NATURE RESERVE CERNINOVSKO NEAR CZECH CHEMICAL FACTORY SPOLANA POLLUTED WITH DIOXINS AND PCBSPraha, 13 May 2003 - A blind arm of the Elbe River in the nature reserve Cerninovsko near the village of Libis was already before last year's flood in August polluted with considerable concentrations of extremely toxic dioxins and poly-chlor-bifenyls (PCB). The content of poisonous substances in the reserve was measured in June 2002 in the framework of a United Nations project on the implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) (1). The elevated concentrations of dioxins and PCBs in the sediment of Ceninovsko are many times higher than measured in other places of the Czech Republic. The blind arm of the Elbe River in the nature reserve contained even amounts of dioxins that are over the decontamination limit of the Czech Ministry of Environment, said Greenpeace toxic expert Dr. Miroslav Suta. The Cerninovsko nature reserve of 10,4 ha. received its status in 1950 because of the unique ecosystem of flood plain forests and the blind Elbe arm. The reserve is situated near the village of Libis, where Greenpeace analysis showed high concentrations of dioxines in the fatty tissue of a duck and chicken eggs, that exceeded many times the EU limits (2). PCBs and dioxins are highly toxic substances, that remain intact in the environment for a very long time. They only extremely slowly are removed from the body of living organisms and accumulate in fatty tissue of animals and people. Dioxins can cause several forms of cancers, birth defects or disturb several hormonal functions. Already for a long time, Greenpeace demands that Spolana secures its contaminated sites against leakage of toxic substances into the environment, and that it decontaminates these areas and buildings safely. During the floods in August 2002, the Elbe River flooded the complete Spolana factory and the company had to admit that thousands of tons of chemical substances had washed into the environment (3). FURTHER INFORMATION: Dr. Miroslav Suta, (Czech, English) Greenpeace toxic expert, mobile: +420.603 443 140, tel.: +420.224 319 667, +420.233 332 289, e-mail: miroslav.suta@cz.greenpeace.org Ir. Jan Haverkamp (English, German, Dutch, Czech), Greenpeace Campaign Director in the Czech Republic, mobile: +420.603 569 243, e-mail:jan.haverkamp@cz.greenpeace.org Mgr. Tomas Tetiva , (Czech, English) Greenpeace media assistant, mobile: +420.603 414 739, e-mail: tomas.tetiva@cz.greenpeace.org Internet: http://www.greenpeace.cz/agentorange/index_en.htm NOTES FOR THE EDITOR: (1) Samples were taken on 24 June 2002 in the framework of a project of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, that coordinates in the Czech Republic the Research Centre for Environmental Chemistry and Eco-toxicology (RECETOX) at the Masaryk University in Brno in cooperation with the company TOCOEN. More on the project can be found on: http://www.recetox.muni.cz/projekty/Unido/unido-index.htm (2) Greenpeace Press Release 19 November 2002: ;Greenpeace found at Czech chemical factory Spolana food stuffs polluted with PCBs and dioxins, http://www.greenpeace.cz/release/02/021119en.htm (3) Greenpeace Press Release 4 September 2002: Greenpeace: “Czech chemical company Spolana hides toxic chemicals pollution, http://www.greenpeace.cz/release/02/020904en.htm A TABLE WITH MEASUREMENT RESULTS IS AVAILABLE FROM THE CZECH OFFICE OF GREENPEACE
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