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Rubbish avalanche threatens Danube FOCUS
ON SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE
The main dumpsite for the city of Belgrade poses one of the biggest utility problems in Serbia and Montenegro. The landfill next to the town of Vinca, 14 km from Belgrade, accepts most of the solid waste for the capital city of 1. 6 million. The city produces around 1,200 tonnes of waste per day. On a weekday about 160 truck loads of refuse are dumped at the site, and traffic slows only slightly on Saturday and Sunday. Local authorities plan to expand the landfill by 50 hectares to a total of 130 hectares. This will be achieved by adding to the depth of the waste in the valley. According to experts at International Waste Management Group (IWMG), the waste mass, which is 60 metres deep in places, could slide down the valley into the Danube. No obstacles would prevent such an avalanche, the orchards on the lower slopes of the valley being no match for millions of tonnes garbage. The landfill site itself is basically a tributary valley of the Danube, and it is being filled in a rather haphazard manner. The site is not lined and the tributary flows through the centre of the site — in some places directly under the mass of refuse. No consideration has been given to the protection of ground waters, surface runoff or drainage. Environmentalists have urged for the implementation of a waste separation system for Belgrade households, but the cost of several thousand containers needed for such a programme is an obstacle. Some believe the problem is unmanageable without foreign investment. — EkoForum Tanker deal stirs Croatian protest Green activists in Croatia are up in arms over an oil deal hatched with Russia, which they say could inflict incalculable harm on the natural resources of the Adriatic Sea. The deal means that from early next year about 15 million tons of oil will start reaching the port of Omisalj on the island of Krk in the northern Adriatic, through a pipeline from Russia. Environmentalists say the oil, which is then to be shipped along the coast to the Mediterranean, threatens not only flora and fauna but also the tourist industry, on which hundreds of thousands of jobs depend. The Croatian environmental association EKO Kvarner began in April to collect signatures in support of a local referendum against the project. If they gather 60,000 names, or 20 percent of the county electorate, the local government will be obliged to call a vote by the end of May. Croatia’s environment minister, Bozo Kovacevic (since replaced by Ivo Banac), said he backed the idea, saying a plebiscite was needed to test the strength of local resistance to the project. The agreement, worth USD 80 million, was negotiated in April 2002 by three partners — the Croatian firm Adriatic Oil Pipeline, its Russian counterpart Druzba Oil Pipeline, and the Hungarian company Adria Oil Pipeline. Vjeran Pirsic, head of EKO Kvarner, said environmentalists were concerned about a repeat of the gigantic oil spill off the coast of Galicia, in northwest Spain. That spill covered beaches off Spain for months, ruining fishing and killing huge numbers of birds, fish and crabs. Pirsic also said that water from the ballast tanks of the oil tankers will infect the Adriatic with alien organisms, endangering the local flora and fauna. Water-ballast tanks are flooded to maintain stability when the oil tankers have no cargo. Before loading up with oil, the vessels release the water from the tanks into the sea. The Adriatic is already plagued by a tropical killer algae known as caulerpa taxipholia, which has been traced to ballast waters. Bulgaria kicks off green campaign A concert on Sofia's Alexander Batenberg Square marked the launch of the campaign "Bulgaria Yes — This is My Nature," a government initiative to increase environmental awareness across the country. The concert placed a special emphasis on Bulgarian traditions as the Orthodox Church paid tribute to the saintly brothers Cyril and Methodius on May 11. Children from across the country staged performances during the concert, which was attended by Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg and several government ministers. — Novinte.com Spring drought hits Croatian farms Damage to crops, caused by weeks of heat and drought in Croatia, is estimated at USD 215 million, Agriculture Minister Bozidar Pankretic said. A state of natural disaster was declared in 10 counties in eastern and northern Croatia in May. Croatia has 21 counties. "The ministry will propose measures to the government to help farmers overcome the disaster," a local news agency quoted Pankretic as saying. Sugar beet, wheat, barley, oats, rye, corn, soybean and sunflower were among the most damaged crops. "In this situation we will propose to the government to relieve the farmers from certain financial obligations and we will ask the finance ministry to cover 30 percent of damages incurred by the drought," Pankretic said. — Planet Ark//Reuters FOCUS ON NUCLEAR ENERGY Radiation leaks from Hungarian reactor An April leak of radioactive gas from Hungary's Paks Nuclear Power Plant posed no hazard to people, according to state news agency MTI. Examination of an underwater tank containing radioactive uranium capsules in heating pipes revealed that most of the bundles of heating elements had been damaged, according to the Associated Press. But plant officials said that no radioactive gas from the plant had drifted off the grounds of the facility, and that there had been no need for any disaster managing measures. Plant spokesman Balazs Kovats said the management, per legal requirements, had informed the mayors within 30 kilometres of the plant through a special SMS system established for this purpose. |
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The Bulletin - the Quarterly Magazine of the REC |
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