GREENPEACE FILED SUIT AGAINST CZECH NATIONAL PROPERTY FUND CONCERNING SPOLANA INFORMATIONPrague, 16 September 2002 -- The Czech National Property Fund (FNM), a State structure that manages state-owned property, refuses Greenpeace access to information concerning the contracts and tender process for the decontamination of the chemical factory Spolana in Neratovice. The liquidation of buildings that are contaminated with dioxins and mercury is estimated on up to 4 Billion Czech Crowns (= 130 Million Euro). Greenpeace therefore during the last days filed a lawsuit against the National Property Fund, to force it over court to publish the information it keeps confidential (1).“The public has a right to know the extend of the contamination and also should be informed how this is dealt with public funds. The confidentiality posed by FNM creates a dangerous environment for corruption,” announced Dr. Miroslav Suta, Greenpeace consultant for toxic issues, and he added if these kinds of tenders with a value of several Billions of Crowns are not completely transparent, the door is opened for corruption. Already in January 2002, Greenpeace passed several requests for access to information concerning the decontamination of toxic hot-spots in Spolana, on the basis of the Act on Public Access to Environmental Information (no. 123/98 Sb.) and the Act on Free Access to Public Information (no. 106/99 Sb.). The National Property Fund refused to release this information on the ground that these laws are not valid for the FNM. Greenpeace therefore went into appeal, which was refused by the president of the National Property Fund. According to present accessible information, the liquidation of the two dioxin- contaminated buildings will cost around 2,75 Billion Czech Crowns (= 90 Million Euro) and the decontamination of the mercury-polluted sites another 0,5 to 1 Billion (= 20 to 40 Million Euro) (2). Those sums have to be paid by the National Property Fund (3). The Environment Ministry and the Spolana management already chose the process with which the dioxins will have to be removed. This technology is called BCD, and only one Czech firm has a licence to operate it. BCD belongs, according to Greenpeace experts, among the alternative destruction technologies that can be used for liquidation of dioxins. There are worldwide, nevertheless, more comparable technologies available that can remove toxic substances including dioxins very effectively. FNM, however, did not include these techniques between those considered for dealing with the problems at Spolana. “The assessment study for the dioxin decontamination in Spolana was carried out by an American firm with a grant from the USA. It clearly is no coincidence that this study only comes with a solution from an American firm. There is no reason whatsoever, why not more technologies were included and why not the best from those can be chosen,” explains Dr. Suta (4). During the destructive floods from last August, almost the entire site of Spolana was flooded, including the two dioxin-contaminated buildings (5). Analyses from samples taken around Spolana confirm that dioxins and other dangerous substances, including carcinogens, have leaked out from the plant (6). Greenpeace runs a campaign to safeguard the contaminated areas and their following decontamination already from spring 2001. FURTHER INFORMATION: Dr.
Miroslav Suta, toxic
expert for Greenpeace in the Czech Republic Ir.
Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace Campaign Director in the Czech Republic
Vaclav
Vasku, Greenpeace spokes person in the Czech Republic [Czech, Internet: http://www.greenpeace.cz/agentorange NOTES TO THE EDITOR: (1)
For the complete text of the suit, please contact the Greenpeace spokes
(2)
See e.g. press statement from CTK “Kuzvart: For the liquidation of (3)
The National Property Fund signed in 1994 a contract with Spolana (no.
(4)
The US Trade and Development Agency gave a grant in the magnitude (5)
Press Release Greenpeace 4 September 2002 (6)
The contamination took place in the 196s, when Spolana produced the
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