Bush Administration Opposes Ukraine Danube Delta Canal

WASHINGTON, DC, May 18, 2004 (ENS) - The Bush administration has added its voice to the many organizations opposing the construction of a shipping canal across the Danube Delta to the Black Sea because of its impact on the fragile and internationally protected wetland.

The United States is "deeply concerned about the potential substantial negative environmental impact" of a proposed shipping canal sponsored by the government of Ukraine in the Danube Delta region, U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman Adam Ereli said on Monday.

The ribbon cutting ceremony took place on May 11, and construction has begun. The planned route for the Bystroye Canal will in all likelihood cause significant environmental destruction to an ecologically sensitive area of the Danube Delta, Ereli said.

The area has been designated both a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere site and a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance at the request of the government of Ukraine. As a party to these international agreements, Ukraine is committed to preserve and protect the Danube Delta.

Ereli pointed out that the biosphere region of the Danube Delta provides crucial habitat for endangered species, vital nesting grounds for over 300 species of migratory birds and spawning grounds that support a vital herring fishery.

He said that the U.S. government has urged the government of Ukraine to conduct the necessary impartial environmental impact assessment for the proposed canal and to select a route that will minimize the destructive impact on the environment, thus fulfilling its international commitments under the environmental agreements to which it is a party.

Ramsar Convention Secretary General Peter Bridgewater last week again expressed concern to Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma that the course chosen for this waterway appears likely to affect "seriously and irreversibly the ecological character of the Kyliiske Mouth." This wetland is in the core area of the Danube Biosphere Reserve.

The WWF has filed formal objections, the Ukranian legal foundation Ecopravo-Lviv has filed legal actions, and many Ukranian nongovernmental organizations including the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences have made their opposition to the route chosen by the government of Ukraine.