----- Original Message ----- From: Willi Firth <GraueMaus at compuserve.com> To: Balkan-Info <Balkan-Info at onelist.com> Sent: Thursday, 21 October 1999 5:45 Subject: [Balkan-Info] Belgrade conference on environmental consequences of the war
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Von: Spyros Psaroudas, INTERNET:psaroudas at arcturos.the.forthnet.gr An: [unbekannt], INTERNET:caw at freemail.gr Datum: 19.10.99 21:01 BE: Belgrade conference on environmental consequences of the war
Dear friends,
Recently (8-11 October), I represented ARCTUROS (a Greek environmental organisation I work professionaly for it) in a conference organised in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, by the NGO "Young Researchers of Serbia".
Unfortunately, I have no time to write my impressions on what I saw there, because in a few hours I have to leave again Thessaloniki for 8 days (I shall be back on 29 October).
However, my main impression is that both NATO - Western countries and the Milosevich regime keep secrete or underestimate what are the real consequences of the war in the Balkans on the environment and the health of hundred thousands, maybe millions of people living in the Balkans and in the Southern East Europe.
Maybe it is enough just to write here that 8 (eight) tones of MERCURY have gone into Danube river!!!!
It would be also enough for everyone just to consider that in all countries of the "civilized world", medicine doctors would have adviced pregnant women to make an abortion to avoid the very high risk of teratogenesis, cancers etc. But in Serbia, apart from a few individual doctors) nobody dit it: neither NATO, nor Milosevic regime (maybe because this is opposite to its demographic policy!).
The people in Yugoslavia needs an URGENT help, since a huge amount of money is needed to clean water sources and the soil of the country. International help is needed!
Please have a look at the document I attach here (remember that none of the particiapants was a native speaker of english) and distribute it to your friends and colleagues.
Spyros Psaroudas
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Balkan Environmental Conference Belgrade, 7-11.10.1999
Declaration
It is still early for making any kind of final estimation of environmental damages caused by NATO military actions against Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, even four months after these were stopped. Final reports are missing due to the lack of field researches, insufficient funds and the complexity of the problems studied. Experiences from other wars suggest that a fitting time distance must be secured.
Concerning the previous, Young Researchers of Serbia organized the Balkan Environmental Conference, held in Belgrade, from 7 October to 11 October, 1999 with the main subject: "Environmental consequences of the war in FR Yugoslavia". Forty four representatives from organizations from the Balkan and other states, after extensive and detailed discussions, concluded the following:
NATO air assaults against FR Yugoslavia had ecocide characters. The bombardment will have long term effects on the environment and the quality of human life. Several industrial plants: Oil industry objects (Oil refineries in Novi Sad and Pancevo, lubricant production plant in Belgrade, fuel and oil storages in Lipovica, Belgrade, Bogutovac, Smederevo, Prahovo, Sombor, Pristina, Gruza, Nis and Krusevac); Petrochemical and plastic masses production plants (Pancevo, Novi Sad, Raska, Urosevac and Pristina) as well as chemical industrial complexes (Pancevo, Valjevo, Baric, Kursumlija, Gnjilane, Kula, Leskovac, Nis, Cacak, Vranje, Novi Sad, Lucani, Vrbas, Srbobran and Sabac) were damaged and large quantities of dangerous chemical substances have been released into the eco system. The transboundary nature of the problem requires the setup of an international network. Moreover all the international documents of an environmental matter (Stockholm, Geneva, The Hague, Rio de Janeiro and Kyoto) have been ignored.
The environmental effects can be distinguished on the basis of the medium that was affected.
a) AIR - the release in the atmosphere of elevated concentration of pollutants (oxides, vinyl chloride monomere, polychlorinated biphenil compounds, ethilene-dicloride, dioxin, furans, mercury, chlorine, ammoniac, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen chloride) and particulate matter containing heavy metals. Pollutants affected the quality of the air however their consequences cannot yet be foreseen concerning human health.
b) WATER - Most of the harmful substances, such as liquid chlorine, vinyl-chloride monomer, hydrofluoric acid, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide , sodium cyanide, pentachlorphenol, polyelectrolytes, chlorbenzene, xylene, potassium salts, perclorinethylene, ammoniac and urea and other toxic compounds reached the rivers mostly through interconnecting and sewer channels. Water resources of FR Yugoslavia were endangered by the direct release of harmful substances into the rivers, by the sedimentation of the condensed combustion products on targeted spots, and finally, by the sedimentation of combustion products from aircraft and utilization of explosive ammunition.
International surface waters, the Sava River, the Danube and it's Delta and the Black Sea are particularly endangered due to the destruction of oil, chemical and petrochemical plants in the towns of Novi Sad, Belgrade and Pancevo.
War actions imperiled water resources: 1. Rivers and accumulations, used for potable water supplies are polluted (according to warnings of Mr. Peter Weller, the head of WWF Danubian-Carpathian Program, approximately 10 million people that are supplied with water from this river are endangered in the southern part of the subdanubian region); 2. Fish and aquatic ecosystems are endangered (recovery of the ichtiofauna and fisheries in this region is completely uncertain); 3. Groundwater systems and related wells are endangered on a long-term and hardly predictable basis. 4. Ground water systems will be polluted on a longer time scale by the release of the toxic substances drained from the upper layers of the soil.
c) SOIL - The upper layer of the soil is highly contaminated by crude oil, transformer oils (PCB's), mercury and cadmium, to name some, for a limited thickness in well defined locations. The consequences of this is a long term release of chemical compounds in the ground water reservoirs due to percolation. This creates an emergency in saving drinking water reservoirs.
d) WEAPONS - In addition to these long-term and indirect effects of the bombardment we have to mention the direct effects of the nature of the weapons used on the FR of Yugoslavia. Amongst these, ammunition containing depleted uranium were used for high penetration. The effect of these kind of weapons, are not yet well known. The radioactive, chemical and toxic effects on human health are certain while their duration, symptoms and consequences to human life are yet to be foreseen. Furthermore the intense use of cluster type bombs has determined high risk conditions due to the presence of many unexploded parts of this weapon over the targetted territory.
e) NATURE - FR Yugoslavia is one of the six biodiversity centers in Europe, out of 153 biodiversity centers that exist globally. Permanent military actions took place at the beginning of the spring season, coinciding with the maximum reproduction rate for the majority of living organisms.
A number of local populations and specimens of plant and animal species that are listed on the European Red Books were directly damaged in a different extent. Some of the animal species were forced to migrate from their irreversibly destructed native habitats .
It is estimated that approximately 100.000 bird specimens were killed or their hatching was hindered by military actions, taking into account the significance of the targeted spots in Serbia.
Negative environmental effects (damages) in FR Yugoslavia, particularly Serbia, according to their characteristics and preliminary estimations, range and size are characterized as international-regional; according to the duration and ways of enacting as mid and long-term, as well as cumulative with extended period of action. The damages and related pollution are not only temporary, peripheral, local and easily reparable, but rather represent complex, multidimensional and hardly reparable ecosystem negative environmental impacts.-
INITIATIVES
1. We are of the opinion that all actions standing for explicit banning of utilization of depleted uranium, radioactive and other chemical weapons, that contaminate the environment, affecting the humans and the living world even after the war activities, with possible long-term harmful consequences, should be supported.
2. We plead for improving international conventions and war law regulations, particularly by more clearly defining the targets that once damaged become hazardous to the environment. These must be excluded from the legitimate military target lists.
3. We appeal to international health institutions for constant health monitoring and adequate medical treatment of the populations from the affected high-risk industrial zones.
4. The international embargo causes additional problems concerning the environment and health care, implying clear danger of deterioration of environmental conditions. Therefore we strongly believe that the embargo should be lifted especially concerning the aforementioned aspects.
5. We call for action and cooperation all international financial organizations.
6. We decided to establish an information net concerning the exchange of information, data, experiences and realization of joint projects of Balkan NGOs.
7. We will direct our further activities towards cooperation of Balkan NGOs in order to develop the civil society and enhance the relations of Balkan nations through environmental education, information and joint action ("Balkan houses of understanding", organisation of international workcamps). 8. Establishing both long and short-term coalitions, within the net of Balkan and other European NGOs, that would improve and speed up the process of finding appropriate solutions, through organizing joint activities and exchange of experiences.
9. Agenda 21: initiating the process of sustainable development both on a local and regional level by organising training seminars and creating platforms of co-operation between municipal authorities, local companies, NGO's, cultural and other institutions.
10. Promoting specific actions to cope with the most urgent needs, i.e. the assessment of the quality of drinking water supply systems. This needs the joint collaboration of highly qualified professionals taken from the Yugoslavian and International scientific and technical communities.
11. To support the previous items collecting data and performing field measurements.
12. To collect data on the effect of depleted uranium (DU) on human health, finalised to the characterisation of DU ammunition as banned chemical weapons.
Belgrade, 11. 10. 1999