Press release |
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7/2002 |
Spolana also contaminates the air with toxic dioxins!
Praha,
22 February 2002 - Greenpeace today requested the local hygiene
inspection in the town of Melnik, Czech Republic, as well as the director
of the Czech Environmental Inspection to demand from the management
of Spolana to secure their dioxin contaminated buildings from leakage
of dioxins into the surrounding air. Greenpeace has results from analyses
at its disposal that show such a high concentration of dioxins in the
direct surroundings of the contaminated buildings, that human health
could be endangered.
Greenpeace
furthermore has pictures that show that the contaminated buildings in
Spolana have broken or even completely missing windows. In one of the
buildings part of the roof has already collapsed. The contaminated building
A 1420 furthermore lies on the edge of the Spolana area. In the direct
vicinity live neighbours, are an operating boarding house, first aid
station, shops and further buildings with public use.
In
air-samples from the surroundings of building A 1420, the specialised
Axys Varilab laboratory found dioxin concentrations of 51,9 pg/m3 (2).
A health risk analysis showed that such amounts could clearly affect
human health. This is also confirmed in a study carried out for Spolana
by the AQUATEST consultancy, which concludes: "[...] it must [...]
be expected that concentrations of TeCDD in the order of tens to hundreds
pg/m3 also in relative short exposition times may have an important
harmful effect on health." The measured concentration of dioxins
is 5 times higher than the occupational maximum acceptible concentration
and more than 50 times higher than the Czech Environmental Inspectorate
allows acceptable for the environment (3).
"Although
people that work at Spolana and work or live in the direct vicinity
are highly endangered, the management of Spolana ignored all earlier
appeals from Greenpeace to adequately seal off the buildings,"
explains Dr. Miroslav Suta, coordinator of the Greenpeace toxics campaign
in the Czech Republic.
Greenpeace
also passed information on the air-contamination with dioxins around
the buildings of Spolana to the police in Melnik. On the basis of a
criminal complaint from Greenpeace, the Melnik police investigates whether
people within the management of Spolana committed criminal acts by not
securing the dioxin contaminated buildings.
Spolana
Neratovice is one of the few chlorine chemical plants and the monopoly
producer of PVC in the Czech Republic. The production of chlorine and
chloro-organic substances contaminated the Spolana area with dioxins,
mercury and a list of other extremely dangerous toxic substances. Spring
2001, Greenpeace started a campaign to convince Spolana to secure the
contaminated object on short term against leakage of toxic substances
to the air and against flooding, and on the longer term secure safe
decontamination.
Further
information:
Dr. Miroslav Suta, coordinator of the Greenpeace toxics campaign
in the Czech Republic [English, Czech],
mobile: +420.603.443140, tel.: +420.2.24319667, fax: +420.2.33332289
e-mail: miroslav.suta@cz.greenpeace.org
Vaclav Vasku, press spokes person [English, Czech], mobile: +420.603.414739
Jan Haverkamp, Greenpeace campaign director in the Czech Republic
[English, German], mobile: +420.603.569243
Notes
for the editor:
1) Aquatest: Spolana a.s. Neratovice - Kontaminace objektů A 1420
a A 1030 dioxiny - Analýza rizika - závěrečná zpráva, leden 2001 (Contamintion
of the buildings A 1420 and A 1030 with dioxins - risk analysis - final
report, january 2001)
2)
Axys Varilab: Protokol z analýz vzorků číslo 2398 a 2399 (Protocol of
the analysis of the samples 2398 and 2399).
3)
Letter from the director of the Czech Environmental Inspection, ing.
Soukupa (90R/11129/01) of 10. January 2002
Pictures
and video (Betacam) available from the press spokes person of Greenpeace
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