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Estonia
seeks ban on single-hull tankers Estonia seeks ban on single-hull tankers
Large quantities of Russian oil exports are shipped through the Baltic Sea from St.Petersburg or ports in the Baltic countries, often in ageing single-hull tankers, like the 26-year-old Prestige. The picture above shows the clean-up of that disaster in the Spanish town of Muxia in late January. Each year,several hundred tankers visit Tallinn, one of the busiest ports in the region. About 25 per- cent of those vessels are single-hulled. The European Union announced recently that it would ban single-hulled tankers carrying heavy fuel oil, bitumen,tar and heavy crude oil from entering EU ports. It wants to ban all such tankers more than 15-years old by 2010. The Baltic Sea is surrounded by nations already inside or hoping to join the EU, apart from Russia. "We hope that also Russia will realise the potential danger of single-hulled tankers and expect it to take part in this discussion," Vaarsi said. – REUTERS FOCUS ON BALTIC SEA REGION Bio-fuel bill ignites controversy Poland's car industry and consumer groups have appealed to President Aleksander Kwasniewski to veto a controversial bio-fuels bill passed by Parliament late last year. The measure from July would impose a minimum level of so-called bio-components in all gasoline sold in Poland, establishing standards that are far above EU levels. The bill, championed by the co-ruling Peasants' Party, would benefit farmers by giving them guaranteed prices for crops used to produce biofuels. Influential entrepreneurs who have invested in plants to distil bio-ethanol - used as a gasoline additive - have also lobbied for the measure. Opponents say that besides going beyond EU guidelines, it also violates consumer rights. Kwasniewski was expected to decide on the matter within days. "The main worry is that in contrast with the EU, which only aims to set caps on the content of bio-components, Poland would set a minimum, meaning the actual level could be much higher," said Enrico Pavoni, head the Polish unit of Fiat. The bill sets a minimum of 4.5 percent bio-ethanol content in all gasoline sold in Poland. The country with the highest level of bio-fuel components in gasoline in western Europe is Germany with 1.3 percent, but the EU wants to gradually raise that to 5.75 percent by 2010. - REUTERS 17 Baltic Sea 'hot spots' cleaned Years of clean-up efforts in the Baltics have resulted in the deletion of 17 so-called 'hot spots' from an environmental blacklist drawn up by the Joint Comprehensive Baltic Sea Environment Action Programme. In the last 10 years, 51 hot spots have been cleaned up, winnowing the list down to 81. The sites were removed at a meeting of the Project Implementation Task Force in Stockholm late last year. At the table were delegates from the Helsinski Commission, Baltic Sea countries, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)and more. Gote Svenson, chairman of the task force, said the deletions demonstrated the success of the programme. "We are optimistic to be able to fully restore most of the remaining hot spots within 10 years ¡X at the end of the 20-year programme," he said. The removed hot spots were the Gdansk Oil Refinery, Poland; chemical plant Anwil S. A., Poland; heat and power plant Siekirki, Poland; chemical plant Police S. A., Poland; Zielona Gora wastewater treatment plant, Poland; Prochowice poultry processor, Poland; KGHM Polish Copper Glogow Mill and No. 102. 3 - KGHM P. C. Legnica mill, Poland; chemical plant Wizow, Poland; Neubrandenburg, No. 117 Stavenhagen and No. 120 Wismar, municipal wastewater treatment, Germany; fish farming, Finland; Agriculture/livestock, Gulf of Riga, Latvia; Ronnskarverken, metal Smelter industry, Sweden; Stockholm, municipal wastewater treatment, Sweden; and Upper Basin - Salt Control, Czech Republic. |
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