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Chinese Satellites to Monitor Environment BEIJING, China, January 14, 2004 (ENS) - China intends to launch 10 satellites this year, some for the purpose of monitoring the environment, a top aerospace official, told the state run "China Daily" newspaper.Zhang Qingwei said the first of them, a small one carrying scientific experiments, is scheduled for blast off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China's Sichuan Province in late spring 2004. In the clearest official statement to date concerning China's space plans for this year, Zhang said the 10 satellites in the pipeline for this year include meteorological, natural resources and marine observation and geospace exploration satellites. There are 16 Chinese satellites still operating in orbit, including Probe-1, the first Sino-European joint satellite launched December 30, 2003. But those are not enough to meet the needs created by economic growth and national defense requirements, Zhang said. Satellites with different functions, from weather to remote sensing and geographic information as well as scientific research ones, are key to speeding up the country's economic growth and communication systems. In 2003, China launched six satellites into orbit and put a man in space, joining Russia and the United States in the small group of countries that have accomplished human space flight. Now that China has proven it can launch satellites, the country plans to offer in-orbit delivered satellite services for foreign countries, said Jiang Weixing, vice-director of CASC's Aerospace Department.
UK Deems LibertyLink Rice Safe for Processing, Animal Feed LONDON, UK, January 14, 2004 (ENS) - The UK government has assessed an application by Bayer Cropscience Ltd for the import of genetically modified rice for processing and animal feed as complying with European Union requirements.The European Commission was notified on January 7, and the application and the UK's assessment will now be studied by other EU member states before a collective decision is made. Under EU law, all applications to import or cultivate genetically modified crops are initially assessed by the government to which they are originally submitted. Consent, if granted, would not permit cultivation of the rice in the European Union nor, without separate approval, could it be used in human food. The Bayer rice, LLRICE62, has been genetically engineered to be tolerant to the herbicide glufosinate, sold under the trade name Liberty. The commercial name of the planting seed is LibertyLink rice. Currently there is no commercial marketing of LibertyLink rice anywhere in the world but it is expected that varieties could be available for commercial production in 2004. Opponents of genetically modified crops say they could irreversibly contaminate the environment by uncontrolled genetic combination with traditional crops. As food, critics say, they could trigger allergies and tests are unable to demonstrate that long term dietary exposure to them is safe for humans. The UK government has been advised by its Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) that the LibertyLink rice, "Does not pose a risk to human health and the environment. The marketing of this product for importation and processing in the UK will be no different from that of other rice imported for processing and animal feed purposes." Environment and Agri-Environment Minister Elliot Morley said, "Current EU legislation requires a case-by-case assessment of all applications on the basis of the scientific evidence - and that is what we have done. Our independent advisory committee has concluded that there are no safety based objections to this application. We will, however, be insisting as ACRE advises that, if marketing consent is given, it should be on the basis that there are more stringent post-market monitoring reporting requirements. In 2001 in Texas, Aventis Cropscience, then manufacturer of LibertyLink rice, destroyed nearly five million pounds because it was worried that the herbicide resistant rice was not approved in Japan and other countries. Following this disaster, Aventis decided to get out of the transgenic food business and sold its Cropscience division to Bayer. While approved for human consumption by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, LibertyLink rice was treated with glufosinate, an herbicide that has not been approved for rice, though it has been approved for corn, cotton, and rapeseed. "Genetically modified food and products are available widely throughout the world," Morley said. "Only products which have met stringent health and environment tests will ever be on sale in this country - consumers can then choose whether or not to use them on the basis of the best information available." If consent is subsequently given by the EU for import, the UK government is "insisting" on annual reports on post-market monitoring of this transgenic rice. Any consent would be subject to strict requirements on traceability and labeling set out in new EU Regulations on genetically modified foods adopted in September and November 2003. Although both regulations are now legally in force, their practical requirements will only apply to EU member states and to individual stakeholders from April 18, 2004. At the end of last year UK agencies held personal consultations with representative stakeholders on all practical aspects of their full implementation and are currently running a formal written consultation. The UK's assessment, and ACRE's advice, are online at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/gm/regulation/euconsent.htm
Friends of Lake Chapala Challenge Mexican Government MONTREAL, Canada, January 14, 2004 (ENS) - The government of Mexico has been asked to respond to allegations by nine Mexican environmental organizations that it has failed to effectively enforce its environmental law with respect to the Lerma-Chapala-Santiago-Pacífico basin. Lake Chapala is located in Mexico's southcentral highlands, and the basin extends into five states.The environmentalists have complained about environmental deterioration and uneven water distribution in the basin to the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), created under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). They warn that Lake Chapala and its migratory bird habitat could eventually disappear. On December 19, 2003, the Secretariat requested an answer from the Mexican government, which has up to 60 days to respond. Lake Chapala is drying up and even after the 2003 rainy season stand at only 37 percent of its total volume, according to Sociedad Amigos del Lago de Chapala, one of the submitting groups. The water of the lake is polluted by industrial waste, domestic sewage and agricultural chemicals. Existing sewage treatment plants are either not working at all or are not efficient, says Amigos del Lago. Even the city of Guadalajara, with over six million people, has no waste water treatment plant, and the untreated water is used for irrigation of agricultural products for consumption in Mexico, Canada and the United States, warns the environmental group. Waters are highly contaminated with DDT, agricultural chemicals, copper, lead, chromium, zinc, cyanide, sewage and phosporus. One study of discharges of nine water plants emptying directly into the lake found phosphorus levels 74 times higher than the U.S. EPA standard. In their submission to the CEC on May 23, 2003, the environmental groups allege that Mexico is not enforcing several provisions of the General Law of Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection (Ley General del Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente) and the National Water Law (Ley de Aguas Nacionales) and their regulations. These provisions assign water management responsibilities to the federal executive branch and allow the public to participate in the development and execution of the country's environmental policy and in the enforcement of environmental laws. The groups assert that civil society has participated in a number of consultations regarding the condition of the basin, with no known results, and that there is an absence of government action for them to challenge before administrative tribunals. They refer to the Arcediano dam project on the Santiago River, claiming it is inconsistent with current policy, and state that authorities did not follow through on complaints from residents of Juanacatlán with respect to alleged human health impacts caused by pollution of that river. They assert that the National Water Commission (Comisión Nacional del Agua) is failing to exercise its duties to decide on the use and distribution of water in the Basin by delegating this task to the Basin Council (Consejo de Cuenca), which, they allege, has no legal authority to make such decisions. The citizen submissions mechanism of the CEC enables the public to play a whistleblower role on matters of environmental law enforcement, the Secretariat explains. Any person or nongovernmental organization may submit a claim alleging that a NAFTA partner has failed to effectively enforce its environmental law. If the government of Mexico does not respond within 60 days, the CEC Secretariat will determine whether the groups' submission warrants the development of a factual record on the issue. Lake Chapala has been accepted as a permanent member of Living Lakes, a worldwide network of lakes under the guidance of the Global Nature Fund. Amigos del Lago says that with this membership there is increased political and moral pressure on the governments of the states along the Lerma-Chapala basin and the federal government, as well as the National Water Commission and interest groups from agriculture and industry to improve water management policies and assure a healthy existence of Lake Chapala and its river system.
Police Nab Estate Owner in First South African Pollution Arrest EAST LONDON, South Africa, January 14, 2004 (ENS) - South African environmental officials together with East London police Monday arrested an estate owner who is alleged to have been illegally dumping hazardous waste on his property, exposing surrounding communities to serious health risks.This marks the first ever pollution related arrest in South Africa. Daryl Tucker, one of the three trustees of the Mandara Trust Estate in Gonubie Bay, East London, was charged with defeating the ends of justice. Police allege that evidence collected by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism on the site in September 2203 for use during legal proceedings, had been tampered with. The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) received a tip on the toxic waste site from the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry and immediately launched an investigation. A team of experts including DEAT officials, the South African Police Service, the Water Affairs and Forestry Department, the Geo Science Council and specialist hazardous waste contractors uncovered large quantities of hazardous waste, carcinogenic substances and "gross pollution of the soil and groundwater in the surrounding area." The officials say they found bubbling liquid toxic waste stored in large drums and buried beneath the surface of the farm, numerous scrap drums filled with liquid toxic waste standing on rotten pellets at various sections of the farm, and general waste dumped in large quantities on surrounding areas. Samples of this evidence were taken in the presence of the police and some 40 people in and around Gonubie Bay were interviewed. Although Tucker was advised by police that his property was cordoned off as a crime scene and warned not to interfere with evidence, an investigation officer assigned to the case discovered on January 6 that the Tuckers were burning the general waste on the property and concealing it with vegetation in an attempt to dispose of it. The Department said the case is only once of many that it intends to pursue. Officials warn that the Department takes these violations seriously "as illegal dumping of hazardous waste has very serious health implications for surrounding communities and tampering with evidence demonstrates a disregard for the law."
BP Donates Solar Power to India's Rural Poor BASEL, Switzerland, January 14, 2004 (ENS) - Some of India's poorest families will soon light their homes, pump their water and connect to the Internet with solar energy thanks to one of the world's largest solar power companies.BP Solar USA is donating over $1 million worth of solar modules to the Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy (BASE), a nonprofit foundation and UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) Collaborating Centre, based in Basel, Switzerland. BASE will send the solar modules to rural and semi-rural areas of India where more than 60 percent of people have no electricity. Virginia Sonntag-O'Brien, managing director of BASE, said, "Lack of access to reliable and affordable energy is one of the main obstacles to economic development in developing countries." BP is donating 600 thin film amorphous silicon modules, a quantity nearly equivalent to all the solar photovoltaic modules installed yearly in India. "These solar photovoltaic modules, amounting to 635 kilowatts and equivalent to 10 percent of India's current solar market, will not only help overcome this hurdle, but will do so in a clean and non-polluting way. This is sustainable development in action," Sonntag-O'Brien said. Some of the panels will be sold to paying customers by the Syndicate Bank of India, which has established plans for promoting solar pumping and lighting in rural areas. The revenues generated along with other donations and grants will be used to fund the installation of the remaining panels in poor communities where customers will pay an affordable fee for the service. Sonntag-O'Brien said many partners are contributing to the solar initiative. International courier company DHL and its heavy freight division, Danzas Air and Ocean, are shipping the panels at cost and are donating funds, as are re-insurance company Swiss Re, and Good Energies, Inc. Dasag Energy Engineering, Switzerland, coordinated the packaging of the project and Netpro Renewable Energy India, based in Bangalore, is helping to implement the program. UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer welcomed BP's gift. "Two years ago, the G8 Renewable Energy Task Force report concluded that alternative forms of electricity generation could be delivered to over a billion people by 2010. This initiative in India, bringing together the private sector, financial bodies and organizations like BASE, is just the kind of action needed to bring this target and timetable to fruition," he said. ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands, January 14, 2004 (ENS) - Rotterdam Mayor Ivo Opstelten today flipped the switch to activate the largest rooftop solar energy system installed in an urban area in the Netherlands. The Sunport generator, installed on the roof of the Oceanium in Rotterdam’s Blijdorp Zoo, delivers enough solar electricity to power 100 households, but it will be penguin households that benefit. The zoo will use the electricity in the Oceanium to keep the penguins’ enclosure cool. The solar rooftop system is now a distinctive feature of Blijdorp Zoo, visible from the main road leading to Rotterdam’s city center from the motorway ring. Sunport is an ENECO Energie initiative executed in partnership with the municipality of Rotterdam, Blijdorp Zoo and Siemens Nederland. On the Oceanium’s 5,000 square meter roof, more than 3,000 black Shell Solar panels have been installed, with a total power output of 0.5 megawatts. This solar array will generate electricity at a rate of about 325,000 kilowatt hours per year, putting zoo operation on a more sustainable basis.. The project has cost almost €3.9 million, including construction and maintenance of the system. Siemens Nederland supplied Sunport Blijdorp as a turnkey system, and takes care of its maintenance. Service life and output is guaranteed for a 20 year period. Of the total cost of the project, ENECO bears 47 percent, while a 33 percent subsidy has been provided by Novem, the Netherlands Agency for Energy and the Environment. The municipality of Rotterdam is contributing 12 percent, the province of South Holland six percent and Blijdorp Zoo will bear two percent of the project costs. ENECO Energie, the municipality of Rotterdam and Blijdorp Zoo are eager to make the general public more aware of this sustainable method of power generation, so a solar energy educational program has now been set up in the zoo.
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