JPRS 72225

14 November 19 78

TRANSLATIONS ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

No. 185 WID E

19980908 121

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JPRS 72225

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TRANSLATIONS ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, No. 185

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JPRS 72225

14 November 1978

TRANSLATIONS ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

No. 185

CONTENTS PAGE

WORLDWIDE AFFAIRS

Paper Calls for 'Overall Cleaning' of European Environment

(TASS, 30 Sep 78) 1

U.S. Oil Monopolies Continue to Pollute South Korea

(KCNA, 7 Oct 78) 2

ASIA

INTER-ASIAN AFFAIRS

'NODONG SINMUN' Signed Commentary on ROK Environmental Moves

(KCNA, 7 Oct 78) 3

PRC Environmental Protection Group Begins 25-Day Tour of Japan

(KYODO, 30 Sep 78) 4

FRENCH POLYNESIA

Fifteen Tahitians Undergo R-Treatment

(THE KOREA TIMES, 22 Oct 78) 5

PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Briefs

Kwangtung Environmental School 6

SOUTH KOREA

President Pak Urges Protection of Environment

(HAPTONG, 5 Oct 78) 7

Three-Month Drought Causes Severe Water Shortage

(THE KOREA TIMES, 26 Oct 78) 8

- a - [III - INT - 139]
CONTENTS (Continued) Pa§

e

EASTERN EUROPE

POLAND

Krypton-85 Air Pollution Measurements, Results Described

(Tadeusz Wardaszko, Julia Nidecka; NUKLEONIKA, Aug 78) ... 9

Environmental Protection Problems Discussed

(Stefan Jarzebski; NOWE DROGI, Jul 78) 16

LATIN AMERICA

CUBA

Havana Bay Cleanup Begins; Soviet Equipment Used

(Armando Alonso Rivero; JUVENTUD REBELDE, 19 Sep 78) 29

Red Tide Research in Cuba

(Juan Dolset; JUVENTUD REBELDE, 29 Sep 78) 31

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

RHODESIA

Flocks of Wildfowl Killed by Misuse of Pesticides

(THE HERALD, 26 Oct 78) 34

Misuse of Pesticide Hit

(Editorial; THE HERALD, 28 Oct 78) 35

SEYCHELLES

Representative Comments on Sea Pollution Conference

(NATION, 26 Sep 78) 36

USSR

USSR

Noise Pollution: Norms, Research

(LITERATURNAYA GAZETA, 3 Sep 78) 38

Briefs

Fire Patrol 46

Earthquake in Georgia 46

- b -
CONTENTS (Continued) Page

WESTERN EUROPE

NORWAY

Environment Minister Comments on Talks in USSR

(G. Brundtland Interview; AFTENPOSTEN, 28 Sep 78) 47

WEST GERMANY

Bavarian Forest Park Points Up Ecological Problems

(Willy Luetzenkirchen; RHEINISCHER MERKUR, 6 Oct 78) 49

c -
WORLDWIDE AFFAIRS

PAPER CALLS FOR 'OVERALL CLEANING1 OF EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT

LD3OO918Y Moscow TASS in English 0823 GMT 30 Sep 78 LD

["SOVETSKAYA ROSSIYA: Western Countries Should Have Their Say"—TASS headline]

[Text] Moscow, September 30, TASS—The problem of environmental protection is more

clearly assuming an international aspect in Europe as, perhaps, nowhere else. The

ecological situation in the continent can be radically improved only on the basis of

the all-out concord of socialist and capitalist countries, SOVETSKAYA ROSSIYA stressed.

A little less than three years ago, the newspaper recalls, Leonid Brezhnev expressed

the idea that all-European congresses be held with a view to study and outline ways

of cooperation in three spheres: environmental protection, transport and energy.

In the opinion of Soviet specialists, at the environmental protection congress it would

be expedient to discuss questions of long-distance transnational transfer of contain*

inating substances in the air and water media, development of waste-free and or littlewaste technological processes, the use in plant-growing of chemical fertilisers and

toxic chemicals, which affect, specifically, the condition of inland water reservoirs

and ground waters. A program of joint actions in 'protection of the sea medium can

be a subject of consideration. It is proposed to form an all-European system of

stations that would keep an eye over the changes taking place in the atmosphere under

the impact of transnational contaminations, and also to elaborate a single appropriate

measuring equipment and, possibly, the common criteria of appraising the condition

of the environment.

"It is not difficult to see that all these proposals meet the vital needs of the

European countries and create a vast sphere of joint activities, that would also

favourably affect the development of political relations between them," the newspaper

points out. But inside the Common Market there are influential forces that should

like to make prospects of advantageous cooperation dependent on "tractability" of

socialist states in the sphere of the notorious "human rights, "freedom of information"

and the like. And since it has long been clear to everybody that the countries of

socialism cannot be forced to trade in principles, there involuntarily comes the

unambiguous conclusion: The proponents of such a course are, in all appearance,

against the all-European cooperation in general.

"The Western countries should have their say," the newspaper SOVETSKAYA ROSSIYA

stresses. "Exactly in Western countries decisions should be taken which will make

it possible, at long last, to start 'an over-all cleaning' of the European Continent".

CSO: 5000
WORLDWIDE AFFAIRS

U.S. OIL MONOPOLIES CONTINUE TO POLLUTE SOUTH KOREA

SKO71558Y Pyongyang KCNA in English 1500 GMT 7 Oct 78 SK

[Text] Pyongyang, 7 Oct (KCNA)—The Pak Chong-hui puppet clique again defended the

colonial exploitation by tteU.S. oil monopolies which squeeze fabulous profits every

year without devices for preventing pollution, according to a report from Seoul.

Recently, they allowed the refineries of the U.S. oil monopolies operating in South

Korea to postpone the installing of anti-pollution devices till 1985.

Reports say that the U.S. oil monopolies, backed by the puppets, ship into South Korea

oil of low quality containing a high percentage of sulphur and cause serious pollution

while processing it. Nevertheless, the puppet clique do everything possible to guarantee

maximum profits to their imperialist masters, turning a deaf ear to the demand of the

people and public circles to prevent pollution.

This is their treacherous act of prolonging their dirty life under the aegis of the

foreign monopoly capital by leaving South Korea a dumping ground of its pollution

materials.

CSO: 5000
INTER-ASIAN AFFAIRS

'NODONG SINMUN' SIGNED COMMENTARY ON ROK ENVIRONMENTAL MOVES

SKO7171OY Pyongyang KCNA in English 1534 GMT 7 Oct 78 SK

[Text] Pyongyang, 7 Oct (KCNA)-NODONG SINMJN in a signed commentary today denounced

the buffoonery of »proclamation of a charter on nature conservation» by the Pak Chong-hui

puppet clique on October 5. Branding this as a deceptive act that can be committed only

by such brazen-faced wretches as the Pak Chong-hui puppet clique, the commentary askedhave the South Korean puppets ever had an intention to protect nature?

It says: The Pak Chong-hui clique have covered the whole of the Korea with a suffocating

powder-smoke by staging frantic exercises and destroyed and devastated mountains and

rivers. In order to feather their own nest, they have introduced indiscreetly pollutional

industries rejected in foreign countries as »dust bins," thus spoiling the land, and

denuded mountains of trees through random felling.

The people are suffering from the air polluted with various harmful materials, poisonous

materials flow into paddy and non-paddy fields to kill crops and fishes are being exterminated m the polluted rivers and seas.

Having reduced South Korea to such a state, the Pak Chong-hui puppet clique have the

effrontery to talk about »nature conservation.» The puppets' outcry for »nature conservation is intended to veil the consequences of their treacherous crimes and mislead

public opinion and attain a foul political aim in this shameless row. m other words it

is aimed at lulling ever-growing discontent of the people and holding the "election" to

the puppet national assembly without a hitch (?or) swindles.

X

l It n0t„!°

r

!

U

"

0US that these days the Pu

PPets never °Pen their mouths without bragging

of their »feats» and making empty "promises» and kick up a hypocritical row every day to

create the impression that they are concerned for the people's living. Only by removing

such a gang of vicious traitors as the Pak Chong-hui puppet clique can the South Korean

people live a free life, breathing clean air under a clear sky.

CSO: 5000
INTER-ASIAN AFFAIRS

PRC ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION GROUP BEGINS 25-DAY TOUR OF JAPAN

OW30061J-5Y Tokyo KYODO in English 0626 GMT 30 Sep 78 OW

[Text] Tokyo, 30 Sep (KYODO)—A Chinese environmental protection mission arrived here

by air Saturday afternoon for a 25-day visit to study Japan's experience in environmental

protection and pollution prevention. The 18-member mission, whose visit is a sequel to

one in June 1975» was led by Li Chao-po, the general office director of the environmental protection leading group. It also included executives in such fields as

metallurgy, oil industry and water-powered generation. The mission will visit the

environmental agency, the National Institute for the Study of Pollution and tour the

Kansai, Kanto and Tokai areas to inspect oil refineries, iron mills, automobile factories

and steam-powered generation stations.

CSO: 5000
FRENCH POLYNESIA

FIFTEEN TAHITIANS UNDERGO R-TREATMENT

Seoul THE KOREA TIMES in English 22 Oct 78 p 3

[Text] Suva, Fiji (AP)—Fifteen Tahitians have been secretly isolated in

a hospital at Mururoa Atoll for treatment of radiation sickness, visiting

Tahitian politician Oscar Temaru said here Friday.

Some French civilians were also affected by radioactivity from French

nuclear tests in the area, he claimed.

Temaru, 34, is a customs official, who is also president of Front de Liberation de Lay Polynesie, one of four political parties, he said, agitating for

Tahiti's total independence from France.

Temaru said a friend had seen radiation sickness cases in a hospital at

Mururoa where France has its Pacific nuclear test headquarters.

"We have 15 local people in Mururoa hospital and some French also. They

(French authorities) are keeping it secret. We found this out a month ago

and my friend says it might be from eating fish," he added.

Temaru said patients were reported to have burns and to have a yellow

appearance.

He said he wrote to Francis Sanford, vice president of Tahiti's assembly,

asking for information about the cases.

"I have not had a reply. I have not bothered to ask the French administration because they would not admit it," he said.

Temaru added that people from islands of Reao, Fangataufa, Tureaeia and

Mangareva, are forced to travel to Tahiti to buy fish because authorities

had ordered them not to eat fish from their own lagoons.

CSO: 5000
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

BRIEFS

KWANGTUNG ENVIRONMENTAL SCHOOL—To promote environmental protection work,

an environmental protection technical school will soon be established in

Canton. This school will enroll 300 students who will study for 3 years.

The school site is at the provincial environmental protection research

institute. [Canton Kwangtung Provincial Service in Mandarin 0430 GMT

14 Oct 78 HK]

CSO: 5000
SOUTH KOREA

PRESIDENT PAK URGES PROTECTION OP ENVIRONMENT

SK050251 Seoul HAPTONG in English 0248 GMT 5 Oet 78 SK

[Text] Seoul, 5 Oct (HAPTONG)--President Pak Chong-hui today called on the people to

positively participate in the on-going national campaign for nature preservation.

In his speech at a ceremony for the proclamation of a nature preservation charter, President Pak said that nature is not only the very source of human life but also the foundation of precious resources. The nature preservation campaign is a voluntary drive aimed

at improving the living environment, the chief executive said. Warning of the danger of

industrial pollution to the living environment, President Pak said that the very existence of human being will be threatened unless something is done to check the worsening

pollution.

The ceremony held at the Sejong Cultural Center here was attended by government leaders

and some 4,000 citizens.

CSO: 5000
THREE-MONTH DROUGHT CAUSES SEVERE WATER SHORTAGE

Seoul THE KOREA TIMES in English 26 Oct 78 p 8

SOUTH KOREA

[Text]

TTTpell of dry weather,

which has been prolonged for

some three months, is causing

a serious water shortage

across the country, reports

said yesterday.

In Pusan, the largest port

city in the country^ the amöumr

of water in reservoirs / for

piped water has ' been considerably decreased and the

water supply for the citizens

has been restricted beginning

yestörday. - According to the reports, the

amount of reserved water in

Hoidong Reservoir, on which

56 per cent of the citizens

depend for their drinking

water, has been reduced by

some 50 per cent and the

limited water supply was

inevitable to cope with further

drought.

Meanwhile, residents on

Wan-do, anisland off the coast

Cholla Namdo, are also suffering from potable water

shortage because of insufficient rainfalls, a report

said.

f

Potable Water

The islanders have been

rationed with a pail of water

per person daily since Oct. 16.

Provincial government officials in Kwangju have

already asked the Navy for

the equipment needed to dig

wells in the drought-affected

areas. The Navy has also been

asked to provide vessels

!: needed to supply potable

water to the islanders, reports

; said. .

Drought conditions

I developed on these islands

\ since late last July and the

l precipitation on the province's

'coastal area has been only

i 750rrim since the beginning of

I this year, they said.

\ In other areas such as

ft ^ •

; Chunachong Namdd,

I Chungchong Pukto and Cholla

| Pukto, the prolonged dry spell

^causes much difficulty in

f barley farming because of the

Irain shortage, the reports

ladded.

CSO: 5000
POLAND

KRYPTON-85 AIR POLLUTION MEASUREMENTS, RESULTS DESCRIBED

Warsaw NUKLEONIKA in English No 8, Aug 78 pp 843-849

[Article by Tadeusz Wardaszko, Julia Nidecka]

[Text]Concentrations of 83Kr in atmospheric air in Warsaw have been measured applying cryogenic adsorption on molecular sieve 5A, cascade desorption and radioactivity measurements of concentrates

using liquid scintillation counter. The detection limit is 0.08 Bq/m3(2.2 pCi/m3). The annual mean 8SKr

coECentrations Increased from 0.63 Bq/m3(17.0 pCi/m3) in 1975 to 0.93 Bq/m3(25.1 pCi/m3) in 1977.

Detailed temporal changes of concentrations of this radionuclide are presented. Radiation dose received

by population from this source in 1977 (skin dose) was 2.6 • 10"7Sv/yr (26 (xrem/yr) per person.

1. Introduction

8SKr is one of the most significant radioactive waste products associated with fissionbased power generation; it is released in considerable quantities into the atmosphere

from nuclear fuel reprocessing plants, thus forming wide-spread atmospheric air contamination. There is also some contribution from nuclear explosions, however, an assessment by Telegadas [1] indicates that outof the 85Kr world inventory of 1.96 EBq (53 MCi)

* in 1973 less than 2 per cent could be attributed to nuclear weapons tests conducted up

to that time.

The concentrations of 8S,Kx in the atmospheric air have been measured by many investigators beginning with Delibrias {2] who found a value of about 70 mBq/m3

(2pCi/m3)

in France as early as in 1958. From then on, constant growth of 85Kr concentrations

in air was noted both in Europe [3-9] and in the United States [10-12]. The occurrence

' of this radionuclide in the atmosphere gives rise to population doses which are primarily

beta-radiation doses to the skin. At the time being they are not significant as compared

to those due to natural radiation background, but, in view of steady growth of concentrations, may attain not negligible values in foreseeable future; projections by Bernhardt*ef al. [12] give the 85Kr mean concentration value of 70 Bq/m3

(1900 pCi/m3) in

the year 2000, whereas its mean present level is about 0.75 Bq/m3(20 pCi).

The presence of higher concentrations of this ionizing component may also influence

electrostatic properties of the atmosphere by enhancing its conductivity; this might cause

changes in the Earth's weather conditions [13].

2. Measurement Method

The 85Kr measurement method adopted in this study consists in adsorption of

Kr —along with some other gases —from atmospheric air on molecular sieve 5A at

liquid nitrogen (LN) temperature, desorption and concentration of the desorbate and

radioactivity measurement using liquid scintillation counting. .„...
The adsorption system in which atmospheric Kr was sorbed is shown in Fig. 1. It

comprises high-efficiency aerosol filter for air purification from dust particles, air flowrate and volume meter fitted with water drop trap, water vapour trap consisting of 3

different glass bubblers at dry ice (DI) temperature and C02 trap — 2 glass bubblers

(adsobers) containing molecular sieve 13X at water ice (WI) temperature. Further there

is the proper adsorption part — a glass bubbler containing molecular sieve 5A (main

adsorber) preceded by an empty pre-cooling bubbler, both in LN bath. Adsorption

pressure and air flow could be controlled by 2 valves and the pressure was read by means

of precision manometers. The air sample volume was 1.50 m

3

. The adsorption was carried

out at the temperature -196°C (LN temp.), pressure 0.92 ata for 1.35 m

3

and 0.60 ata

for the final 0.15 m

3

, and at air flow 0.25 m

3

/h.

3 4 5 £ 8 10

Fig. 1. Kr adsorption system: 1 — aerosol filter (HEPA), 2 — flow meter, 3 — gas counter, 4 — water

drop trap, 5 —water vapor trap (DI), 6 — COz trap (13X, WI), 7 — pre-cooling bubbler (LN), « — main

Kr adsorber (5A, LN), 9 — precision manometers, 10 — forevacuum pump

The final reduction of pressure from 0.92 to 0.60 ata had the effect of decrease of

desorbate volume by a factor of 3 without affecting observably the over-all efficiency

of the process.

The desorption and concentration of Kr contained in the desorbate was carried out

in a system called by us cascade desorption system. It consists in admitting the desorbate

of the molecular sieve bed, by its own pressure, into a series of smaller adsorbers decreasing in size, and subsequent heating each adsorber to make the desorbate flow through

next adsorbers (Fig. 2). Heating the last of them gives the needed small volume of desorbate with highly enriched krypton. In this system two additional adsorbers containing

molecular sieve 5A in glass vessels called micro-bubblers were used; the masses of 5A

were 1:05 and 0.050 grams in micro-bubbler A and B, respectively.

The desorption procedure involves, first, gradual heating, by changing baths, of the

main adsorber (no. 8 in Fig. 1) — detached from the adsorption system (Fig. 1) and at1

>5

irr LU

Fig. 2. Principle of cascade desorption system: 1 — main Kr

adsorber, 2 — micro-bubbler A, 3 — micro-bubbler 3 (A and

B initially in LN bath)

10
tached to the chain of 2 cascades of micro-bubblers — from -196°C to + 10p°C, during

which the desorbate passes through both of them maintained in LN temperature. After

full desorption of Kr from the main adsorber and flushing it with helium a similar heating

cycle is repeated on micro-bubbler A, with the next one still immersed in LN. Analogous

flushing with helium ends this second heating cycle.

The final enrichment of krypton is made by heating the micro-bubbler B from LN

to DI temperature — by placing it in DI bath — and then collecting the desorbate in

the temperature range from -78CC to +100°C in an evacuated scintillation vial for

measurement; the volume of this desorbate fraction is 6-7 ml. It is then dissolved in

degassed toluene-based scintillator.

To avoid passing of 222Rn (as well as 220Rn) from the main bubbler, where it gets

adsorbed along with Kr, into the enriched sample, there is a separate adsorber inserted

in the cascade chain between main bubbler and first (A) micro-bubbler. It consists of

an U-tube filled with 5A molecular sieve in DI temperature. It adsorbs the bulk of radon

contained in the desorbate but has little effect on Kr passing through it.

Radioactivity measurements were carried out using Packard Tricarb type 3315 liquid

'scintillation spectrometer, both almost immediately after the sample was obtained, and

later, in varying intervals, up to 6-8 weeks. These repeated measurements were made

with a view to detect possible radioactive components other than 8SKr by analysing the

decay curve and to ascertain whether any measurable 222Rn + daughters quantities were

present. The liquid scintillator used was toluene + PPO + POPOP in ordinary proportions. It gave a background of 19-20 cpm.

The measurement system was calibrated using 8SKr dilutions of known activity, prepared in latex meteorological balloons of about 2 m

3

air displacement at full shape, filled

with 1.50 m

3

of air. Since no 85Kr-free air is now available, plain atmospheric air was

' used and calibration results were corrected for atmospheric 85Kr content. Calibration

samples were processed in exactly the same way as measured samples. These calibration

85Kr samples were prepared from a secondary dilution of a reference source of 85Kr "

prepared in a steel cylinder 40/ in volume. The results of the recent series of calibrations

are' given in Table 1. Their standard deviation is 11.5 per cent.

Detection limit of the method, determined as 85Kr activity corresponding to 5-sigma

statistical error of the background, is 0.12 Bq (3.3 pCi) per sample or 0.08 Bq/m3

(2.2 pCi/m3).

The counting effectivity for 8SKc dissolved in toluene-based liquid scintillator was

measured using a mixture of air, argon, helium, stable krypton and 85Kr of known

activity imitating enriched sample. The counting effectivity was found to be

1.73 Bq.sxounr1(58 per cent) its standard deviation slightly exceeding 2 per cent for 9

samples prepared at different times.

Statistical errors in activity measurements of atmospheric and calibration samples

were kept low by choosing adequate counting times. Taking into account other errors

(one of them is 85Kr reference source radioactivity error), the over-all error of a single

measurement may be assumed not exceeding 15 per cent.

" Produced by CEA, Saclay, France; activity determination accuracy ±1.5%.

11
Table 1. Calibrations in the period Sept 1976-Sept 1977

(means of 2 values in each month)

"Kr radio- Net counts Net counts Calibration

Month activity added, incl. atmosph. corr. for atm. factor

Bq 85Kr, cps "Kr, cps Bq.s . count"1

Sept. 76 3.31 1.18 0.86 3.84

Oct. 3.27 1.35 1.09 3.00

Nov. 3.23 1.35 1.00 3.24

Dec. 3.20 1.08 0.73 , 4.38

Jan. 77 3.14 1.07 0.72 4.38

Feb. 3.12 1.05 0,71 4.40

Apr. 3.04 1.26 0.85 , 3.58 >

May 3.00 1.23 0.78 3.84

June 2.96 1.07 0.70 4.23

July 2.92 1.16 0.76 3.84

, Aug. 2.89 1.12 0.73 3.96

'Sept. 2.86 0.98 0.72 - 3.97

- Mean 3.89

% Stand, dev. 11.5

All atmospheric 85Kr measurements were carried out in cycles of 3 determinations

each: calibration, blank sample and atmospheric sample. Samples considered blank were

actually atmospheric ones with small air volume used (0.20 m

3

) so that 85Kr contained

in it gave a count rate not much in excess of the detection limit. Atmospheric air samples

were taken at this Laboratory in Warsaw, at the height of 8 m above ground level. Each

month at least two measurement cycles have been carried out.

3. Results and Discussion . ,

The results of measurements covering the period July 1975-November 1977 are summarized in Table 2 reporting single results and in Fig. 3 showing quarterly means. The

lowest concentration of 0.22 Bq/m3(6 pCi/m3) was observed in Jan. 1976, the highest

ones in April and May 1977, and in Aug. 1976, of 1.15-1.25 Bq/m3(32-34 pCi/m3). As

may be seen in Table 3, there is a slowly increasing trend of 85Kr atmospheric concentrations, between 1975 and 1976, followed by a sharp increase in 1977. The mean concentration of 17.0 pCi/m3

found in 1975 is similar to the corresponding value of 16.2 pCi/m3

reported by Tertysnik et al. [8] for the USSR European territory, and also to the values

found in the other European location [6, 9];<and in the United States [15]. It seems toconfirm former assertions [3, 14] as to relatively uniform distribution of 8SKr in the

Earth's atmosphere.

It is a well-established fact that the present 85Kr inventory in the atmosphere stems

primarily from nuclear fuel reprocessing-plants; the gradual increase of mean concentrations of 85Kr is a reflection of growing amounts of such fuel being reprocessed in the

12
Table 2. ,5Kr concentrations in air in Warsaw in the period July 1975-Nov. 1977

Sampling date 85Kr concentration, Bq/m3 Sampling date 85Kr concentration Bq/m3

1 2 1 2

02.07.75 0.51 24.08.76 1.25

11.07.75 " 0.83 • 09.09.76 0.93^

18.07.75 1.04 10.09.76 0.77'

29.07.75 0.88 . 08.10.76 0.81

06.08.75 0.48 27.10.76 0.57 #

22.09.75 ~ 0.68 24.11.76 0.95

07.10.75 0.87 30.11.76 0.91

21.10.75 0.69 13.12.76 1.13

29.10.75 0.51 17.12.76 0.72

06.11.75 0.52 04.01.77 0.74*

12.11.75 0.40 19.01.77 1.14

14.11.75 0.64 11.02.77 0.94

. 28.11.75 0.52 17.02.77 0.88

05.12.75 0.56 11.03.77 L10

12.12.75 0.53 31.03.77 1.15

30.12.75 0.41

18.04.77 0.98

06.01.76 0.42 25.04.77 . 1.23

14.01.76 0.22 17.05.77 - 1.22

13.02.76 0.54 24.05.77 ' 1.16

20.02.76 , . 0.52 13.06.77 0.95

27.02.76 0.68 '

22.06.77 1.06

23.03.76 0.44

30.03.76 - 0.38 05.07.77 1.08

27.04.76 0.65 12.07.77 1.09

28.04.76 0.50 17.08.77 1.11

25.05.76 0.77 23.08.77 0.96

28.05.76 0.71 16.09.77 0.61

25.06.76 . 0.77 ' 29.09.77 0.77

29.06.76 _ - .' 0.79 27.10.77 0.90

12.07.76 0.90 28.10.77 0.54

20.07.76 0.63 15.11.77 0.85

.0.79 7

18.08.76 ' 1.10 21.11.77

world. Since the production and release of this radionuclide is not uniformly distributed

in time and space (Earth's surface), one cannot expect its concentrations at a given point

being only slowly variable in time: The temporal variability of 85Kr concentrations as

shown by the data in Table 2 may be regarded as the result of varying release of this

gas in European countries in which fuel reprocessing plants are in operation. 85Kr concentrations observed in Poland are probably dependent on prevailing wind direction (air

masses movement) at a given time. -

Although 85Kr is poorly soluble in water [16, 17] it is probably to some extent washedout from lower layers of the troposphere by rains. This may be partly the cause of low

mean 8SKr concentration values in some periods of time.

13
/// IV

1975

II III

1977

Fig. 3. 8SKr concentration in air in Warsaw in the years 1975-77

Table 3. Mean 85Kr concentrations" in air

in Warsaw in the years 1975-77

Year Mean 8SK concentration

Bq/m3(pCi/m3)

1975»

1976

1977«

0.63 (17.0)

0.72 (19.5)

0.93 (25.1)

" Jul. through Dee.

» Jan. ,, Nov. *

Table 4. Estimate of annual radiation doses due to 85Kr» in 1977

.Organ Annual dose per person

Sv/yr (mrem/yr)

Skin (dose at depth of

0.07 mm)

Lungs

Whole body

25.9X10"8(25.9 xlO'3)

10"8(10-3)

0.6X10"8(0.6xl0-3)-

The temporal changes of 8sKr concentrations in atmospheric air depend thus, on

many variables, of which the increase of 85Kr releases and atmospheric diffusion seems

to be most significant.

i The presence of 8SKr in the atmosphere is connected with a small radiation hazard

to population. In submersion, it acts on human organism in three ways: there is an exposure to skin, to lungs and to whole body. Using concentration — to-dose conversion

coefficients reported by Klement [18] the doses assessment for the year 1977 has been

14
made and presented in Tab. 4. As can be seen, the dominating skin dose is of the order

of 3 x 10"7Sv (30 urem) per year per person. This is not much as compared with annual

doses due to natural radiation background (about 10~3Sv or 100 mrem); however, it.

should be considered that these low-level doses are continually increasing.

Received 12 December 1977

- - REFERENCES '

l.K. TELEGADAS, G. FERBER: Science, 882 (1975).

2. G.DELIBRIAS, C. JEHANNO: Atmospheric Activity due to Krypton-85. Bull. Inform. Sei. Techn., 30,

' 14 (1959).

3. R. PANNETIER: Distribution, transfert atmospherique et bilan du Krypton-85. Rapport CEA-R-3591

(1968).

4.-J. SCHRöDER, K. O. MüNNICH, D. H. EHHALT: Krypton in the Troposphere. Nature, 233, 5322, 614

(1971).

5. T. WARDASZKO: Contamination of the Atmosphere with Krypton-85 in Poland. In: Noble Gases,

Proc. of a Symp., L. Vegas, Nev., Sept. 1973.

6. H. STOCKBUROER, A. SITTKUS: Messung der Kr-85-Aktivität der atmospherischen Luft. Z. Naturforsch., 30a, 959 (1975).

7. K. RözANSKt, A. OSTROWSKI: Measurements of Atmospheric Krypton Radioactivity. Nukleonika,

22, 343 (1977).

' 8. E. G. TERTYINIK,' A. A. SIVERIN, V. G. BARANOV: Koncentracija 8iKr v ätmosfere nad territoriej

SSSR v 1971-75 gg. Atomnaja En., 42, '145 (1977).

9. E. CSONGOR: 85Kr Activity in the Environment. Proc. of the Symp. on Low-Radioactivity Measurements and Applications. Oct. 1975, The High Tatras, Czechoslovakia.

.. 10. R. E. SHUPING, C. R. PHILLIPS, A. A. MOGHISSI: Krypton-85 Levels in the Environment Determined

from Dated Krypton Gas Samples. Rad. Health Data and Rep., il, 671 (1970).

11. R. E. JAQUISH, F. B. JOHNS: Concentrations of Kr-85 in Air. In: the Natural Radiation Environment

II (J. A. S. ADAMS, W. M. LOWDER, T. F. GESELL, eds.) U.S. E.R.D.A. report CONF-720805-P2,

1972.

12. D. E. BERNHARDT, A. A. MOGHISSI, J. A. COCHRAN: Atmospheric Concentrations of Fission Product

Noble Gases. In: Noble Gases (see Ref. 5).

13. W. L. BOECK: Meteorological Consequences of Atmospheric Krypton-85. Science, 193, 195 (1976).

14. L. FARGES, F. PATTI, R. GROS, P. BOURGEON: Activite du krypton-85 dans l'air des hemispheres Nord

et Sud. /. Radioanal. Chem., 22, 147 (1974).

15.- Radiological Quality of the Environment in the United States, 1977, EPA 520/1-77-009, Edit. Kurt

L. Feldmann p. 11 (1977).

16. W. P. KIRK: Krypton-85: A Review of Literature and Analysis of Radiations Hazards. EPA, Office

of*es. and Monit., Jan. 1972.

17. J. TADMOR: Deposition of 85Kr and Tritium Released from Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plant. Health

Phys., 24, 37 (1973). •

18. A. W. KLEMENT JR., C. R. MILLER, R. P. MINX, B. SHLEIEN: Estimates of Ionizing Radiation Doses

in the United States 1960-2000. Rep. of the US EPA, Office of Radiation Programs, 1972.

CSO: 5000

15
POLAND

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION PROBLEMS DISCUSSED

Warsaw NOWE DROGI in Polish No 7, Jul 78 pp 85-97

[Article by Stefan Jarzebski: "Protection of the Natural Environment"]

[Text] Today more and more attention is being devoted both in Poland and

throughout the world to phenomena occurring due to man's influence on the

environment. Also there is more and more frequent emphasis not only on the

positive aspects of man's influence but also negative effects. Growing

awareness of these effects has resulted in related problems being increasingly more extensively reflected in politics, the economy and propaganda, in

scientific research and technical-organizational activities.

This problem area rapidly evoked response and understanding in our country,

taking the form of organized action. One measure of the significance which

is attached in Poland to problems of environmental protection is the fact that

the environment has been recognized as the property of the people as a whole.

This has found expression in the Constitution of the Polish People's Republic,

in which Article 12, Point 2 states: "The Polish People's Republic shall ensure protection and rational utilization of the environment, which belongs to

the people as a whole." The "Basic Points of the Environmental Protection

Program Running to 1990," which have been implemented in Poland for several

years now, were drawn up as a result of many years of work by experts, were

examined by the Presidium of the Government and ratified by the PZPR Central

Committee Politburo.

The broadly-defined problem area of environmental protection has also seen

efforts undertaken on an international scale. In conformity with a resolution

passed at the 23d Session of the UN General Assembly, a report by UN Secretary

General U Thant on the subject ?'Man and the Environment" was published in

1969.

Processes of adverse changes in the environment as a consequence of man's

economic activities have occurred in this country most markedly in that area

characterized by the country's largest concentration of industrial plants,

urban areas and population, that is, in Katowickie Voivodship. In this

area industry has led to considerable distortions and changes in the biological

proportions of the environment, to pollution of the air by discharged

16
particulates, gases and fumes of various substances and chemical compounds,

collection of large quantities of industrial and municipal waste, water contamination by sewage and industrial effluents.

But in this same area numerous investigations and studies were conducted as

early as 1953, with the participation of scientists and eminent practical

experts, aimed at determining the scope of degradation of the environment,

with determination of methods of countering further worsening of living conditions and destruction of the environment. The activities of the Scientific

Committee formed toward this end found expression in numerous studies of problems connected with the Upper Silesian Industrial District, problems of air

pollution, water management, industrial and municipal activities, protection

against water pollution, utilization of industrial waste and reclamation of

considerable industry-utilized acreage, intensification of agriculture and

forest management under conditions of intensive influence by industry, problems of transportation, problems connected with the results of mining operations, climate, as well as the aggregate of management and utilization of

land both in the Upper Silesian Industrial District and throughout Katowickie

Voivodship.

The Committee's activities fully justified establishment in that area of a

permanent scientific research facility. There was subsequently established

in 1961 the Scientific Research Establishment of the Upper Silesian Industrial

District of the Polish Academy of Sciences, headquartered in Zabrze, reorganized

in 1970 into the Industrial Regions Protection Institute, and in 1975 elevated

to the rank of Institute of the Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering of

the Polish Academy of Sciences. I should like to present some reflections

and conclusions which seem quite obvious on the background of the results of

the institute's work up to the present time.

The Air

This country's total emissions into the atmosphere of unpleasant, often harmful pollution, in the form of particulates and gases from industry, municipalities, dumps and tailings is estimated (excluding carbon dioxide) at approximately 11 million tons annually. Particulates comprise approximately 33%

of this total, sulfur compounds 27%, carbon monoxide 18%, various hydrocarbons 10%, and oxides of nitrogen 9%. Other compounds are released in

smaller quantities. Industry discharges 70% of pollutants. Municipalities

account for approximately 10% of air pollution, transportation — 12%, dumps,

tailings and spoil banks approximately 6%. On a regional breakdown, the

leader in air pollution is Katowickie Voivodship (31% of gas pollutants and

26% of particulates). Industrial plants in the following voivodships also

discharge large quantities of particulates and gases: Krakowskie Lodzkie,

Warszawskie, and Koninskie. Numerous large industrial plants in Poland were

on the list of major offenders (in 1975 they discharged 2,335 thousand tons

of particulates and 3,347 thousand tons of gases). We should add that emission of particulates and gases increased in comparison with the preceding

year. It is estimated that 14.1% of industrial plants have 90% effective

particulate-removal equipment; 15.5% of plants have no particulate-removal

equipment.

17
A large number of plants do not ha\a a designated pollution buffer zone. Only

14% of the heaviest-polluting plants regularly measurer-pollutant emissions,

50% measure sporadically, while 36% take no measurements whatsoever. There

are still many large plants in this country which do not employ specialists

in the area of air pollution.

Toward the end of 3975 there were more than 8.5 million dwelling units in this

country, only 2.6 million of which burned gas. In connection with this fact, at

that time resident i a 1 furnaces were discharging each year approximately

700,000 tons of particulates, 160,000 tons of sulfur compounds, 160,000 tons

of carbon monoxide, plus 80,000 tons of other pollutants. In addition, the

motor vehicles traveling on our country's roads and highways emit approximately 950,000 tons of oxides of carbon, approximately 250,000 tons of hydrocarbons, 110,000 tons of oxides of nitrogen, plus 50,000 tons of other substances. To complete the picture we should add;that dumping of industrial

waste as well as municipal dumps cause secondary discharge of particulate

air pollutants estimated at more than 500,000 tons annually.

More and more money is being spent each year on combating air pollution. A

total of 540 million zlotys was allocated for this purpose in 1970, while in

1975 expenditures totaled more than 1,300 million zlotys, and last year

2,100 million. These funds are being spent chiefly for installation of

equipment to trap particulates. In 1975 there were more than 13,000 units

of such equipment (cyclone dust extractors, cloth filters, static precipitators,

and wet dust extractors). The above-listed equipment trapped more than 22 million tons of particulates, which comprises approximately 85% of total pollutants. In addition, installßdrwet-type units trapped at least 450,000 tons

of sulfur dioxide.

There are two opposing concepts in this area. The first proceeds from the

position that the earth's atmosphere possesses unlimited self-cleaning

capability. Specific studies of changes .in the atmosphere caused by discharged gas and particulate pollutants indicated that these changes take

place very slowly, while the end product which precipitates to the earth

together with fog or rain causes incalculable adverse effects on plants,

animals, and man. The solution proposed as a preventive means by the advocates of this concept, based on carrying discharged pollutants to high

altitudes with the aid of building tall chimneys, has proven ineffective in

practice. The local reduction in concentration of particulates and gases

achieved with this technique came at the cost of a substantial increase in

the area they would affect, since pollutants carried at higher altitudes are

able to spread over a larger area.

The other concept is based on reducing discharge of pollutants at the source,

by: technological procedures in industrial processes, purification (neutralization) of stack gases, and employment of so-called no-waste technologies.

Although the technological changes connected with this do not totally

eliminate the harmful components contained in discharged gases, they do

limit the magnitude of emissions. In effect technological modernization can

18
greatly increase protection against air pollution. These changes consist,

speaking in general terms, in preventing or partially neutralizing discharged pollutants at the very source, that is, in the equipment in which

a manufacturing process occurs. This can be achieved by better selection

of raw materials, change in production process and equipment design parameters, etc.

Obviously changes in manufacturing processes do not by themselves solve the

problem, for they reduce the quantity of emittedv;pollutants but do not

eliminate them. Therefore in the subsequent phase stack gases should be

rigorously subjected to depollution with the aid of various equipment. Unfortunately we produce too little of this equipment, and collaboration among

branches of industry is not sufficiently close and well-coordinated in this

field.

One of the most modern and effective solutions in the area of air (water, soil)

pollution is the employment of waste-free, clean technologies. Everything

which has been extracted and produced (even as waste), which is still

frequently irrevocably lost, should be retained and utilized. The recommendations of the Second National PZPR Conference clearly specify the direction of actions to take in this area. Scientific thought has proceeded in

support of these recommendations. For example, much dust is generated in

the process of open-hearth steelmaking, dust which contains numerous

valuable components in quantities which frequently exceed their content in

ore mined in this country or purchased abroad (iron, zinc, lead). At the

present time our open-hearth furnaces are not equipped to extract particulates from gases. Unfortunately attempts to interest industry in this problem have not yet been successful.

The largest quantities of pollutants are generated in producing electricity

and heat from solid fuels. The problem of total utilization of coal by

means of gasification or fluidization fascinates industry and science, since

it would ensure better recovery of gas components, elimination of air pollutants, as well as fuller utilization of the thermal energy contained in

the fuel. Intensive research and engineering projects have been conducted

in Poland in this area.

The burning of coal in home furnaces, in view of the large-scale character

of this activity, is an important problem which must be resolved. More than

22 million tons of coal are consumed in Poland in home furnaces; this is a

substantial quantity, representing more than 12% of total production. It is

a generally known fact that with this form of consumption utilization of

this valuable fuel is minimal, while there is a substantial increase in environmental pollution, for residential chimneys, which essentially are not very

tall, eject particulates and gases which, when atmospheric conditions are

right, are transformed into so-called "smog," which is particularly deleterious

to health. This area also contains considerable raw materials reserves.

We could cite more examples. But we have enumerated the most general tasks

implementation of which could result, without the neöd for greater capital

spending, in better air quality by eliminating various pollutants. It would

19
seem that alongside increasing the manufacture of appropriate equipment,

we should draw up for industrial plants (with annual revisions) figures on

allowable quantity of emitted pollutants and enforce the designated quantities in conformity with existing regulations, regularly monitor discharge of

pollutants into the atmosphere by industry, designate pollution buffer zones

and monitor their systematic utilization. Industry on the other hand

should organize regular monitoring of pollutant emissions and emissions in

plant pollution buffer zones (precipitation and concentration of particulates, sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and other

pollutants specific to the given plant), should establish pollution buffer

zones and programs for their maintenance, should elaborate a program (and

monitor its systematic implementation) in the area of reducing pollutant

emissions through changes in manufacturing processes and installation of

more effective equipment, should organize or further develop air pollution

services, should install particulate-removal and stack gas-scrubbing equipment and ensure their proper operation and maintenance, should utilize waste

materials, and should cooperate on a regular basis with research establishments in the area of methods and means of reducing emission of pollutants into

the atmosphere and improved utilization of trapped waste materials.

Only proper cooperation between industrial enterprises and government agencies

as well as productive participation by scientists can produce the improvement

in air quality so hoped for by the inhabitants of industrial regions.

Water Conservation and Water Management

Poland is not particularly rich in water resources. Mean annual precipitation, according to figures covering a span of many years, totals 602 mm,

while annual per capita surface water runoff totals barely 1,660 m^. As a

result of industrial growth as well as population growth, both water demand

and consumption are increasing substantially. Approximately 70% of total

water drawn is consumed by industry, with the following the heaviest water

users: mining, power engineering, chemical industry, metallurgy.

In addition to possessing meager resources, unfortunately the degree of water

pollution in Poland is very high. Only a few rivers in Western Pomerania and

the extreme northeastern part of the country are relatively unpolluted, while

in the rest of the country only the river headwater areas are unpolluted.

The "Atlas of River Pollution in Poland in 1970," produced by the Institute

of Water Management in Warsaw, on the basis of studies conducted in 1968-1970,

indicates a poor overall condition of the waterways covered by the studies.

Out of 12,506.2 km of river length (during the period of normal water level),

3,543.7 km remained unclassified, while 8,962 km were classified, with

3,101.0 km in class I, 3,655.5 km in class II, and 2,206.0 km in class III.

It follows from the above that during the period of normal water level more

than 28% of the examined 12,506 km of rivers is polluted to a degree exceeding current classification standards.

20
The waters of the Vistula, regulation of which is directly affected by the resolution of the 12th Plenum of the PZPR Central Committee, exceed present

standards along a total stretch of 531 km, which comprises more than 54% of

the river's total length. The waters of the Vistula are polluted chiefly

by its tributaries, which unfortunately perform the function of sewage and

waste removal, both for large cities (the following rivers: Biala, Wilga,

Dlubnia, Drwina, Suchy Jar), industrial areas (the rivers Gostynia and

Przemsza), or industrial plants located on them (the rivers Kaskada and

Wlosienica, Bren). The most highly-polluted rivers, beyond classification

limits.(that is, with water quality below class III), include the following:

Wisloka, Wislok, Wieprz, Bzura, and the lower San. On the other hand, small

quantities of relatively unpolluted water are to be found in the Sola, upstream on the Skawa, in the Raba, Dunajec, upstream on the San, in the Pilica,

Drweca, Wda, and Narew.

The Oder is already excessively polluted upstream as a result of pollutants

originating in Czechoslovakia's Karvinna-Ostrava Industrial District, with

almost 52% of the entire length of the river polluted. On Polish territory

the Oder is polluted by industrial centers in Raciborz, Kedzierzyn,

Zdzieszowice, Krapkowice, Wroclaw, Brzeg Dolhy, Nowa Sol, and in Szczecin,

as well as industrial plants in Fuerstenberg (GDR). The following tributaries

are the most highly-polluted with mineral and organic compounds: Ruda,

Bierawka, and Klodnica, while a beneficial contribution, diluting existing

pollutant levels, is made by the relatively unpolluted waters of the Olza,

Nysa Klodzka and Luzycka, Sleza, Osobloga, Mala Panwa, Stbbrawa, Olawa,

Widawa, Barycza, Obszyca, Bobr and Warta.

We should emphasize the fact that the waters of both of Poland's major rivers

exceed salinity limits over almost 7% of their length. This is caused by

intensive redevelopment of coal mining, with the discharge of large quantities

of water pumped from the mines, characterized primarily by considerable

salinity.

There is also occurring increasing pollution of some of the lakes of

Pojezierze Mazurskie. Factors in increasing the salinity of these lakes include the development of thermal power engineering, with heat and power

plants, sited primarily on lakes, discharging heated water, which disrupts

the biological balance and produces excessive aquatic plant growth. This problem has been solved by stocking these bodies of water with the plant-eating

White Amur.

It is a fact that water pollution is caused primarily by industrial plants,

which in Poland are even greater water consumers than in many other countries

and which as a consequence discharge correspondingly larger amounts of polluted water. It is estimated that 67% of effluents are discharged by industrial plants, while only 33% is discharged from the sewer systems of

cities and towns. Almost 40% of the close to 11 billion cubic meters of pollutants which make their way into surface waters comprise effluents which

require treatment, while approximately 60% is cooling water. Scarcely 60%

of effluents requiring treatment are in fact treated, while the remaining 40%

is discharged into the rivers loaded with pollutants.

21
Chemical plants are the biggest contributors to water pollution, due to the

specific composition of the pollutants, as well as heavy industrial plants,

particularly steel mills and coking plants, which discharge effluents polluted with suspended matter, cyanides, phenols, acids, mineral oils and

heavy metals, as well as pulp-paper and fiberboard plants, which discharge

effluents which are heavily polluted with organic substances which are only

partially biodegradable. Coal mining enterprises discharge effluents containing large quantities of suspended matter and mineral salts, particularly sodium chloride and sulfates. Removal of mineral salts from mine discharge water is a problem which must be solved.

Many cities and towns in Poland do not have sewage treatment plants and discharge raw sewage directly into rivers. Industrial plant effluent treatment

facilities which were built many years ago are obsolete and fail to do the

job. Some of these facilities were not adapted to increasing production targets, as a consequence of which they are substantially overloaded.

It is true that there is increase in both the quantity of monitoring procedures

conducted at water-polluting enterprises as well as the amount of fines imposed, but it would seem that more efficient activities by monitoring entities and consistent enforcement of the levying of fines could result in more

rigorous adherence to regulations.

More and more attention is being devoted in Poland to the problem of water

conservation and proper water management. One measuring stick of the interest shown is the amount of capital spending designated for water management and water conservation. In 1976 the figure exceeded 12 billion zlotys,

that is, almost 3 times as much as in 1970. In view of the strong emphasis

placed on this problem by the 12th PZPR Central Committee Plenum, rapid

determination of the areas of further efforts and effective utilization of

growing money expenditures for these purposes is essential.

It is becoming absolutely essential to build new sewage treatment plants in

cities, towns and at industrial enterprises, as well as to modernize and improve the efficiency of existing equipment, including by the addition of

second and third-stage treatment, that is, an organic compounds biodegradation unit, as well as nitrification and denitrification processes. Concentration of funds and monitoring, as well as improvement in the effectiveness of

equipment installed at those plants which present the greatest threat to the

environment should produce fast, tangible results. In connection with the

program of intensification of agricultural production and livestock raising,

it would also seem indicated to build and install small container-type

treatment units in villages and at stock farms.

An important stage in improving water management is to bring effluents, by

means of appropriate treatment, to such a degree of purity that the treated

water could be utilized as recycling industrial-process water. This can be

achieved by building open or closed-cycle cooling systems operating with

maximum concentration of circulating water. Adoption of such equipment in

industry will greatly contribute to the elimination of effluent discharge and

more efficient water management.

22
Construction of holding ponds and water transfer is an important task. As

regards activities in the area of water treatment and efficient water management, we must mention the tasks facing scientists. These include such

areas as:

development of water and sewage treatment technologies as well as

design of equipment adapted to the specific features of individual industrial

enterprises;

development of processes of utilization of heavily polluted and

saline water;

employment of new methods of improving water in open and closedcycle circulating systems, with maximum concentration of cycle water;

development of methods of extracting secondary raw materials contained in effluents, management and utilization of sewage sludge;

acceleration of the process of water self-cleaning and methods of

eliminating pollutants deriving^from agricultural chemical runoff.

Deformation of the Terrain

More than 150,000 hectares in Poland have been degraded and denuded due to

mining and industrial operations. Mining and power engineering are

responsible for deformation of approximately 60% of this total. This land

comprises sand pits, spoil banks from mining operations, as well as

power plant slag and ash heaps. Degraded land, usually designated as

"industrial waste land," also creates serious problems of a socioeconomic

nature. One of the negative phenomena attending mining activity is the

creation of substantial soil-stripped areas and sand pits. This

is a serious problem if we take into consideration the fact that mine-fill

sand removal operations ruin each year an average of approximately 200

hectares of land (primarily forest). The total area involved in mine-fill

sand production is approximately 6,000 hectares. As a result of sand-stripping operations, changes are taking place in conditions of water runoff,

agriculture and forestry, as well as microclimatic changes in and around the

sand pits. On the other hand, removal of sand to fill underground cavities

produced by mining operations prevents underground mining from producing

harmful effects on the surface terrain, and makes it possible to mine rich

coal seams involving protective pillars underlying some urban areas. The

problem is a complicated one and demands a compromise between considerations

of environmental protection and the requirements of the economy. Almost

one out of every 3 tons of coal produced today involves backfilling to

replace the removed coal. It is not surprising that the mining industry's

sand consumption continues to be substantial.

The results of removal of sand deposits are neutralized by reforestation

or the creation of water reservoirs in the abandoned sand pit. Reforestation is the principal method of reclaiming land disturbed by mining operations. The objective is to restore the soil and, to the extent possible, all

23
other natural and man-made elements required for reforestation, forest

development and economic exploitation. A positive result of reforestation

is the planting of forest consisting chiefly of deciduous species resistant

to the harmful particulates and gases discharged into the atmosphere by industry.

A very important trend in reclamation of sand pits is the construction of

multi-purpose reservoirs, utilized both for recreation and water retention,

as well as an impoundment for municipal, industrial and agricultural water

needs. More than 1,400 hectares of abandoned sand pits will be reclaimed by

1990 with water impoundment projects.

An important category of waste land resulting from coal mining operations

comprises the overburden heaped up in the course of getting to and working

seams, as well as mechanical coal concentration activities. Suffice it

to say that there are approximately 240 dumps of this type localized in the

coal basin, occupying an area of more than 1,370 hectares. The Ministry of

Mining has predicted that an additional 400 hectares will be added by 1985.

Increased coal production targets will substantially accelerate this process,

for production of a ton of coal is usually accompanied by 0.4 tons of waste

of various kinds. This attests to the acuteness of the problem. It is

true that the Ministry of Mining projects that in the current five-year plan

approximately 85% of underground rock deriving from current production will

be utilized as mine fill as well as in various construction projects. The

present situation seems to indicate, however, that these forecasts are

excessively optimistic.

An important problem in reclamation activities is presented by spoil banks

situated among urban-industrial development. They are unsightly and result

in secondary air pollution. In the future many such piles of waste rock will

be removed in view of an acute shortage of building sites as well as needs

connected with waste utilization and secondary coal recovery. In view, however, of the extremely adverse effect on the environment, we cannot wait until

these piles are removed. We must develop new, effective, and at the same time

economically-substantiated methods of covering these spoil banks with vegetation. The cost of reclamation by the traditional method, that is, employment

of rooted seedlings, is very high. Research conducted at the Polish Academy of Sciences Institute of Fundamentals o f - Environmental Engineering in Zabrze has come

to our assistance. T/0£h the aim of temporarily covering spoil banks with tall

vegetation, seedlings of vegetative origin (so-called stem cuttings) have

been utilized for the first time in Poland. This new method of reclamation

has proven to be 10 times cheaper than the traditional method.

Reclamation of so-called central dumping grounds, ranging from 100 to 1,500

hectares in area, is an important problem. Occupying old sand pits, they

are located on the edges of the Upper Silesion Industrial District, for the

most part among recreational forest lands. In view of the fact that these

forests are particularly susceptible to industrial pollution, it is necessary

to reforest the wooded acreage destroyed in sand removal operations, at the

same time replacing conifers with deciduous species or mixed forest. The

substantial acreage of newly-created dumping grounds and the urgent necessity

24
of increasing forested acreage in a highly-urbanized region compels us to

adopt reforestation reclamation, totaly bypassing the so-called pioneer

vegetation stage. The program adopted in Katowickie Voivodship specifies

that in the period 1975-1985 more than 1,050 hectares of mining operation

dumping grounds will be reclaimed and replanted.

The brown coal industry is concentrated in three districts: the Turoszowski,

Koninsko-Turecki, and Zarski. Here the importance of this problem is determined first and foremost by the magnitude of agricultural and forest land

occupied by industry. Planned development of additional strip mines (including at Belchatow) will increase this area severalfold. It is estimated

that by 1980 strip mining will swallow up from 56 to 66 thousand hectares

of productive land.

The results of more than 10 years of research and studies conducted in the

brown coal industry with the participation of the Institute of Formation and

Protection of the Environment of the Academy of Mining and .Metallurgy in

Krakow as well as the Polish Academy of Sciences Institute of Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering in Zabrze have made it possible to elaborate longrange plans and planning documents for reclaiming land denuded by brown-coal

strip mining. Reclamation runs in a four-year cycle and encompasses the

following: grading of the land in conformity with the requirements of the

specified type of reclamation; adjustment of hydrological conditions; establishment of suitable soil conditions for growth of vegetation; planting

of vegetation as well as technical-biological slope grading to ensure stability, as well as construction of essential access roads.

This problem applies particularly to the Koninskie and Belchatowskie Coal

Basin. An exceptionally important task in this area is elaboration of a

suitable model of biological regeneration of denuded land. As a result of

conducted research, an agricultural recultivation model was elaborated, which

specifies, with appropriate mechanical soil cultivation as well as application of mineral fertilizers suited to the specific conditions, producing

yields in the order of 40 quintals per hectare. In the Turoszowskie Basin

reforestation-type reclamation will predominate.

Important tasks proceed from the fact that flotation waste is produced as a

result of wet concentration processes used on nonferrous ores. This waste

is transported in the form of suspended matter by hydraulic transport to

special settling ponds. The bulk of the waste of this type has been scattered

over the Bytomska, Olkuska, and Lubinska Basin. In view of the heavy quantities of dust generated, they constitute the industrial waste group which is

most harmful to the environment.

The dynamic growth of thermal power, expressed in a doubling of installed

generating capacity every 7 to 10 years, has resulted in an immense increase

in the quantity of furnace waste to be dumped. As a result of burning increasingly lower grades of coal (muly, przerosty) as well as power coal with

a high sulfur and ash content, with an increasing percentage share of brown

25
coal, and under the influence of a demanded Improvement in efficiency and

layout of equipment, the quantity of furnace waste is increasing more rapidly than growth in generated electric power. The total surface area of furnace waste dumps will probably reach around 6,000 hectares by 1990, while

approximately 30% of presently existing dumping grounds in the public utility power industry is already completely filled or is in the terminal phase of

dump filling. These areas demand in the near future protection against blowing of dust, biological recultivation and reclamation. One result of research

and experimentation is establishment of methods of biological securement of

dumping grounds against dust blowing and elaboration of the principles of

their recultivation. This makes it possible to plant vegetation on power

plant dumps without first covering them with a layer of topsoil. Tests conducted on growing various plants indicate diversified possibilities of purposeful dump reclamation. The adopted methods promote correction of the

damage caused by industry as well as protection of the environment and landscape, as well as bringing measurable agricultural benefits.

Vegetation

Air pollutants, particularly sulfur and nitrogen compounds, have an adverse

effect on vegetation, especially woodlands. Air pollution eliminates particularly susceptible coniferous species from tree stands. Deciduous species

are also susceptible to pollution damage. These same causes also lead to

damage to farm crops, reduce crop yields, and diminish their usefulness and

nutrient value. There is also observed a decline in the quality of farm

products as a consequence of occurrence of necrosis and damage as well as

contamination caused by the settling of particulates on leaves, flowers and

fruit. Heavy precipitation of particulates on plants creates difficult conditions for harvesting and threshing. Air pollution sometimes results in

the accumulation of heavy metals in plant organs (zinc, lead, cadmium), which

in general do not affect crop yields but can cause sufficient adulteration

so that fruits, vegetables and feeds cannot be consumed.

Nonferrous metallurgical enterprises, particularly zinc and lead, present a

serious threat to the environment. These enterprises, in addition to very

large quantities of sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, also discharge

other substances as well as particulates containing zinc, lead and cadmium.

Studies conducted in the vicinity of zinc plants at Szopienice and Brzeziny

indicated the following declines in crop yields at a distance of up to 2.5 km

from the pollution source: potatoes to 70%, alfalfa to 60%, beans and barley

to 10%. The decline in crop yields was chiefly caused by the effect of

gaseous phytotoxic substances, causing damage to above-ground plant parts

during the vegetation period. Absorption by plants of excessive quantities

of zinc and lead does not initially restrict growth of biomass. Their toxic

nature, however, substantially reduces the feed and industrial-use value of

crop plants.

The effect of fluorine compounds discharged in large quantities by metallurgical plants, superphosphate plants, enamel glaze plants and many other industrial enterprises is greater than the effect of sulfur dioxide. The

26
greatest threat occurs in areas closest to the pollution source. When discharged from tall chimneys, however, larger quantities of fluorine are

recorded at distances greater than 10 km.

Therefore it would seem advisable in areas with substantial air pollution to

reduce the growing of crops which are highly susceptible to the harmful effects of emitted air pollutants, replacing them with more resistant plants.

In planting orchards, one should select varieties which are more resistant

to the effect of industrial air pollutants.

Little is presently known on the effect of emissions of industrial gases and

particulates on axnimals. Work in this area has begun only in the last

few years. Species most susceptible to industrial gas and particulate

emissions include red deer, wild boar and roe deer, as well as hares and

pheasant. It has been calculated that losses in the hare population in polluted areas runs about 45%.

Air pollution also has a very adverse effect on beekeeping. Emitted polrlutants destroy the feed base and poison the nectare. As a result the bees

become weak, incapable of effective pollination of farm crops, and produce

less honey and wax. The result is a serious decline in production.

We should once again stress the very adverse effect of industry-emitted

fluorine on animals. The most dangerous are plant species which,;while not

showing clear signs of damage, contain large quantities of fluorine in their

leaves. Poisoning and illness of animals has been noted in areas where

these plants occur. Polluted air and water, waste, noise and vibrations

have an adverse effect on man's health and well-being. The effect of air

pollutants has perhaps been determined to the greatest extent.

In urban areas health conditions are markedly worse than in other areas

of Poland. The most common problems are chronic inflammation of the upper

respiratory passages, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia and bronchial asthma.

Also frequently occurring as a result of particulate pollution is inflammation

of the nasal passages, inflammation of the throat, conjunctivitis, keratitis,

and inflammation of the conjunctival sac. Analysis of public-health observations indicates that in the last decade respiratory affections have regularly shown a high incidence. In Katowickie Voivodship it is higher than the

national average.

Because of the indirect and direct consequences of a decidedly negative

character for man and society, protection and management of the environment

are an urgent problem demanding action in many areas, particularly in the

industrialized and urbanized districts. Essential in this action is cooperation between industry and the municipalities, scientific establishments and

administrative agencies, and practically all of society. The criteria of a

microeconomic approach should be replaced by macroeconomic and macrosocial

criteria, taking into account both the costs of countermeasures and all losses

occurring in man's environment due to threats to the environment.

27
The task of industry is particularly important. Industry is the principal

cause of danger to the environment and must therefore bear the main burden

of the effort to eliminate the negative effects of its activities. This

applies to all aspects of environmental protection, that is, reducing to a

minimum emission of pollutants into the atmosphere, treatment of industrial

effluents, neutralization or utilization of production waste, reclamation of

dumping grounds, and the campaign against noise. The most important thing

is, first and foremost, proper conduct or even change in industrial processess

construction of highly-efficient antipollution equipment and regular monitoring.

Accomplishment of these tasks of course is connected with the need to make

the public more responsive, active and aware of the need for all-out involvement in environmental protection. There must be public participation

and monitoring in the process of utilization of expenditures on protection

of the environment in the broadly-defined definition.

Concern for proper operation and maintenance of installed equipment is just

as important as concern for efficient operation of production equipment and

production proper. This is a particularly difficult and ticklish matter.

Costly stack gas scrubbing equipment, industrial and municipal sewage treatment plants are frequently inefficient, shut down, and viewed as a fifth

wheel on the cart, or they "complicate" production, raise costs, absorb

personnel, and do not produce any direct production-economic effects. We

cannot imagine any change in this erroneous approach without proper indoctrination of economic cadres and constant activeness on the part of party

organizations and officials.

We are obligated to take these steps by the Politburo resolution, which in a

farsighted manner encompassed complex problems of protection of the environment and specified a cohesive system of effective actions in that area.

The conditions of our system promote accomplishment of these tasks faster

and more effectively than under capitalism. This demands, however, as was

emphasized by Edward Gierek at the 12th Plenum of the PZPR Central Committee,

a greater contribution by scientific establishments, daily concern on the

part of the people working in the economy and administration, as well as the

cooperation of the public as a whole. These are expensive tasks and require

time. Consistent efforts and persistence in accomplishing them are particularly important.

3024

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28
CUBA

HAVANA BAY CLEANUP BEGINS; SOVIET EQUIPMENT USED

Havana JUVENTUD REBELDE in Spanish 19 Sep 78 p 2

/Article by Armando Alonso Rivero/

/Text/ Cleanup equipment acquired by Cuba in the Soviet Union recently went

into service in the bay of the city of Havana for the purpose of eliminating

the floating oil and solid pollutants.

The Ministry of Transportation is forming a sanitation unit which already

has two cleanup vessels in the bay. There are plans to furnish the Havana

port with new equipment and means for this puspose in the coming years.

The specifications on the new Soviet-made vessel are: maximum length,

14.85 meters, and beam 4.3; speed 3.8 knots with a 135-horsepower engine.

The reception tank for floating solids holds 12 cubic meters and the two

decantation tanks for the water and oil mixtures collected hold 8.7 cubic

meters each.

Its average intake capacity is 3 to 4 tons per hour of oil in water and

1.5 for floating solids.

The pollution in the waters of Havana Bay is a problem which has been

evolving since the colonial era and which reached its maximum during the

capitalist period of developing the community and the industry around it.

In 1959, we inherited the consequences of centuries of negligence in that

regard.

From the mid-19th century, there is written evidence in the journal of a

German sailor who, talking about the dirtiness of the waters of the port

of Havana, mentioned the impossibility of washing his clothes in them.

Famour hygienists such as Dr Carlos J. Finlay and later, congresses of

doctors and engineers also mentioned the unhealthiness of said waters in

the first half of this century, and they cited as the main cause the dumping

of industrial and sewer wastes from the city.

29
In 1936, a private entity undertook the cleanup of wastes in the waters

of the bay but with highly unhealthy and ineffective methods. Later, in

1940, the former Ministry of Health created an office called Cleanliness.

Lighthouses and Buoys, which had among its activities the collection of

floating solids, without obtaining positive results either.

The pollution of the bay is to a large extent cumulative and therefore the

birth of the National Merchant Marine after the triumph of the revolution—

with only 14 old, small ships—was faced with this obstacle in its development, not overlooking the fact that the oldest vessels, just as the foreign

ships with these specifications, contribute to some extent to the pollution

of the environment. Our modern merchant vessels, taking this situation

into account, have devices and equipment to prevent it.

The day will come when our merchant fleet, in its totality, will have

greater scientific and technological advances in the area of environmental

conservation, the only way for our maritime trade, which has already shown

a dizzying level of advancement, to reach its highest development.

11937

CSO: 5000

30
CUBA

RED TIDE RESEARCH IN CUBA

Havana JUVENTUD REBELDE in Spanish 29 Sep 78 p 2

/Article by Juan Do!set/

/Text/ There is a small, pleasant beach on the coast, a few kilometers from

the city of Havana. Formerly, anyone going.past it by sea would see that it

looked sad in its loneliness. Yet that small beach which nobody enjoyed had

a lord and master, a sugar industry magnate, from whom it got its name:

Viriato Beach.

Everything in it has changed at this time, even its name, which currently is

the Oceanology Institute Cove, because it is the site of that research center

affiliated with the Academy of Science of Cuba.

There is bustle continually in evidence as people move about in what used to

be a private residence and in the new buildings. Most of them are young

people: scientists, researchers, students, intermediate technicians, and

administrative and maintenance personnel. One can hear them discuss serious

subjects and laugh at funny situations. They all have in common their love

for the sea and for their work, which at times seems like a sport.

Unexpected Visit

On Monday the 11th of the current month, someone noted a band of beautiful

red color in the water. The word spread around, and all the personnel had

observed the novelty a short time later. Naturally, the inquisitiveness of

scientific research immediately prompted the collection of water samples to

determine the cause of the coloration.

Two causes were possible: contamination by the water of the river, or a

large concentration of microscopic life forms of red color.

Coloration of a biological origin in itself is nothing new in the experience

of oceanology. It had been already reported by Darwin on his famous and

momentous trip, and even by Jules Verne in his novel "A Captain at 15."

31
It can be caused by various organisms. It frequently occurs in the Gulf of

Campeche, Mexico. Under the name of red tide, one appeared a few years ago

on the coasts of Florida and produced concern, because it killed a large

number of fish. Not all the red tides are harmful.

Its presence among us is a novelty because it was noted only once, 6 years

ago. It was promptly determined at the Oceanology Institute that it was not

a product of environmental pollution. A multitude of live forms, brownish

red in color, could be observed proliferating in a drop of water placed under

the microscope. It was necessary to study the phenomenon closely; to determine the cause, the extent and the intensity of the population; and to periodically examine the waters of the cove and its surroundings, and other data

of interest. The supervision of the task was assigned to Dr Luisa Lopez

Baluja, who is also a professor.

The systematic collection of samples was organized, and a count was made of

the population present in each drop to determine if it was increasing or

decreasing. They had the offender identified within a few hours after the

collection of the first sample. It was a single-celled alga of innocuous

nature, because there were no dead fish in the sea, and it caused no reaction

when it came in contact with the skin of the personnel of the institute, who

even went swimming right into the red tide.

As far as botanists are concerned, the guilty microorganism is a plant. As

far as zoologists are concerned, it is an animal. Because of its photosynthesizing ability, it is considered a plant—specifically, an alga~in

the studies of the sea.

At the laboratory where the professor works, from where our attractive sea

can be seen, JUVENTUD REBELDE posed some questions to the biologist. Her

answers were concise.

Professor, is it natural for the red tide to occur? "Of course," she

answers, "it is an absolutely natural phenomenon. It develops when one or

several species of microscopic organisms concentrate in various amounts

which are sufficient to produce a pronounced alteration in the coloration of

the sea."

Does the microorganism responsible for the red tide that has been visited on

the institute have a name and surname? "This blossoming can be considered a

proliferation into dense concentrations of the dinoflagellate known as

Peridinium aciduliferum. The decline of the concentration has been very

fast."

Have you worked alone, or have you had help? "The collection of as much

data as we have would have been practically impossible in such a short time—

a few days—without teamwork. Actually, a considerable number of scientific

workers of the Oceanology Institute participated. We had the enthusiasm and

the endeavor of all the personnel. Cooperation was such that even the comrade

watchman would collect samples at certain times after working hours."

32
Do you consider the task completed? "No. We continue to watch the waters

where the tide made its appearance. On the other hand, we are compiling

the large amount of data obtained, and it will be published later by the

academy. It will be the first scientific information produced in Cuba about

this phenomenon."

8414

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33
FLOCKS OF WILDFOWL KILLED BY MISUSE OF PESTICIDES

Salisbury THE HERALD in English 26 Oct 78 p 15

[Text]

RHODESIA

MISUSE of an aphidkilling chemical on

grain-producing farms

in Rhodesia is killing

thousands of guineafowl, most species of

waterfowl and many

birds of prey, Mr Ron

Thomson, a National

Parks and Wild Life

Management official,

said this week.

The chemical, monocrotophos, is widely used

to combat aphids in

wheatländs. When double

the strength recommen- j

ded for killing aphids is

used it is also highlyeffective in killing flocks

of quelea birds, which

make great inroads on

grain crops if they are

not controlled.

DUCKS

But it is equally effective in killing numerous

other bird species who

do not pose a threat to

grain crops. Ducks especially are falling prey to

the chemical—but numbers of birds that feed

on poisoned quelea are

killed as well.

According to Mr Thomson many farmers could

not care less what happens to bird life on their

farms so long as they

have the advantage of a

poison which kills the

main crop pests simul*

CSO: 5000

täheoüsly.~

Several farmers who

care for the wild birds

on their farms have

complained that some

salesmen advised them to

use double doses of monocrotophos on their crops

but did not point out that,

this is against Government regulations and

that other species besides

quelea would be poisoned.

Approached for comment, Mr Thomson said

lie had on record dozens

of cases of farmers who

have contacted him to

say that entire flocks of

guinea fowl and ducks

have suddenly died on

their farms.

"They tell me they

have no idea what has

killed the birds, and

when we go out and investigate it is almost invariably monocrotophos

that is responsible. '

"Many of these farmers

said they had no idea

what harm they were

doing and' that they had

been encouraged to do so

by salesmen. 'K

"Some of these farmers

build dams especially to

encourage water fowl to

come to their farms. One

such farmer has found at

least 1000 dead ducks

in the last few months

on his dam not far from

Salisbury.

"Other farmers phone

me and say they haven't

a single guinea fowl left

on their farms whereas

34

last year they had flocks

of the birds.

"It is impossible to say

more or less how many

birds are dying as a result of monocrotophos

poisoning, but the deaths

that are reported to us

must only be a tiny fraction of the damage this

chemical causes."

Mr Thomson said farmers can make an immense

contribution ito the preservation of bird li'fe by cooperating with his department, which undertakes to

kill quelea where they are

found in large enough

flocks.

ROOST

"Not one farmer has

complied with our proposed method of dealing

with quelea*" he said. "A

farmer has only to build

a bait roost to the windward of his croplands,

where the quelea will

naturally roost once they

arrive at croplands."

Permanent .bait roosts

can be established by

planting rows of wattles

next to croplands. When

the wattles are killed by

cutting off the bark they

are ideal roosts for quelea,

Mr Thomson said.

"And when they are in

the bait roosts in their

millions we go at night

and spray them with a

substance' that breaks

down and becomes harmless four hours after the

qüelea have .been killed,"

Spokesmen for two of

the main companies who

supply monocrotophos to

farmers, questioned about

the product and its misuse, both claimed their

salesmen did not give

unethical advice to customers.

They said they observed

Government regulations,

which state that monocrotophos may be used

for specific purposes only,

mainly to kill aphids.

One spokesman said:

"Once monocrotophos is

sold to a farmer he can

do with it what he likes

and we can do nothing

about it."

A spokesman for the

Pesticide Registration

Office in Salisbury said:

"We are not aware that

it is being used to kill

quelea. There is nothing

we can do about it,

"But there is forthcoming legislation, under the

Hazardous Substances Act,

which will make people

who use such products for

any but their specified

purposes liable to prosecution."

The establishment of

bait roosts on grain farms

"will pay farmers hands

down," Mr Thomson said.

"Representatives of the

Ministry of Agriculture,

and the Natural Resources

Board have for years been

begging farmers to establish these roosts, but the

farmers plead povertys'»
RHODESIA

MISUSE OF PESTICIDE HIT

Salisbury THE HERALD in English 28 Oct 78 p 6

[Editorial]

[Text] THE REPORT this week thatIhousands of guinea-fowl, waterfowl and birds of prey have been killed as a result of the misuse

of an anti-aphid chemical by grain farmers made shocking

!:' reading. „ '.-'

The comment by an official of the Department of National

; Parks and Wild Life Management that many farmers could not

care less about the threat to bird life makes one wonder where

these people have been during the years that the world has

woken up to its responsibilities to preserve the ecological balance

as far as possible.

It is difficult to imagine that in this day there are still

people who otherwise appear to be sane and sensible but who

do not appreciate the dangers of misusing chemical killers.

More powervto the Department if,it can get the farmers

to co-operate in controlling quelea the responsible way.

CSO: 5000

35
SEYCHELLES

REPRESENTATIVE COMMENTS ON SEA POLLUTION CONFERENCE

Victoria NATION in English 26 Sep 78 p 2

[Text] Pollution was an important subject for discussion at the United

Nations Law of the Sea Conference which ended in New York a week ago.

Mr. Aubrey Harris, the fisheries officer, who represented Seychelles,

said that the discussions were not centred around one aspect of sea

pollution, but dealt with the subject generally.

The next conference, to be held in Geneva next year, is expected to

adopt an international law which all countries must obey.

"Everybody is getting impatient," he said, "and saying that it is high

time the discussions came to an end.

"Coastal states are interested in protecting their coastlines and

environment and were against the idea of oil tankers emptying their

roughage in the ocean.

"Any tanker which is inside your 200 miles exclusive economic zone you

have control over, and you can take the boat into custody if it is doing

something to pollute the environment," said Mr. Harris.

."Every country has enough legislation to protect its environment from

pollution, but in the case of tankers you must be equipped with the

proper facilities to do so."

He said the patrol boat and plane which Seychelles would receive in the

near future would help a great deal to protect our seas from pollution.

"Another main topic of discussion was that of countries emptying their

garbage into the sea," he said.

"Countries not wishing to pollute their own waters dump their rubbish

near the limit of their zone, so that the current will take it into the

neighbouring country's zone, polluting the water there.

36
"This is a very bad practice and before doing so each country must think

of its neighbour countries. If something is not good for you, it is not

good for your neighbour."

Mr. Harris warned that an added danger to Seychelles waters could follow

any discovery of oil.

"There is always a danger of oil pollution, such as happened in the

North Atlantic and Mexico," he said.

"It is perhaps too early to talk about it, but if Seychelles happens to

find oil in great quantities beneath its waters, care must be taken to

prevent pollution."

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37
USSR

NOISE POLLUTION: NORMS, RESEARCH

Moscow LITERATURNAYA GAZETA in Russian 3 Sept 78 p 13

[Letter from readers and commentary by specialists: »What Should the law

on Noise Pollution Be like?"]

[Text] Issue No. 5 of LITERATURNAYA GAZETA for 1978 contained an.article by L. Velikanova titled "A Law on Noise

is Needed!". The editors received an official response to

this article from G. Golubov, member of the board of the

USSR Ministry of Justice. The draft Law of the USSR On

Protection of the Air, which is now being developed, the

reply states, also contains standards aimed at combating

production, domestic and other noises. This report published

in LITERATURNAYA GAZETA (No. 22, 1978) evoked a new outpouring of letters.

How will these standards be formulated in the law? What

measures of liability for creating noise will they place

into effect? We conclude our discussion of legal responsibility for maintaining quiet in the home by publishing

letters from readers and commentary by specialists.

"Let them enjoy themselves..."

"Dear Editors: The buildings of a motor-vehicle plant's

dormitory are located next to .our.home.. And we have.no peace,

neither, during the day,nor at night. The dormitory.residents

have no respect whatsoever for those.around, them: loud music

is played from early morning to.late at night.. Powerful,

amplifiers stand on the windowsills...... We have called the

dormitory many times at night, only to be told: »There is

nothing wrong with that. Let them enjoy themselves...'"

38
A clipping from the magazine ZDOROVYE was attached.to

the letter,.which was sent to the editors by.residents, of

building_No... 16 located _ on. .Yeniseyskaya._street in. Minsk.

The clipping contained a .drawing.: a. dead rat'._ It was the

illustration for an. article titled "Noise — A Killer."

"As part of a study of the influence of noise on organism,"

the article states, "test rats were placed in a basement in

a laboratory in Buenos Aires, in which loudspeakers were

turned on constantly. A few minutes later the rats began

to show syjnptoms of paralysis, and they died six hours later."

"British medical experts have calculated that one out of every four men and

one out of every three women in great Britain suffers neuroses resulting

from noise."

"Deformities and abnormalities are encountered far more frequently in newborn

babies born to mothers living near the landing pattern at the Los Angeles

International Airport than in others," — a study conducted by The University

of California concludes.

"It is the opinion of French medical experts that one out of five patients in

a psychiatric hospital has lost his mind because of noise."

"The world's progressive scientists maintain that noise in the large cities

reduces the individual's life by 8 to 12 years."

Readers who have sent the Editors clippings from newspapers and magazines and

quotations from books containing such reports inquire as to why the campaign

against noise, which, according to scientific information, is so harmful,

frequently receives no support or assistance.

"Dear Editors; it is inconceivable that industrial enterprises would be built

in the center of a city, only 30 meters from apartment buildings, today.

Make no haste to «-reply, because in Smolensk in 1974» that is, during the

period when various decisions were being made on improving the environment,

such an enterprise was built and placed into operation 30 meters from the

windows.of our building. It has all the attributes of an enterprise — a

double-shift.operation, machining areas, grinding.and,galvanizing shops, and

warehouse facilities. The enterprise is located not only next to apartment

buildings, but also near a school and a.children's hospital.

"The city sanitary and epidemiological station is not in a position to resolve

the issue of removing the-plant from the center of the city... — K. Mitenkov,

Smolensk."

"The noise made by a factory which produces wooden housing for television sets

proclaims its presence over the entire territory of an adjacent settlement.

I have called the director's office to complain and received the following:

'We are authorized to make any sort of noise up to 2300 hours. If you don't

like that, move to another apartment. — B. Val'kov, Gor'kiy."

39
Citing these and many, many other instances and examples attesting to the fact

that we cannot, cope with creators of npise._without a special .noise—pollution

law,, the readers inquire as to what such a law should be like, what standards

should be included in it, who should be vested with authority and for what, and

submit their own proposals.

"I feel that LITERATURNAYA GAZETA has initiated a matter of state importance

since it is aimed at protecting the people's health. Just why is the main

blast of criticism directed against the planners, however? I am a construction

engineer by profession, and I know that the planners are doing everything according to established standards and that each plan always contains the notation

signed by the official responsible: «Compiled in complete accordance with

existing standards and regulations,.

,, Just what are they to blame for? The

law should be applied not to them but to those who live in their apartments

by the principle "I can do anything I want to*— B. Val'kov."

"In response to our complaints we are told that the enterprise which has deprived us of sleep and rest was built according to current standards<and that

the distance between it and our home also conforms to the standard. What sort

of standards are these, however, if the noise and rumbling from a production

unit located nearby prevents us from opening the windows in our home? — asks

Leningrad resident Ye. Mikhaylova. "This means that those whb develop and

approve such standards should be fined and punished."

"USSR Gosstroy should adopt noise-level standards which would make it possible

for me to hear not only the beating of my watch but also the voice of the

announcer on my television set and the footsteps of my children," — her

feelings are echoed by Moscow resident K. Bekker.

By the Builders

A LITERATURNAYA GAZETA correspondent decided to turn to the specialists to

determine what can realistically be done today to make .our homes quieter.

Following are some of their opinions. ,

A. V. Beruchyan, chief of the section for standard and experimental designing

of residential buildings for Gosgrazhdanstroy's Housing Construction Administration: "Noise protection can be provided by increasing the bulk of walls

and ceilings and with shock-absorbing strips. The partitions between apartments and the ceilings were 12 cm thick in the first monolithic apartment

buildings built in 195Ö. This was gradually increased to 16 cm, first in one

place and then another, and this.was specified in the standards and regulations

of 1971» These plans will be used in only 40 percent of the nation's new

buildings even by 19Ö0, however...".

40
A.A. KLimukhin, head of the laboratory for sound-insulation of buildings of

the Scientific Research Institute for Constructional Physics: "We are now at

the level of CEMA. nations 'and the advanced nations in the West with respect

to soundproofing...of walls,_partitions.and^ceilings.... Soundproofing is greatly

affected by the quality of the'work, however. If a building plan calls for

double partitions, for example, then there should be no contact between the

two. In order to move back and forth more conveniently, however, the builders

knock holes entirely through the partitions and then block them ;off with

bricks and cover them with wallpaper. Such a wall becomes a sound-conducting

instead of a sound-absorbing element."

Or take the following example. The hollow blocks of ceilings should be filled

in with sand or slag, a cement securing device should be built, and pergamyn

must be placed between them in order to prevent noise from entering "from the

ceiling." Otherwise, the cement trickles through into the sand, and the entire structure becomes monolithic. It becomes a sound-conducting element.

The builders frequently "forget" the pergamyn. A child drops a block in the

apartment above, and an adult in the apartment below feels as though he has been

hit in the head with a hammer.

In another instance the designers include a single hole running through the

wall for socket outlets in two different apartments. The builders are supposed

to place insulation cork between them. They are supposed to, but they do not.

As. a result the neighbor's clock cuckoos as though it were in ones own apartment ...

Is it possible to force the builders accurately to perform those operations

which cannot be seen with the naked eye?

In principle the specialists believe that this is not within the client's

capability (as one of them expressed it, "The client cannot stand and observe

the installation of each partition, each ceiling"). On the other hand, however,

it is easy to find the client's signature indicating that everything has been

checked and all of the operations performed at the bottom of any certification

of such so-called unexposed work (that is, that work which cannot be seen with

the naked eye).

"This should not surprise you," the specialists told the correspondent. "The

signatures mean nothing. They are placed on the paper in a 'rubber stamp'

manner. And what is the use of even looking at them if all of the responsibility

for hidden defects, subsequently revealed, is not borne by them but by the

renters of apartments on the two sides of sound-conducting ceilings, partitions

and electrical outlets.

In short, we have no control over the quality of future sound-proofing of a

home today.^ We therefore submit the following proposal for consideration by

legislative agencies: it should be mandatory that special instruments be used

when apartment buildings are accepted to determine the conformity of the apartments' sound-proofing to established health standards.

41
Noise gauges are already being used for the acceptance of housing, but only

for measuring the sounds produced by elevators.. Why.. not.those produced by

apartments? It would.naturally not be necessary, to. check a. radio..or television

with a sound gauge.in each apartment,,but only.on a.selective.basis.__ The

builders should understand that they will, be fined for producing soundconducting ceilings, if the members of the acceptance commission sympathize

and sign the documents, then they will also be fined. It is an interesting

fact that the editors receive very few complaints about noise from elevators.

All state acceptance commissions should adopt the practice of checking the

condition of sound-proofing in apartment buildings.

With Windows Opening Onto the Street

"I live on ulitsa Kuybysheva in Donetsk, in apartment building No. 36. The

section of our street between leninskLy prospekfc and ulitsa Kirova carries

such heavy traffic that there is no escape from it. Cars, trolleys, buses and

trucks move in a continuous stream on both sides of the street. The terrible

noise and rumbling goes on day and night. The apartment buildings are located

almost adjacent to the carriageway of the street. We cannot think of opening

the shutters, let alone the balcony doors: if we do it becomes impossible to

talk in the apartment — we cannot hear each other. We cannot even hear a

television set operating at full volume. It is impossible to put up with this

noisy hell. — A. Minkin, Donetsk.»»

When one reads the letters from people living on the main transport arteries

(the specialists call them "transport sewers") one begins to think that all

of the other martyrs were not martyrs at all: imagine a neighbor turning on a

transistor radio to its full power! He finally leaves or goes to sleep. There

is no respite from the traffic noises.

B. G. Prutkov, head of the laboratory for urban development acoustics of the

Scientific Research Institute of Industrial',StWctures .under. .USSR Gosstroy:

"An average of nearly 2,000 vehicles per hour pass over the large traffic

arteries, creating a noise level of 75 to 85 decibels."

G.L. Osipov, head of the laboratory for combating industrial.and city noises

of USSR Gosstroy»s Scientific Research Institute of Constructional physics:

"The traffic noise level increases annually by 0.5-1 decibel."

How can the transport channels be protected against noise?

There are several ways. One of them is to set up high-speed roads, which

would remove traffic from the main city streets. If only 500 vehicles per

hour passed over such a street instead of 2,000 the noise level would drop

to 70 decibels. Ten thousand to 15,000 vehicles per hour might travel on the

high-speed road, however, and the noise level there would reach almost 90

decibels. Special protective embankments and walls should be built there.

Such a wall has been built from the Orly airport to Paris, for example. It

42
is 8 meters high. Other high-speed arteries should obviously be placed in

tunnels. The ^campaia?_ against npise^is not an.inexpensive one».

V. M. Kuznetsov, chief specialist for Gosgrazhdanstroy's Housing Construction

Administration: »It is very good to build so-called noiseproof houses near

main transport lines."

B.G. Prutkov: "An experimental noiseproof apartment building is under construction in Moscow's Otradnoye microrayon. Novosibirsk architect Okolichnikov is one of the initiators of the construction of such housing in our

nation. The foundation has been laid. MNITTEP has already developed two or

three standard designs for noiseproof apartment buildings. The old apartment buildings can also be converted into quiet ones, but they must be altered

completely."

In a noiseproof apartment building the windows of auxiliary premises such as

kitchens, bathrooms, staircases and, in extreme cases, those of a single room

of a 3-room apartment, face the main thoroughfare. There are experimental

apartment buildings with triple glazing (one such building has been built on

Gor*kiy street in Moscow, for example). The specialists consider separate

frames to be far more effective, however.

The readers ask why apartment buildings are not already being built with the_

ends toward the street and why shrubbery is so infrequently used for protection

against noise. This is what the specialists say. The traffic noise level

drops by 20 decibels when a building is located 200 meters from a road. It

is reduced by 16 decibels at 100 meters, 12 decibels at 50 meters, and only

6 decibels at 20 meters. When the end of the building is next to the road

the noise level in the apartments is reduced by an average of only 3 decibels.

Planting shrubbery is very good, but this has to be.special plantings,which

are lacking almost entirely in the cities. They should be coniferous and

so dense that "even a cat could not penetrate them." They are effective

barriers to sound in this case.

It is the common opinion of the specialists that there is no panacea against

traffic noise and that individual measures produce little: it is important to

use each of them efficiently, as well as together, as a system.

The readers» point of view with respect to the development of legal standards

is the following: it is essential to define the measure of responsibility for

planning when main traffic arteries are built. There should be no situation

in which there is no relief from the noise in an apartment and no one to hold

accountable.

Cars, buses, trolleybuses, street-cars-and aircraft should be made as quiet

as possible.

43
Ye. I. Kutarev,.chief architect for the Central. Scientific Research Institute

of Industrial Structures for Urban Development: "We must combat not just the

effects, but also the sources of the noise themselves — rumbling motors."

What Is Possible and What Is Not

We receive many letters, the leitmotiv of which is approximately the following:

you write a great deal about future construction. What are the residents of

the "non-noiseproof" houses built in 1958 to do, however?

"Around 2300 hours," writes Moscow resident M. Bobrov, "the television

announcers caution us: »please turn your television sets down. It is late...1.

Does this mean that during the rest of the day an individual can adjust the

volume any way he sees fit? The television set*s comrade, the radio, is a

different matter entirely. Radio announcers demand that a radio or loudspeaker

be adjusted so that its noise does not go outside the room in which the unit is

located. Regardless of the time of day! And this is absolutely proper. We

can only propose that the radio and television announcements on noise be

unified."

Reader Maksimenko from Krivoy Rog proposes that the sale of sound-proofing

materials to the population be started immediately, and Moscow resident

Petrova considers it necessary to add a new service, "sound-proofing of

apartments," in the repair offices, also on an emergency basis.

It is the opinion of the specialists that none of these proposals are very

realistic, or, more accurately, are very unrealistic.

A.A. KLimukhin: "It would be difficult to provide such a service because one

individual could be willing to do anything to sound-proof his apartment, while

another, precisely that individual making the noise, would not be willing to

at all. Noise from below does not bother him, and he has no inclination to

dismantle his floor for the sake of a neighbor. Others build suspended

ceilings for themselves, lathe or insulate with mineral wool, but all of

this is of little benefit. It is very difficult to 'treat» sound-proofing."

B. M. Kuznetsov: "Capital repair or reconstruction is necessary to take steps

against noise in these relatively old buildings. In the meantime, considering

the fact that the noises mainly penetrate through the ceilings, the floor

should be covered with beaver-cloth padding, or rugs and runners should be

laid down. And, naturally, the rules for communal living should be observed."

A great deal is written about the rules for communal living. "It is my apartment, and I do whatever I want to there."; "Don't bother me. From 7:00 in the

morning till.11:00 at night I am free to make as much noise as my heart

desires.".— these are typical responses to attempts to control those who

like loud music, drunken revelers and those engaged in construction work,

handicrafts, repair work and so forth, at home.

44
The law should define what may or may not be done in a non-soundproof apartment, between 7:00 o

f

clock in the morning until 11:00 at night, as well as

at any other time of the day. There should be clearly defined measures of

responsibility for violations.

B.G. Prutkov: "Like any other serious foe, noise demands respect. We are

beginning a major offensive against noise, which means that as in any war

we also need a general staff and troops. We now have neither. It is essential to create an extradepartmental agency, a Noise-Protection Center, for

example, which would help to work out a noise law and would then assume the

function of monitoring its observance."

We attached no special significance to noise for a fairly long time: we preferred to ignore it against the background of the overall successes being

achieved in the scientific and technological revolution. When it became impossible "to ignore" the effect of the howling and the din, and their destructive effect on everything living, the specialists came up with the term

"noise pollution of the environment." We should not delay the development

of strategy and tactics for combating this pollution. It is important to

think over carefully each version of the law on noise, which is designed to

put an end to the decibel offensive against man's health.

11499

CSO: 5000

45
USSR

BRIEFS

FIRE PATROL—Gor'kiy—Planes and helicopters from the Gor'kiy division of

the Western Urals Forest Protection Air Base take off each morning from the

airfield. Things have been quiet with respect to fires in Central Russia

this summer, but they have occurred in other places. Parachutists and airborne troops from the Gor'kiy division have helped to extinguish a fire in

the forests of KrasnoyarsMy Kray, and they are now in Tyumenskaya Oblast.

Quite recently an airborne forest patrol group returned from Afghanistan.

Young V. Shoshin, P. Gushchin and M. Kondrachenko received expressions of

gratitude for their excellent work from the government of that friendly

nation. [Text] [Moscow SEL'SKAYA ZHIZN' in Russian 8 Aug 78 P 4] 11499

EARTHQUAKE IN GEORGIA—An underground tremor with a force of 3 to 4 on the

Richter scale was felt in Tbilisi on 23 August at 0148 hours Moscow time.

The earthquake's epicenter was 58 km from the capital of the republic, near

the city of Gori. The underground tremor reached a force of 5 to 6 on the

Richter scale there. The earthquake caused no serious damage. [Text]

[Moscow PRAVDA in Russian 24 Aug 78 p 6] 11499

CSO: 5OOO/IOO2

46
NORWAY

ENVIRONMENT MINISTER COMMENTS ON TALKS IN USSR

LD021343Y Oslo AFTENPOSTEN in Norwegian 28 Sep p 52 LD

[Kjell Dragnes interview with Norwegian Environment Minister Brundtland: "Brundtland

Received Soviet Support Against Acid Rain"]

[Text] Moscow, 27 September--"The most important feature of this visit is that we have

received Soviet support for working toward a convention against permitting the drift of

air pollutants across national boundaries," Environment Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland

said Wednesday on the conclusion of her official visit to the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union endorses the fundamental principles of the environment convention

drafted by the Scandinavian countries after the meeting of their environment ministers

last fall. The Soviet side will now carry out further work on the details in this proposal and there will be contact between Norwegian and Soviet officials and experts on

these questions.

"We have made it understood that the growing discharge of sulfur dioxide and the long

term damage that can be inflicted on nature by sulfurous contamination are also viewed

here with great concern," Minister Brundtland said. She gained the impression that,

in many ways, the Russians are fighting the same problems as both the United States and

Norway and are coming up against different central and local interests.

"The Leningrad Central Geophysical Laboratory, which is conducting extensive research

into environmental questions, has a considerable knowledge of the long term problems

entailed in the discharge of sulfur. [paragraph continues]

"But it is clear that it costs more to clean more, and that those who must bear the cost

in the short term are less enthusiastic," she said.

[Question] The party organ PRAVDA wrote earlier this week that the discharge of sulfur

from the nickel mines at Nikkei near the border with Norway has led to extensive parching

of reindeer pastures, for instance. Was this raised during the visit?

47
[Answer] No, this was not mentioned directly. However, we know that the Soviet side

is carrying out cleaning measures in that area, although we still do not know to what

extent. This is a problem to be discussed later on the basis of what we have discussed

here. We are closely following this case.

According to AFTENPOSTEN's information, Norwegian experts calculate that the enrichment

of nickel ore at Nikkei leads to a greater discharge of sulfur than from Norwegian

industry as a whole.

Gro Harlem Brundtland also had occasion to discuss an extension of the agreement on

protecting polar bears. The agreement was signed in 1973 by Norway, Denmark, the

United States, Canada and the Soviet Union. It expires in 1981. The Russians also

reacted positively here, and there is a good chance that the agreement will also be

widened to include other species in the polar regions, the environment minister thought.

The delegation visited Leningrad and Kiev as well as Moscow during its visit to the

Soviet Union. The Russians showed its members a nature preserve, a cleaning installation, a combined heat and electricity generating station, and other sites.

The Soviets were also particularly interested in Norway's experience in maritime oil

drilling and the consequences of last year's Bravo accident. That was given much

attention in the Soviet mass media.

"Obviously there was uncertainty as to whether our policy was really unchanged after

the Bravo accident," the environment minister said.

The visit to the Soviet Union was hosted by the State Committee for Sciences and

Technology, which is a coordinating organ for environmental protection in the Soviet

Union. Representatives of the committee have been invited to Norway.

CSO: 5000

48
WEST GERMANY

BAVARIAN FOREST PARK POINTS UP ECOLOGICAL PROBLEMS

Cologne RHEINISCHER MERKUR in German 6 Oct 78 p 16

[Article by Willy Luetzenkirchen: "Disrupted Mountain Wilderness in the

Bavarian Forest"]

[Text] In order to prevent ruinous exploitation and

insure an ecological balance of flora and fauna, ministries

and forestry offices, in their effort to preserve the

countryside, aim at restoring the original biotopes

in the forest, but as a result of economic interests this

work is beset with problems.

The wilderness between Teufelsloch and Rachelsee is like an ecological

fairyland. Moors and mountain streams run through the wooded landscape,

interspersed with valleys and gorges, granite rocks and boulders, ponds

and marshes. Deep in the mountainous woods there live the last lynxes

in Germany. In the riverside thicket in some valleys, one can find the

underground passages of a river otter. Neither of these animals exists

in any quantity in central Europe any more. A lot of the plantlife is

almost exotic--carlinae, orchids, quaking grass and sedge, hawkweed

and peat moss.

This piece of nature is the Bavarian Forest National Park, so far the

only national park in the Federal Republic, an ecologically still intact

forest landscape of eastern Bavaria, on the border of Czechoslovakia.

All the original elements of the environment are still there and are

functioning. This includes not only flora and fauna but the local

climate, the soil and the bodies of water.

"Intensive Timber Industry"

So far the Bavarian Forest National Park has been considered a model

of German protection of nature and countryside, intended to set standards

and serve as a model for the concept and layout of other national parks

in the Federal Republic and elsewhere in Europe. This now appears

open to question, because it has become the subject of violent controversy

49
among scientists, environmentalists, municipalities, land developers and

politicians. The project of the Bavarian Forest, previously acknowledged

as a pioneer achievement in the protection of the environment, is getting

into the crossfire of strong criticism. In light of the plans and

proposals for establishing other national parks in the German Alps, the

Rhoen, the Lueneburg Heath and the North Frisian Tideland, this

controversy may be considered to be of fundamental importance. For

ecologists and experts on environmental protection, the Bavarian Forest

National Park, which was opened 7 years ago, is becoming the subject of

research and an object lesson.

The beginnings of criticism include an expert assessment by the Federal

Research Institute for Protection of the Environment and Ecology which

expresses misgivings about the fact that "intensive timber industry"

continues to be conducted. There is an excessive number of public

roads in the area and no restriction of visitors as to area and number,

leading to the encroachment of natural development.

There continues to be a lack of primarily environmentalist planning,

people at the institute say. A demand should be made for giving the

national park a status of complete nature preserve, which would make

it possible to realize the set objectives.

They say it is awful that the forest is still being exploited commercially

and that this constitutes a violation of the Bavarian nature preserve

law. The liabilities caused by lumbering, hunting, tourism and

excessive roadbuilding at the approaches to the national park are making

it appear a "negative example." This is the way the League for the

Protection of the Environment has it. According to it, it looks like

the national park is not leading to a protection of the environment but

is to make possible better utilization and marketing of nature.

Prof Richard Plochmann of Munich University states: "If the Bavarian

Forest National Park is to be more than and old forest in Bavaria, the

key question in the case of a forest national park above all else becomes

the utilization of timber. Because this question is of central importance

for the future, the national park is now at a crossroads. It will not

be possible to avoid the decision to stop lumbering as long as one sincerely

wants to refer to the Bavarian Forest as a national park."

This is what the chairman of the Committee for the Environment in the

Bavarian Landtag, Alois Glueck, has to say: "As far as protection of

the environment is concerned, the national park can easily become a

trao. An area so identified, and so well kncwn, doubtless can easily

be very much overtaxed and endangered by the stream of vistors. It would

be better not to plan any more national parks in the foreseeable future."

If, on the other hand, one visits the Bavarian Ministry of Agriculture

in Ludwigstrasse in Munich to find out details about how this national

park is faring, one must admit that the importance of the park is not

50
being underrated and that the financial and personnel provisions must

be regarded as generous. So far DM 25 million have been expended,

from land and federal funds. The personnel includes 180 officials and

employees. For scientific work, too, the national park offers ideal

prerequisites: 40 research projects have been started or concluded.

They include investigations in ecology, wildlife biology, zoology,

soil research, geology, metereology, hydrology, botany and behaviorist

science.

The Fate of the National Park

Here, too, there are problems—concerns resulting from the conflict

between protection of the environment and leisure pursuits. More than

1.2 million people—four times as many as in 1971--visit the national

park over a period of a year. This stream of visitors is being promoted

by a tourism infrastructure in the national park and in the approaches

which is likely to be infringing on the environmental aims of the

project. There are about 230 kilometers of trails through the national

park, which in addition is traversed by 280 kilometers of forestry roads

and paths. The area taken up by parking has more than tripled during

this period. Then there are 30 rest areas, 24 shelters, as well as

playgrounds and barbecue areas. A total of 25 animal species are kept

in enclosures and aviaries. Thus there is a concentration of tourist

attractions on the 130 square kilometers of the national park.

What changes have occurred in this countryside since the national park

was established? How have the five biotopes, the natural common habitats,

developed--the woods of spruce in the valleys, the mountainous mixed

woods at an altitude of 800 to 1,200 meters, the mountainous woods of

spruce above them, the high moors and the valleys with streams?

Fringe Position and Inclement Climate

There are only two settlements with a few hundred inhabitants in the

national park. Except for lumbering, which did not achieve any

particular importance until the 19th century, a fringe position and

an inclement climate have prevented economic development. This part of

the Bavarian Forest was settled first in the 13th century, but clearing

of land and the establishment of villages occurred after 1500. For

centuries the area remained a land of lumberjacks, charcoal burners

and glassblowers, of sawmills and papermills, a wooded area inhabited by

wolves and bears as late as the 19th century.

In the past 120 years lumbering has changed the forest in a lasting manner.

Old mixed woods, including remnants of virgin forest, partly more

than 300 years old, now only constitute 5 percent of the national park

area. Spruce takes up more than 60 percent, pine 5 percent, fir 4 percent,

beech 20 percent. Wherever water cannot flow off fairly quickly, lowland

and swampland develops, taking up 20 percent of the area. Moors with

peat up to 10 meters are devoid of trees; elsewhere there grows swamp

birch, low pine, fern, shrubs, moss and grasses. At the heights there

51
are only woods of spruce, including highly varied types of forest

depending on the soil, microclimate and altitude. Despite the fact

that there has been intensive large-scale lumbering in the past 120

years, the area to a large extent has retained a natural wood character.

During the last century the logs were floated into the valleys over dammed-up

streams. This drafting system was followed by the log railroad, whose

place then was taken by truck transport.

Though, according to the Bavarian nature preserve law, national parks

are primarily intended for the preservation and scientific observation

of common natural and near-natural habitats as well as for maintaining

wildlife and plantlife of the greatest possible variety--and not for

any commercial exploitation--and though they were to be opened up to

the population for educational and leisure purposes insofar as the purpose

of preservation permitted, this objective is still quite remote. Of

a total area of 13,000 hectares only 4,000 hectares are free of timber

utilization. Less than one-third of the woods is free of human inference.

Only about 920.hectares are subject to conservation, with any change

being prohibited. In the opinion of Professor Plochmann, this state of

affairs is "irreconcilable with the idea of enabling natural processes

to occur without disruption."

As far as Prof Wolfgang Haber of the Institute for Ecology of the Technical

College in Munich is concerned, the utilization of timber, contrary

to what is being claimed at the Bavarian Ministry of Agriculture, is not

proceeding according to ecological points of view, which would permit

existing mixed woods to be spared to a large extent. Haber says that

what needs to be done is to gradually restructure the woods in order to

restore the original biotopes which existed before the start of lumbering.

The growing and dying of trees is to be left to the interplay of nature.

The forest is capable of adapting to the overall ecological conditions,

reverting to the original vegetation. This definitely requires forestry

intervention, in a transitory phase, creating more favorable conditions

for this reverting process. Without measures intended to achieve a definite

aim--such as the change in the proportion of types of trees--the natural

structure of the mountainous mixed woods cannot be restored. While

the amount of spruce is not to be reduced, the proportion of silver fir

or deciduous trees must be increased. The virgin forest remnants

in the Rachelsee area in the north of the national park constitute a model

for this development. Here the common natural habitats of the original

forest can develop without disruption. A forest satisfying the needs

of the timber industry then becomes a wild forest again. These demands

run counter to the economic demands of the surrounding area. A sudden

cessation of utilization of timber would threaten the wood-processing

industry, its jobs and the economies of the municipalities in this

region, which is structurally weak. The timber industry yield, after

all, amounts to more than DM 20 million a year.

52
Regulation of Wildlife

Meanwhile it has been possible to begin or complete two tasks which

are important for making the woods ecologically sound--the regulation

of wildlife and the reintroduction of original animal species. Roe

deer and deer have been able to increase strongly in the past decades.

Much hunted and pursued in the German forests, predators can see to the

old ecological order in the national park. As also in the other

forests of the Federal Republic, the relationship between predator and

prey is extremely unfavorable. As a result of a far-reaching lack of

predators, the density of population of game increases, leading to a

damaging of the forests. Lynx, fox, birds of prey and also marten, ermine

and river otter are needed for maintaining a balance.

Three birds of prey have been newly settled in the national park--the eagle

owl, hawk owl and raven. The buzzard, goshawk and sparrow hawk also play

an important part in this strategy. Zoological rarities include the

capercaillie, black grouse and hazel grouse, greenwing, ring ouzel as

well as some species of owls and woodpeckers. In the opinion of Professor

Haber and the Research Institute for Ecology, the following species

should be reintroduced into the national park: Beaver, wolf, black

stork and the lesser spotted eagle.

Warning by the Ecologists

The ecologists, however, warn against too optimistic expectations. Thus

even the experts of the Ministry of Agriculture in Munich doubt whether

it will be possible to save the last south German river otters in the

national park. The species of the lynx, indigenous again in eastern

Bavaria only since 1970, is also in danger; probably only about 8 to 10

grown lynxes now exist in the Bavarian Forest. The situation of the

capercaillie, black grouse and hazel grouse, which might die out without

stronger measures of protection, is also precarious. These react

particularly sensitively to the increase in visitors' throngs and exploitation

of timber. Thus valuable mating and breeding places are lost. These

grouse species, Wolfgang Scherzinger of the National Park Office

explains, have a chance of survival only if the woods are regenerated on

a large scale and there is stricter control of visitors. The small area

of the national park and the great losses in biotopes in the surrounding

area, plus the inclement climate and the small biological productivity

of the forest, do not provide a sure base for saving these species.

The Alps National Park--the next national park to be created--extends over more

than 20,000 hectares. It comprises the fringe of the Alps south of

Berchtesgaden, in the area of the Koenigsee. Its natural assets include

mountainous mixed woods, woods of spruce, the 510-hectare lake and willows

and meadows. The Tideland National Park on the North Sea coast of

Schleswig-Holstein would extend over about 165,000 hectares. It would

include islands, islets, geest and dune areas and areas of sand and

tideland. Here birds and seals are the focal point of measures of

53
protection. A large national park might be created in the east of the

Rhoen, comprising woods of deciduous trees, meadows and moors. The

area is not inhabited. More problematic would be a national park in

the Lueneburg Heath, between Soltau and Harburg; the present nature preserve

comprises not quite 20,000 hectares and consists of moorland and

coniferous woods.

8790

CSO: 5000 END

54