact: Albanian Ministry of >Information, Department of Communication with Media, tel: (355) 425- >6269; e-mail: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; web: ><http://mininf.gov.al/english/Default.htm>. > >LITHUANIAN OIL TERMINAL OPERATION DISRUPTED >Protesters from Latvia temporarily disrupted the initial operations of >Lithuania's new Butinge Oil Terminal on July 21, according to reports. >Four environmental protesters chained themselves to a buoy near the >terminal until they were removed by the Lithuanian coast guard and >were later deported, according to a report from Radio Free >Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE). According to a widely circulated e-mail that >was sent out July 21 and signed by demonstrators, the protest >campaign against Butinge Oil Terminal is spearheaded by Friends of >the Earth Latvia/VAK. The statement from the activists said in part: "The >Butinge SPMB-type Oil Terminal is being constructed by the Lithuanian >side just 1 km off the border with Latvia. All proceedings are done >without consultations with Latvia, all regulations of this terminal and its >presumable Oil Spill Contingency Plan, if any, is kept in secret." At >opening ceremonies on July 22, Lithuanian President Valdas >Adamkus, a long-time environmental official in the U.S., stressed that >Butinge "poses no threat to nature," RFE reported. Contact: Janis Ulme, >VAK/FoE Latvia, e-mail: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; or Lithuanian environmental >spokeswoman Natalija Gedvilaite, tel: (370-2) 723-251; e-mail: ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. > >BALTIC TO GAIN FROM KALININGRAD SEWAGE UPGRADE >Pollution levels in the Baltic Sea are expected to fall "substantially" after >the implementation of a plan, announced in early July, to improve >sewage treatment and collection in the Russian territory of Kaliningrad, >according to a July 13 report from ENDS Environment Daily. The >European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is to >invest EURO 16.5 million in the project, which will also lead to >"significant" energy savings and improved drinking water quality in the >region, ENDS Environment Daily reported. The remainder of the >project's costs of EURO 63 million will be met by environment and >development agencies from Baltic neighbours Sweden and Denmark >and Nordic financial institutions, the report said. The Baltic has long >suffered from heavy eutrophication pressures due to the large number >of rivers flowing into the sea from catchments in former Communist >states containing major cities such as St. Petersburg and Warsaw, >according to the report. Contacts: EBRD, tel: (44-171) 338-610; web: ><http://www.ebrd.org>. To subscribe to ENDS Environment Daily, e- >mail: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. > >BULGARIA HAS LOWEST BIRTH RATE IN EUROPE >Bulgaria's population is declining and the country now has the lowest >birth rate in Europe, the Bulgarian National Statistics Institute (NSI) said >on July 28, according to a report from Reuters. The nation's ageing >population, which has been shrinking since 1990, decreased by 0.6 >percent in 1998 to 8.23 million and is seen falling to 6.91 million in >2020, the report said. Last year, Bulgaria had a birth rate of 7.9 per >1,000, while its mortality rate was at 14.3 per 1,000 -- and the infant >mortality rate was 14.4 per 1,000, said the report, which added that >vascular and heart diseases were the cause of two-thirds of a total of >118,000 deaths in Bulgaria last year. "The population is getting older >and last year every fourth Bulgarian was a pensioner," Yordan Kalchev, >an expert at the NSI was quoted as telling a news conference. Contact: >Bulgarian Ministry of Health, tel: (359-2) 8631; fax: (359-2) 80-031; or >Zero Population Growth, tel: (1-202) 332-2200; fax: (1-202) 332-2302; e- >mail: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; web: <http://www.zpg.org>. > >HUNGARIAN POWER PLANT PLANS WIND TURBINE >The Hungarian Bakony Power Plant Company is planning to set up an >experimental wind turbine, the Hungarian daily Nepszabadsag reported >on July 19. The turbine would be erected next to the traditional coal >power plant in Inota, Zoltan Kovacs, strategic development manager of >the company, told Nepszabadsag. Bakony Power Plant Company >would decide after a two-year experimental period whether to invest in >further turbines, the daily reported. The turbine would operate on the top >of a 30 meter high tower and it could reach a maximum speed of 30 >spins per minute. The cost of the turbine was HUF 60 million, and the >company expected to have the costs cleared in 20 years, the daily >reported. Contact: Dr. Judit Moser of the Hungarian environment >ministry's press office, tel: (36-1) 201-2619. > >-------------------- >NUCLEAR >-------------------- >EU TO SCREEN REGION'S MUSHROOMS FOR RADIOACTIVITY >The European Commission said on July 29 it would tighten long- >standing checks on mushrooms imported from 23 countries over fears >they are still contaminated with radiation as a result of the Chernobyl >nuclear accident in 1986, according to Reuters. The EC singled out >wild mushrooms as being particularly prone to contamination and said >levels of radioactive radiocaesium had "hardly declined and may well >have increased in the case of certain species" since 1986. European >Union states would be legally obliged to carry out rigorous checks on >mushrooms imported from outside the bloc and all products would >have to be certified safe before they could be sold, the commission >said in the EU's Official Journal, according to Reuters. Countries >whose mushrooms would be subject to the new checks were listed as: >Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech >Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, FYR >Macedonia, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, the Slovak >Republic, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey, the Ukraine and Yugoslavia. >Contact: European Commission Directorate General for Environment, >Timo Makela, tel: (32-2) 299-2300; fax (32-2) 299-0310. The EC >decision is available on line in "PDF" format at: <http://europa.eu.int/eur- >lex/en/dat/1999/l_197/l_19719990729en00170024.pdf>. > >AUSTRIANS SPEAK AGAINST TEMELIN IN BRUSSELS >A delegation from Upper Austria has voiced objections to the >construction of the nuclear power station in Temelin, South Bohemia, to >the European Commission, according to a July 28 report from Radio >Prague. The delegation proposed that the Czech Republic not be >admitted to the EU as long as the nuclear power plant at Temelin stays >in operation, the report said. However, the head of the EC negotiating >team, Nikolaus van der Pas, said in reaction that the use of nuclear >energy is not prohibited in the EU if a member state assures a high >level reactor safety, according to Radio Prague. The Austrians also >submitted four studies on Temelin to van der Pas, as well as a list of >demands which included a ban of the activation and operation of any >Soviet-made reactors in countries which apply for EU membership, the >radio reported. Contact: Czech Environment Minister Milos Kuzvart, tel: >(420-2) 6712-2719 or (420-2) 6712-1111; or Greenpeace Austria, tel: >(43-1) 545-4580. > >CZECH CABINET VOTES AGAINST CONTINUED URANIUM MINING >The Czech cabinet has rejected a proposal by the Trade and Industry >Minister Miroslav Gregr to continue uranium mining, according to a July >22 report from Radio Prague. Gregr had proposed keeping open the >country's last working mine and reopening a second mine until 2005, a >move he says would have ensured a guaranteed source of fuel for the >country's two nuclear power stations and saved several thousand jobs, >according to the report. The government's decision was welcomed by >Environment Minister Milos Kuzvart, who said there were other >employment opportunities for miners who would lose their jobs in the >two regions concerned, and estimated that uranium mining had cost >the country up to one hundred billion crowns in damage to the >environment, the report said. Contact: Czech Environment Minister >Milos Kuzvart, tel: (420-2) 6712-2719 or (420-2) 6712-1111. > >ANOTHER DELAY IN SPENT FUEL TRANSPORT FROM BULGARIA TO >RUSSIA >The Parliament of Moldova on July 8 moved to postpone until October >1999 a vote on ratification of the joint agreement on nuclear spent fuel >transport between Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Moldova, according to >a press release from environmental activists. Moldova's participation in >this agreement is essential for Bulgaria to be able to ship spent >nuclear fuel by rail to Russia for storage and reprocessing, which also >requires passage through Romania and Ukraine, the press release >said. Nine months ago, all transfers of nuclear waste from the Kozloduy >reactors to Russia were suspended because Moldova's parliament >would not ratify the agreement. The plenary of the parliament on the >July 8 again delayed the Bulgarian nuclear industry from moving >forward with these plans, the release said. Meanwhile, according to the >release, environmental activists were working to permanently prevent >the transport agreement. Contact: Antinuclear campaign of Socio- >Ecological Union in Russia, Vladimir Slivyak, tel: (7-095) 776-6546; or >Polina Kireva of Ecodefense in Sofia, tel: (359) 265-8216; or Bulgarian >Atomic Energy Committee, tel: (359-2) 720-217. > >WESTERN, RUSSIAN FIRMS TO UPGRADE BULGARIAN NUCLEAR >PLANT >A consortium of three companies on July 8 signed in Sofia a $300 >million contract for the modernisation of nuclear units 5 and 6 at the >Kozloduy power station in Bulgaria, Reuters and the Associated Press >said, according to a report carried by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. >Bulgarian Energy Committee Chairman Ivan Shilyashki said that half of >the financing for the modernisation will come from the EU's Euratome >and Bulgaria will cover the rest with the help of loans from the countries >that are participating in the consortium, the report said. German's >Siemens AG, France's Framatome, and Russia's Atomenergoexport >are scheduled to begin the modernization program next summer and to >complete it in 2005, the report said. The modernisation of the two 1,000- >megawatt units will help Bulgaria decommission its four older 440- >megawatt reactors at Kozloduy, which the EU considers to be unsafe. >Contact: Bulgarian Atomic Energy Committee, tel: (359-2) 720-217. > >-------------------- >EU ACCESSION >-------------------- >TALKS ON ENLARGEMENT AND ENVIRONMENT TO BEGIN NEXT >YEAR >Political negotiations to decide whether Central and Eastern European >countries will be allowed to join the EU without meeting all its >environmental standards will begin next year, acting environment >commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard said this weekend, according to a >report from ENDS Environment Daily. The announcement that the talks >will start under the Portuguese presidency of the EU will disappoint >countries which had hoped to begin the process this year under the >auspices of the Finnish presidency, perceived as more sympathetic to >an earlier enlargement of the union, the report said. A crucial question >is whether the EU will allow countries "transition periods," because -- >though all hope to be members of the union within four years -- several >candidate countries have admitted that compliance with legislation in >these areas may require periods of up to a decade after joining, the >report said. Contact: Finnish Presidency of the EU, tel: (358) 205-1999; >web: <http://presidency.finland.fi>. To subscribe to ENDS Environment >Daily, e-mail: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. > >POLES MAY GET EURO 200 MILLION FROM EU FOR ENVIRONMENT >Poland said on July 26 it could get up to EURO 200 million ($213.9 >million) a year until 2007 from the European Union to clean up its >environment, according to a report from Reuters. The money would go >mainly on improving drinking water and sewage treatment and on >limiting air pollution -- and would be granted under the IPSA >programme for aspiring EU members -- Environment Minister Jan >Szyszko told reporters, according to Reuters. The World Bank has said >Poland must invest some $30-35 billion within the next decade to meet >strict pollution standards of the EU, which Poland wants to join in 2003. >Contact: Polish Environment Minister Jan Szyszko, tel: (48-22) 253-355 >or (48-22) 251-111. > >-------------------- >JOURNALISM NEWS >-------------------- >ONLINE ENVIRONMENTAL MAGAZINE SEEKS SUBMISSIONS >An online environmental magazine called "Elements" has announced >that it is currently soliciting submissions for a new issue entitled "Living >the Green Life," which will focus on ways that people reduce their >environmental impact on the earth. Anyone interested in writing an >article about environmentally friendly lifestyles, or on ways that >particular organisations have become more environmentally, friendly is >urged to contact the magazine. Articles should be 500-1000 words long >and written for the general public. Contact New Brunswick >Environmental Network, tel: (506) 433-6101; fax: (506) 433-6111; e- >mail: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; web: <http://www.web.net/~nben> and ><http://elements.nb.ca>. > >WEB SITE COVERS INFORMATION SOCIETY AND CEE >ENVIRONMENT >A new web page outlines developments in "Information Society >Technologies and the Environment in Central and Eastern Europe." >According to an announcement about the web page, it offers >information about the European Commission's Information Society >Technologies Programme, as well as a good practice guide containing >16 case studies about the application of information society >technologies for the environment. See the site at: ><http://www.rec.org/ist>. > >-------------------- >WHO WE ARE >-------------------- >ABOUT 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: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, or call Tom Popper at (36-26) 311-199, >fax (36-26) 311-294. > >******************** >Copyright 1999 by the Regional Environmental Center for Central and >Eastern Europe >Ady Endre �t 9-11 * 2000 Szentendre, Hungary >Tel: (36-26) 311-199 * Fax: (36-26) 311-294 >E-mail: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> * web: <http://www.rec.org> > >Funded by European Commission's DG-XI and the U.S. Environmental >Protection Agency. > > ----------------------------------- Dicas: 1- D�vidas e instru��es diversas procure por Listas em: http://www.pegasus.com.br 2- Pegasus Virtual Office http://www.pvo.pegasus.com.br
