Press release |
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2002 |
GREENPEACE SURVEYS LEVEL OF A 100-YEAR FLOOD AT SPOLANA AND WARNS FOR
LIKELY FLOODING OF DIOXINS INTO ELBE RIVER !
Praha/Neratovice,
24th January 02 -- Greenpeace activists from the Czech Republic,
Germany, Slovakia, Austria, the Netherlands and Finland have today surveyed
the level of a 100-year flood with a circular laser operated by a professional
surveyor in front of the Spolana chemical plant in Neratovice, Czech
Republic. Greenpeace also warns that water could flood two buildings
heavily contaminated with extremely toxic dioxins and wash them down
the stream of the Elbe river (1). A recently produced study has revealed
that Spolana is one of the most dioxin contaminated spots in the world
and leakage of these dioxines into the environment would have serious
environmental consequences.
"To
withhold information about the risk to the public is highly irresponsible,"
said Dr.Miroslav Suta, Greenpeace toxic campaigner. The management of
Spolana denies the possibility of dioxins being washed into the river
by a flood and tries to play down the whole problem.
Spolana
has been refusing Greenpeace's demands for open information to the public
for almost a year now. The management also ignored repeated demands
to safeguard contaminated buildings from possible floods. Even Spolana's
own study, carried out by the consultancy firm Aquatest confirms that
a flood could wash down dioxins into Elbe and threaten the environment
and human health. (2).
According
to recent information from the Czech Environment Inspection Authority,
already in the case of a once-in-a-50-year flood water levels would
reach up to 50cm above the floor level of one of the buildings contaminated
with dioxins (building A 1030) (3). The concentration of dioxins on
the floor reaches up to 1255ng TEQ/g, which is 125 times more than the
limit of dioxins in toxic waste. The total quantity of dioxins contained
inside these two Spolana buildings is estimated to be 28 to 276 gramms,
according to chemical analyses. For comparison: a single 1 gramm of
dioxins contaminating chicken feed in Belgium caused a well known scandal
and damages amounting to USD 1.3 billion. Belgian scientists also forecast
that hundreds of people will suffer from cancer due to this dioxin contamination.
The two Spolana buildings involved show cracks and corrosion threatens
one of the roof structures.
"Already
an extremely small quantity of dioxins can cause cancer, fertility disorders
and damage to the immune and hormone system," warned Dr.Suta and
added that human intake of dioxins goes mainly over food and air. However,
dioxins also easily penetrate the skin during the contact with contaminated
objects. This could represent a serious risk especially in cases of
contamination of buildings, roads, fields and meadows alongside Elbe
river in case of a flood (4).
"We
do not understand how the management of Spolana dares to tell people
that dioxins will not endanger them during floods when they know very
well that already a 50-year flood could wash down dioxins into Elbe,"
said Suta (5). "If Spolana misleads also the Ministry of Environment
in Saxony (Germany) and the International Commission for the Protection
of the Elbe River, it can damage the reputation of the Czech Republic
in Germany, which is also an important export market for Spolana.,"
stressed Suta.
Další
informace:
Dr. Miroslav Suta, coordinator toxics campaign mobile: +420.603.443
140 (Czech and English),
e-mail: miroslav.suta@cz.greenpeace.org
Vaclav Vasku, press spokes person, mobile: +420.603.414 739 (Czech
and English)
Jan Haverkamp, campaign director, mobile: +420.603.569 243 (English
and German),
e-mail: jan.haverkamp@cz.greenpeace.org
internet: http://www.greenpeace.cz/agentorange
Notes
for the editor:
(1)
The dioxin pollution in Spolana Neratovice occured between 1965 and
1968 when the firm produced the chlorine herbicid 2.4.5-T, one of the
components of Agent Orange used by the American army in Vietnam. The
production had to be stopped in 1968, when some 80 employees suffered
serious health problems. A concrete sarcophagus was made over one of
the contaminated buildings in 1998. The remaining two buildings still
wait for decontamination.
(2)
Aquatest: Spolana a.s. Neratovice - Contamination of buildings A 1420
and A 1030 with dioxins - Risk analyses - report, January 2001
(3)
Report of the Czech Environment Inspection Authority for Greenpeace
from January 21, 2002
(4)
Doc.ing.Pavel Kalac, CSc: Polychlorine dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans
in the environment, Cesky ekologicky ustav and Ministry of Environment
CR, 1995
(5)
"Spolana employees proved that not even a 100 year flood will put
a threat to the buldings." Zdenek Joska: Dioxins will not endanger
the public even during floods! - Spolana's press release from December
20, 2001
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