INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Pressreleases / Communiqués / Pressemitteilungen 
(all in original language, en langue originale, in Originalsprache):

    Contents:

    "Newer news"

  • 06.05.01: Russia: Greenpeace against water pollution by toxic chemicals
  • 06.05.01 : USA: Environmentalists sue government over salmon
  • 06.05.01: Wild chinook salmon may be extinct in 15 years
  • 05.05.01: Widespread contamination threatens California's groundwater
  • 05.05.01: Eastern European governments pledge to improve Danube and encourage sustainable development
  • 05.05.01 : Condemnation of Europe's largest reservoir project grows
  • 02.05.01 : Colloque " Eau & Santé ", 31 mai et 1er juin 2001, Metz, Palais des Congrès.
    02.05.01: " Water & Health ", May 31th & June 1st 2001, Palais des Congrès, Metz, France.
  • 01.05.01 : Turkey's Gediz delta left out of protective grant

    Older news

Text :

06.05.01: Wild chinook salmon may be extinct in 15 years

By Margot Higgins
One of the most threatened groups of salmon in the Pacific Northwest will virtually disappear by 2016, according to a study commissioned by a national conservation group.
According to "The Doomsday Report 2001" commissioned by Trout Unlimited, wild spring-summer chinook salmon will be functionally extinct a year earlier than previous studies have predicted, and far earlier than government agencies have considered in the federal recovery program for endangered salmon.
Full story

06.05.01: Russia: Greenpeace against water pollution by toxic chemicals

By Associated Press
Greenpeace activists on Thursday used a fire hose to suck allegedly contaminated water from a Russian factory's pipes and spray it back onto the factory's territory, trying to dramatize the environmental group's campaign to ban toxic chemicals. Greenpeace said the Cepruss pulp and paper mill, in Russia's western Kaliningrad enclave, was releasing dangerous pollution created as a byproduct of bleaching pulp for white paper with chlorine gas. The group said the process can produce chemicals on the so-called "dirty dozen" list of dangerous industrial pollutants that are scheduled to be phased out under a treaty 120 nations will sign later this month. Russia has agreed to sign the treaty. The "dirty dozen" chemicals linger in the environment and collect in human tissue, causing damage especially to childbearing women. "The technology to stop this environmental abuse is readily available. The paper industry must make the jump to chlorine-free processes and stop its waste water discharges," Greenpeace activist Wytrze van der Naald said in the statement.
Full story

06.05.01 : USA: Environmentalists sue government over salmon

By Associated Press
At least a dozen environmental groups sued the federal government Thursday, claiming a plan to save salmon was actually a "blank check" to hydroelectric generators.
The lawsuit claims implementation of the National Marine Fisheries Services plan for saving an imperiled salmon species and the steelhead trout on the upper Columbia and Snake rivers is flawed scientifically and legally.
"The main point here is, we have a lot of ways to meet our energy needs," said Todd True, an attorney with the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. "These salmon only have one river forever. If we do not support them, they will go extinct."
Read full story
More information on this action
See also Columbia & Snake rivers campaign site

05.05.01: Widespread contamination threatens California's groundwater

Widespread contamination threatens California's groundwater, a source of drinking water for half the state's population, according to the environmental NGO the National Resources Defence Council (NRDC).
For full article: http://www.edie.net/news/Archive/4178.cfm
Further information :
NRDC (Natural Resources Defence Council): http://www.nrdc.org/
"California's Contaminated Groundwater: Is the State Minding the Store?" : http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/ccg/ccginx.asp

05.05.01: Eastern European governments pledge to improve Danube and encourage sustainable development

The leaders of nine East European nations and government representatives of six other nations have agreed to protect the environment of the Danube basin and encourage sustainable development at a summit organised by the Romanian government and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
On the 2,800 km-long (1,750 mile-long) Danube, which is the source of drinking water for up to ten million people in Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine, delegates agreed to work together to ensure proper protection and rehabilitation of floodplains, wetlands and natural forests.
For full article: http://www.edie.net/news/Archive/4165.cfm
More informations: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may2001/2001L-05-01-10.html
and on the Green Light for Europe Website

05.05.01 : Condemnation of Europe's largest reservoir project grows

The European Commission is to begin investigating a Portuguese reservoir, which will be Europe's largest, while allegations of pushing the Iberian Lynx to extinction and flooding ancient cave art continue to grow. A coalition of five Portuguese environmental NGOs has already described the project work, costing US $1.43 billion and partly funded by European Union taxpayers as "one of the biggest acts of environmental destruction ever in Portugal.
For full article: http://www.edie.net/news/Archive/4163.cfm

02.05.01: " Water & Health ", May 31th & June 1st 2001, Palais des Congrès, Metz, France.

The water agencies play a supporting role in aid of the Minister for Town and Country Planning and the Environment in the gathering of information, the publication of knowledge; research and the planning of action in response to the problems that they identify. The water agencies can complement the more specialized bodies. The raising of awareness and the organization of debate are the very core of the actions undertaken by the basin authorities.

The theme of water and health is a very important subject which numerous recent polls have shown to be of great concern to the population, and is therefore a major element in national thinking on the reform of water management, the preparation of the second round of plans of the water agencies and the implementation of Water Framwork Directive.

Water, either directly or indirectly through natural systems, can be a vector of pollution affecting human health. Do these new types of pollution create new diseases? What is the present state of knowledge? Who manages health monitoring, safety, risks and information, and by what means? The experience of neighbouring countries and those across the Atlantic will throw new light on the subject.

Following a proposal by the Rhine-Meuse Water Survey, a Commission of the Rhine-Meuse Basin Committee, the Water Directorate and the water agencies have decided to hold an international colloquium in Metz, at the Palais des Congrès, on 31st May and 1st June 2001, under the patronage of the Minister for Town and Country Planning and the Environment. The Rhine-Meuse Water Agency will be responsible for organization and administration of this event.

The theme of water and health cuts across many different disciplines. The spheres of politics, the economy, the social services, education, health, the public authorities, civil society, etc. will be gathered together The information exchanged should make a positive contribution to the debate at all levels.

Complete information.

02.05.01 : Colloque " Eau & Santé ", 31 mai et 1er juin 2001, Metz, Palais des Congrès.

Les agences de l'eau au côté du ministère de l'aménagement du territoire et de l'environnement ont un rôle à tenir dans la collecte de l'information, la diffusion des connaissances, la recherche, la programmation et l'action face aux problèmes dont elles sont témoins en complément des organismes plus spécialisés. La prise de conscience et l'organisation du débat sont au coeur même de l'essence de l'action des comités de bassin.

Le thème de l'eau et la santé est un sujet majeur qui préoccupe le citoyen et qui, de fait, est une composante importante de la réflexion nationale sur la réforme de la gestion de l'eau, et la préparation des huitièmes programmes des agences de l'eau et la prise en compte de la directive cadre européenne sur l'eau.

Ainsi, l'eau, directement ou indirectement via les milieux naturels, peut être le vecteur de pollutions avec des effets sur la santé humaine. Les nouvelles pollutions créent-elles de nouvelles maladies? Où en est-on des connaissances ? Comment et qui gére la veille sanitaire, la sécurité, le risque, l'information ? Les expériences et les témoignages des pays voisins et outre-atlantiques apporteront un éclairage précieux.

Sur proposition de l'Observatoire de l'eau Rhin-Meuse, Commission du Comité de bassin Rhin-Meuse, la Direction de l'eau et les agences de l'eau ont décidé de tenir un colloque international à Metz, au Palais des Congrès, les 31 mai et 1er juin 2001, sous le haut patronage de la Ministre de l'aménagement du Territoire et de l'environnement. Le pilotage et le secrétariat de la manifestation est assuré par l'agence de l'eau Rhin-Meuse.

Le thème de l'eau et la santé est pluridisciplinaire. Représentants du monde politique, économique, associatif, de l'éducation, de la santé, des pouvoirs publics, de la société civile... seront réunis ; l'information échangée devrait être une contribution positive au débat citoyen.

Toute l'information sur ce colloque.

01.05.01 : Turkey's Gediz delta left out of protective grant

By Jon Gorvett
Istanbul, Turkey, (ENS) - Turkish government officials have announced a $2 million World Bank grant to help conserve four of the country's top ecological protected areas. Yet, at the same time there are warnings of eco-catastrophe for the Gediz River Delta, one of Turkey's most important nature reserves.
For full text and graphics visit: http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2001/2001L-04-26-01.html

 


Back to the Homepage

These pages and their content are © Copyright of European Rivers Network.
For more information, remarks or propositions, send us a message !.

width=582>
These pages and their content are © Copyright of European Rivers Network.
For more information, remarks or propositions, send us a message !.