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Forests For Life Campaign

Disaster in Donana: WWF Wants Responsibilities Established



WWF/ADENA Asks For Army Intervention to Control Toxic Spill in Donana

May 4th, 1998

(WWF/Michel Gunther)
Swamp in the Coto Donana National Park, Spain

Madrid.- In the light of the uncontrolled situation of the enormous environmental catastrophe that occurred on 24 April at the Donana Natural Park in Andalusia, WWF/Adena, the Spanish national office of WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature, is calling on Spanish authorities to send in the national army and increase its efforts to inform the human population living in the area about the danger the toxic spill represents to human health.

WWF technicians who have been reviewing the situation in Donana over the last week hold serious doubts that the company responsible for the toxic spill, Swedish-Canadian owned BOLIDEN, has actually the resources to reverse the damages or compensate the losses caused by the accident.  The problem, says WWF-Spain, needs to be divided in sections and tasks to be tackled immediately, which is why WWF is asking for immediate intervention by the Spanish Army, the only institution in the country that can mobilize the resources needed to bring the situation under control.

WWF/Adena condemns strongly the wrong impression the Spanish authorities are pushing forward that everything in Donana is under control and that BOLIDEN will fix the entire problem up.  The sheer dimensions of the catastrophe are such that it is materially impossible for BOLIDEN to control the problem on its own.  And it must be noted that the models proposed for the recovery of Donana are not appropriate, since they apply to much smaller surfaces (a few hectares).  There simply aren't any practical examples to follow on how to direct this titanic effort.

(WWF/Michel Gunther)
Swamp in the Coto Donana National Park, Spain

With respect to the important issue of human health, WWF/Adena requests more efforts on the parts of authorities to inform the public and to control human exposure.  At this time, there is not enough concrete information nor have adequate surveillance mechanisms been established to instruct the local population on the dangers they face. WWF technicians have witnessed local people still living within meters of the toxic mud, without a hint of precautelary information from the authorities.  An evaluation of the risks of potential ill effects on human health is urgent, and its results must be released immediately to the local people.


WWF is utterly surprised by the complacency of the Spanish authorities with regards to the executive management of BOLIDEN and it believes that the first visit the president of the company should have received should have been that of a judge and not one by two smiling ministers. The manipulation of the public by the use of the argument of saving jobs to justify an ecological catastrophe of international proportions is simply inadmissible.  And it is also pathetic that high government people try to diminish the problem by eating prawns, much in the same way that former minister Fraga took baths in public in waters that had been subjected to nuclear pollution.

Alternative work programmes must be developed now to guarantee new jobs in the area.  The mine operated by BOLIDEN must be shut down, given that it is evident that there are no guarantees for the safety of its operations.  This risk is underlined by the company's record of pollution in all the areas where it operates.  Also, there must be authentic inspections of the safeguards established in similar mining activities in the region.WWF/Adena wishes to express its deep appreciation for the valuable help given by all the volunteer groups and individuals that have worked to counteract the toxic spill in Donana.  Nevertheless, WWF also warns that this volunteer participation must not be limited in a way that would exclude the participation of non-governmental organizations in the high-level committees that are taking the decisions in Donana.  And this is because we have now repeatedly seen that it is impossible to trust government institutions to take the right decisions without having over them the watchful eye of non-governmental organizations.

CONTACT:
Carlos Vallecillo,
+34 91 308 23 09 or 23 10.