May 4th, 1998

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

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