Tratto da Greenpeace.org

MIDNIGHT SUN ALARM ON TOXIC POLLUTION IN THE ARCTIC

16 August 1999

Amsterdam -- Greenpeace activists from 11 countries hung a giant banner on
the Frambren glacier in Svalbard, Nordic
Arctic saying "The Arctic Poisoned by the Chemical Industry". Participating
activists working under the midnight sun, came
from Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, Russia, the UK, the US, and
Yugoslavia. Greenpeace identified thirteen chemical companies as
manufacturers of the type of pollutants which can be found
in the Arctic by placing barrels with company names in the foreground of
the glacier.

The ship MV Greenpeace is in the Nordic Arctic to investigate toxic
pollution in the area. Last week, Greenpeace and
scientists from the University of Umea in Sweden conducted tests to measure
persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Arctic
air and water with a new sampling device developed by the University. The
results are expected later this year. Greenpeace
also collected other samples including bird excrement (guano).

Toxic substances, known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are
released in industrialised countries and travel to the
Arctic via water and air currents. Once they have reached these remote cold
regions they remain in the Arctic for a long
period and find there way into the Arctic food chain.

"People think of the Arctic as a pristine and clean remote wilderness.
However, it is far from being untainted. Chemicals such
as Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB's) used in transformer oils and the
well-known pesticide DDT have been detected in the
Arctic where they will remain for decades or even centuries", said
Greenpeace campaigner Jan Soendergaard on board the
ship MV Greenpeace.

The toxic and persistent substances that are used in industrial countries
are posing a serious threat to people and wildlife in
these remote areas, far away from their point of release. Because they
build up in the Arctic food chain, indigenous people
who depend on traditional food and species on top of the food chain such as
polar bears are especially at risk.

"We have not learned from the past," said Jan Soendergaard. "We are still
manufacturing and marketing substances that have
properties comparable to PCBs and other well studied POPs that are now
threatening the Arctic." Production of PCBs may
have been restricted in most parts of the world, but there is now increased
use of comparable substances like brominated
flame-retardants which are widely used in electronic products such as
personal computers.

Last week, Greenpeace started its "Down to Zero" campaign to phase out POPs
with the launch of a new Greenpeace
report on the toxic pollution in the Arctic. The MV Greenpeace will set
sail for Europe at the end of this week where it will
remind European governments of their commitment to eliminate the release of
hazardous substances into the environment
within one generation (by 2020) as agreed at the OSPAR ministerial
conference in Sintra, Portugal last year. OSPAR, also
known as the Oslo-Paris Commission, is the regulatory body to prevent
pollution in the Northeast Atlantic.

"OSPAR member states, including the EU, need to take their commitment
seriously and phase out the manufacture of all
POPs. That is the only way to prevent further contamination and safeguard
the future of the Arctic", Soendergaard said.



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

- Wytze van der Naald, Greenpeace International toxic campaign +31 20 5236
209
- Stills and video footage is available from Greenpeace International +31
20 5249 515.


Note to editors:

The names on the barrels read Akzo Nobel, BASF, Bayer, Ciba, Dow, Du Pont,
Elf Atochem, Enichem, Hoechst, ICI,
Rhone Poulenc, Shell and Solvay.