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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
