PRESS BRIEFING ON ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION IN BALKANS

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING ON ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATION IN BALKANS

There would be serious health and other consequences if environmental problems arising from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) bombing of industrial sites in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were not taken into account, Pekka Haavisto, Chairman of the Joint United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)/United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) Balkans Task Force, said at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

He said a great deal of mercury, asbestos and other toxic or hazardous substances had been found in petrochemical factories, as well as in the soil. In some places, the ground water might be polluted and samples would be analysed during this month.

Mr. Haavisto, a former Environment Minister of Finland, said the overall estimation was that there were certain environmental impacts and health risks if immediate action were not taken.

The Task Force was established after the United Nations Inter-agency Needs Assessment Mission to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia visited places in Kosovo, Serbia and Montenegro. It recommended an immediate special assessment of the environment and human settlements. Since May, it had concentrated on industrial sites, oil refineries and car factories in Kosovo and Serbia. At the end of August, it would evaluate water samples from the River Danube and examine the conflict's impact on biodiversity and long-term health. A report would be presented to the Secretary-General in September/October.

A correspondent asked how the United States Government had reacted to the recommendation that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia be given some assistance in cleaning up environmental hazards. Mr. Haavisto said that when the Balkans Task Force report was ready then, there would be an overall picture of the situation.

Mr. Haavisto said he had reported to the United States State Department everything that was mentioned today. The question now was whether that kind of environmental assessment be part of the humanitarian assistance to the area. It was common sense to do something that would prevent further environmental or human health problems. Such action could be totally separated from the reconstruction issues with attached political conditionalities.

When asked what the American response was to the environmental assistance proposal, the Chairman said that everyone was waiting for the report and the scientific results before making up their minds and taking any action.

Another correspondent wanted to know whether he would be making recommendations on the specific immediate protective measures that should be taken and, if so, what would they be. Mr. Haavisto said that what had been discovered in many places was that Serbian authorities and the Government were already working -- independent of the international community -- with the reconstruction issues in many of the sites.

"What we have found", continued Mr. Haavisto, "is that workers are not always protected against environmental threats." He mentioned mercury and other toxic substances, including a lot of asbestos. What concerned him was that people might not be aware of all the environmental risks. When reconstruction was taking place in some of those places people should be protected and the environmental concerns addressed. That issue was certainly one aspect of the report.

A correspondent asked how urgent the situation was, what had to be undertaken at first, and how all of that would correspond with the political environment, especially when Washington and the Western allies were saying that no human rights reconstruction would be undertaken until the Government's political involvement was in place.

Mr. Haavisto said that many of the towns that had been visited were ruled by opposition parties. In Pancevo, the first comment to his group was "you finally came -- we have been waiting for you for 10 years". What was discovered was that there was a long problematic environmental history on sites. A distinction, therefore, had to be made between the problems caused by the crisis and the previous environmental problems.

Responding to the question of addressing all the problems, he said neither he nor his organization were in a position to recommend or make any decisions on the political conditionalities. "Certainly, we promise to report all our findings and then, it is up to the United Nations and the international community to decide whether some of the assistance could be part of the humanitarian relief."

A correspondent asked whether the situation could wait another couple of months for the report to be issued. Mr. Haavisto said that as soon as the laboratory tests of samples were received, if there were real emergency issues, they would be reported immediately to both the local and federal authorities in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. They could then take action by themselves.

Another correspondent wanted to know how long it would take to clean up what was really known to be there, and whether depleted uranium shelves, as well as factories be looked into. Mr. Haavisto said the clean-up would be a long task especially with the on-site polluted soil and protection of the ground water. Scientists from many countries had been consulted and asked what they would do if the same situation had happened in their own countries.

Balkans Briefing - 3 - 5 August 1999

The message that needed to be sent was that the cleaning of the soil and the protection of the water were huge operations, if they were done according to the best criteria. It would take several years, he added.

Responding to the issue raised on depleted uranium, Mr. Haavisto said that all stakeholders had been asked to give whatever information they had on that issue to the Task Force, which was ready to make samples and work on the matter. The World Health Organization (WHO) and atomic energy agencies, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), had been contacted. It was, however, left to be seen whether anything alarming would be found. So far, a simple radioactivity measuring equipment had not detected high radioactivity levels.

When asked how many people's lives were in danger, Mr. Haavisto said that it was too early to say. With regard to the chemical industry, there had been previous problems. When Pancevo hospital was visited, there were reports of a disease known as Pancevo cancer -- a type of liver cancer that affected people in the petrochemical industry -- which had been a problem for many years. The conflict also did not help the situation at all. It was still too early, however, to give any figures about people in danger.

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