From: Greenpeace (via Jym Dyer) <jym@mica.berkeley.edu>
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive,alt.activism,talk.environment
Subject: NEWS: British Department of Environment Barricaded with Toxic Waste
Followup-To: talk.environment
Date: 29 Sep 1992 06:14:55 GMT
Organization: The Naughty Peahen Party Line
NNTP-Posting-Host: remarque.berkeley.edu
Originator: jym@remarque.berkeley.edu

[Greenpeace Press Release from Greenbase -- Redistribute Freely]

GREENPEACE BARRICADES DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT WITH BARRELS OF 
TOXIC WASTE, BLOCKS NORTH AND IRISH SEA ICI OUTFALL PIPES 
  
LONDON September 16, 1992 (GP) Greenpeace activists this morning
blocked the front entrance of the Department of the Environment
with two skips and six barrels filled with toxic industrial
effluent. The effluent is from one of the UK's major polluters
and is legally allowed to be dumped into the Mersey.
  
The protest, part of a nationwide day of action, is the
culmination of Greenpeace's five-week "No Legal Pollution"
campaign to highlight the Government's system of "legalised"
pollution, which allows industry to pour toxic wastes into UK
rivers and seas and poisons marine wildlife.
  
Earlier this morning Greenpeace activists blocked the industrial
outfall pipes of ICI plants Billingham on Teeside and Hillhouse
in Fleetwood, which are legally allowed to pour a combined 29
billion litres of toxic pollution into the North and Irish Seas
every year.  Four activists were arrested at Fleetwood.
  
A major Greenpeace report out today "The Filthy Fifty", exposes
the top 50 industrial plants licensed to discharge to up to
1,723 billion tonnes of pollution into UK rivers and estuaries
every year. These include dangerous chemicals such as
organochlorines, which the UK Government agreed to eliminate
from discharges to the marine environment eighteen years ago.
ICI is the largest Government-licensed water polluter in the
country, with 8 of the top 50 licences.
  
"The Government says it licenses pollution to protect the
environment, but in reality the Government protects industry
while the environment suffers" said Tim Birch, Greenpeace Marine
Pollution campaigner. "The UK must end legal pollution of our
waterways, and agree to phase out organochlorines as a matter of
urgency, at the Ministers meeting in Paris next week."
  
The Greenpeace ship, Solo, has just completed a tour of the UK
coast, naming the companies causing the worst pollution of our
rivers, estuaries and seas. Greenpeace blames the Government's
systems of "consents", or permits to pollute, issued by the
National Rivers Authority, which allows companies to use the
marine environment as a dumping ground for their wastes. As a
result of this policy the seas around the UK are now in crisis
and the UK is the largest polluter of the North East Atlantic.
Next week in Paris Environment ministers from the North East
Atlantic states will be meeting to agree a new Convention to
protect the seas from pollution.  As a matter of urgency the UK
Government should agree to eliminate discharges of
organochlorines and other toxic discharges, and commit
itself to a complete ban on the dumping of radioactive
waste into the North East Atlantic.
   
Those arrested are : Richard LeCoyte (UK), Alan Foreman (Eire),
Mark Hardingham (UK), John Hoffman (USA).
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive