dioxin level spikes from bombing

[Neil Tangri <ntangri@essential.org>]

The first part of this article is about the Danube, but look lower down: it
claims that the NATO bombing has resulted in sharp increases of dioxin
levels in Greece.




http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may99/1999L-05-19-05.html

NATO BOMBING HAS NOT POLLUTED THE DANUBE

VIENNA, Austria, May 19, 1999 (ENS) - The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia  
has not produced any detectable environmental damage to the Danube  
River to date, according to the participants in an international  
workshop held last week as part of the Danube River Pollution  
Reduction Programme. This conclusion was endorsed despite dire  
warnings of Balkan environmental groups that the river is being harmed  
by nearly two months of NATO bombardment.

The workshop was organized by the United Nations Development Programme  
and the Global Environmental Facility and was supported by the  
International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River  
(ICPDR). It was held in Hernstein, Austria from May 12 to 16.

<Bild: Belgrade>

The confluence of the Sava and Danube Rivers in Belgrade in happier  
times. (Photo courtesy Kontiki Travel)

The participants were high-ranking officials from the Danube  
Commission, from all Danube River countries, from United Nations  
organizations, from the World Bank, the Danube Environmental Forum and  
the World Wide Fund for Nature.

"No significant water pollution or environmental damages caused by the  
war in Yugoslavia/Kosovo could be detected so far," the participants  
said in a statement issued at the close of the workshop.

Still, the workshop agreed that besides already ongoing monitoring  
activities, "further rigorous monitoring and assessments are urgently  
needed." The Danube River flows through the centre of Belgrade where  
extensive NATO bombing has been taking place for weeks.

This conclusion is not that of the United Nations humanitarian and  
environmental assessment mission which arrived Saturday in Yugoslavia  
and is still there. After inspecting Belgrade and the surrounding  
area, this UN team is now touring Kosovo. It is not due to report back  
until May 27.

The conclusions of the Danube River workshop relate primarily to water  
pollution. Air pollution over Greece appears to be rising as a result  
of the bombing.

Today in Athens, Greenpeace Greece released the results of an air  
pollution study that shows the bombing of Yugoslavia and the resulting  
fires in Kosovo have increased levels of dioxins in the atmosphere.  
The increases appear to have been recorded as sharp peaks, not as a  
steady sustained rise in atmospheric dioxins.

Samples collected by researchers from the University of Thessaloniki  
in Greece were analyzed by Greenpeace's Exeter Laboratory in Exeter,  
UK.

In its report, Exeter concluded, "On the basis of the sample results,  
there is little more that can be said beyond the fact that an  
elevation in atmospheric dioxin and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons  
(PAHs) levels is entirely consistent with a large number of  
uncontrolled fires taking place in the area of Kosovo."

"The back projected air movements, as presented by the University of  
Thessaloniki, also support the idea that the dioxins recorded in  
Greece arose from events in the Yugoslavia region, although it is not  
immediately clear why these elevated levels have not been maintained  
beyond the peak recorded, given that air movements make it likely,"  
the lab report said.

"The concentrations of dioxins as measured in northern Greece, appear  
to be at the higher end of levels recorded in atmospheric air for  
urban/industrial areas but are not extreme and lie within the normal  
ranges," the Exeter lab said.

The lab did not find it possible to come to any meaningful conclusions  
concerning the potential health impacts.



© Environment News Service (ENS) 1999. All Rights Reserved. <Bild>





--

Neil TANGRI