JPRS 72056

17 October 1978

WORLD

TRANSLATIONS ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

No. 182 WIDE

6/
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1. Report No.

JPRS 72056

4. Title and Subtitle

TRANSLATIONS ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, No. 182

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17 October 1978

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The serial report contains translations from the world press of articles

and press commentary on environmental pollution and its effects and pollution

control technology, organizations, and programs.

17. Key Words and Document Analysis.

Worldwide

Pollution

Environmental Control

Meteorology

Ecology

17a. Descriptors

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JPRS 72056

17 October 1978

TRANSLATIONS ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

No. 182

CONTENTS PAGE

WORLDWIDE AFFAIRS

Meeting on Balkan Ecological Matters Held

(AGERPRES, 22 Sep 78) 1

GDR Offers To Hold Talks With FRG on Environmental Problems

(DPA, 25 Sep 78) 2

ASIA

AUSTRALIA

Workers* Illness Triggers Probe of Copper in Water

(THE AUSTRALIAN, 14 Sep 78) .. 3

MALAYSIA

Environmental Regulations for Rubber Factories

(Hardev Kaur; BUSINESS TIMES, 11 Aug 78) 4

PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

'KWANGMING DAILY» Calls for Preventing Pollution

(KWANGMING DAILY, 17 Sep 78) 5

Peking Reorganizing Industries To Reduce Pollution

(NCNA, 28 Sep 78) 7

National Environmental Protection Exhibition Held in Peking

(NCNA, 12 Sep 78) 9

Briefs

Yunnan River Pollution 11

[III - INT - 139]
CONTENTS (Continued) Page

LATIN AMERICA

CUBA

GHANA

Coral Mining at Sea To Supply Nickel Processing Industry

(Ramon Alberto Bendoyro; JUVENTUD REBELDE,

5 Sep 78) 12

SUB-SAHAEAN AFRICA

Improvement Plans Under Way in Upper Region

(DAILY NATION, 21 Sep 78) 14

NIGERIA

Floods Leave 500 Homeless in Kwara State

(NEW NIGERIAN, 26 Sep 78) 16

Briefs

Million Tree Seedlings Planted 17

USSR

Environmental Protection Standards Being Developed

(V. Zavarzin, S. Kozhanov; EKONOMICHESKAYA

GAZETA, Sep 78) 18

Cleaning Up Industrial Air Pollution

(A. Matrosov, V. Rabinovich; THUD, 24 Aug 78) 22

Neutralizing Petrochemical Water Pollution

(V. Kostyuk; SOTSIALISTICHESKAYA INDUSTRIYA, 29 Jun 78) 26

Environmental Degradation in Armenia Bemoaned

(M. Adonts, S. Musayelyan; KOMMUNIST, 26 Jul 78) 28

Geochemical Maps Aid in Cleaning Moscow's Air

(Yu. Bersenev; STROITEL«NAYA GAZETA, 16 Jul 78) 31

Briefs

Romanov at Environment Session 32

- b
CONTENTS (Continued) Page

WESTEEN EUROPE

FRANCE

Gruson Interviewed on Government's Ecological Efforts

(Claude Gruson Interview; LE MONDE, 23 Sep 78) 33

ICELAND

Institute Warns: New Volcanic Eruptions Expected

(Ritva Remes; HELSINGIN SANOMAT, 27 Aug 78) 41

PORTUGAL

SPAIN

Push To Fight Water Pollution Off Iberian/North

African Coasts

(DIARIO DE NOTICIAS, 6 Jun 78) 46

Government Effort Against Pollution Continues

(Jeronimo Martel; ACTUALIDAD ECONOMICA, 19 Aug 78) .. 49
WORLDWIDE AFFAIRS

MEETING ON BALKAN ECOLOGICAL MATTERS HELD

AU222049Y Bucharest AGERPRES in English 1937 GMT 22 Sep 78 AU

[Text] Bucharest, 22 Sep, AGERPRES--On September 22 [words indistinct] the Bucharest

proceedings of the subregional experts' meeting on "Protection of the Environment and

the Preservation of the Natural Biological Ambience in the Balkan Countries", where

biologists, ecologists and hydrologists from Bulgaria, Greece, Yugoslavia, Turkey and

Romania debated papers and lectures on ensuring a maintained ecological balance in the

Balkan mountainous areas, on the elaboration of a methodology for the classification of

the eco-systems and on the examination of the present stage of development of the

resources of the biosphere.

The meeting adopted documents and recommendations aiming at the Balkan cooperation in

ecological research in problems aiming at the preservation of the genetic stock, of

the flora and fauna, the development of new reservations, people's education in the

spirit of protecting the environment, training cadres for managing and developing the

reserves of the biosphere. At the same time Balkan meetings of this kind were recommended

to be held every two years, the next in Greece.

CSO: 5000
WORLDWIDE AFFAIRS

GDR OFFERS TO HOLD TALKS WITH FRG ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

LD2516WY Hamburg DPA in German 1440 GMT 25 Sep 78 LD

[Text] Bonn--After an interruption of nearly 5 years the GDR has once more offered to

hold talks with the Federal Government concerning problems of the two German states on the

protection of the environment. Government Spokesman Klaus Boelling told the press in Bonn

on Monday that it is the "reliable impression" of the Federal Government that those in

charge in the GDR are basically prepared to have such talks. Until now no arrangements

for talks on definite projects have been made. Boelling characterized environmental issues

.as "technically terribly complicated." The most urgent need is attached by the Federal

Government to negotiations concerning the salination of the Werra River by potash works

in the GDR which has also had a highly detrimental effect on the Weser River. It was said

in Bonn that the GDR Government intends to inform the Federal Government shortly about its

ideas on subjects to be negotiated. Bonn assumes that not only the salination of rivers

but also other common environmental problems ought to be discussed.

CSO: 5000
AUSTEALIA

WORKERS' ILLNESS TRIGGERS PROBE OF COPPER IN WATER

Canberra THE AUSTRALIAN in English 14 Sep 78 p 3

[Text]

HEALTH and water authorities throughout Australia

are investigating copper levels in water following a

contamination alert.

Officials have established that workers in seven large

buildings in Newcastle, NSW, have been drinking water

containing copper levels "many times" above accepted

safety limits. " '.

The buildings include the headquarters of the area's

water supply authority. . _... _

Authorities in all other

^cities are now checking

copper levels in large

buildings recently erected

or renovated.

I Contamination has also been

established in buildings in Sydney and i Melbourne.

The poisoning was disclosed

by a Newcastle specialist in preventive medicine, Dr Tom Woolard, who said that many office

workers had sought treatment

for stomach upsets, diarrhoea

and muscle fatigue.

The Hunter District Water

Board has ordered investigations

into seven large buildings, including Royal Newcastle Hospital, Newcastle College of Advanced Education and Newcastle

City Council's new administrative block.

',; At his Newcastle surgery yesT

terday Dr Woolard had found

copper concentrations in some

; buildings which were well above

the one,milligram per litre limit

recommended by the World

'Health Organisation^

He would not say how high to

prevent undue public alarm.

But some reports have put

readings in Newcastle at 200

times the acknowledged safety

levels. • The president of Hunter District Water Board, Professor

Allan Carmichael, said the

board regarded the contamination as serious.

Contamination had been

reported in new buildings or

where waiter services had been

replaced, he said. Copper pipes

had lain unused during construction, sometimes for up to

two years.

"We are directing our investigations and testing to copper tubing and copper manufacture to trace the cause," he

said.

UPSETS

Dr Woolard's cases have

shown mild gastro-intestinal

<upset.. symptoms, including ma-

\laise and muscle weakness.

' "The'symptoms-ftave settled

rafter the'- withdrawal ;ibf :-'the

water supply," he said-

"The softer the water the

greater the problem."

':- Dr Woolard, who expects to

release a preliminary report

after another three months*

istudy, said the problem - appeared worse in big buildings

where people drank from taps

-that might be used only occasionally.

House taps were less likely to

p rod u c e copper-contaminated

water because water was used

more often and did hot have

time to settle in the pipes.

"It's no new problem," he

said "People have known for

years that copper drinking vessels can produce high copper

concentrations.

"Now copper seems to be the

desirable plumbing."

He advised that people who

noticed a blue discoloration in

the water should flush it out,

1 . Sydney Water Board said contaminated witter had been found

in a number of hew, tall commercial buildings in the city.

Board chemists; had been investigating for more than a year

but had been unable to trace

the cause.

"It seems to be found mainly

,;.in-' large buildings with big

«plumbing services, rather than

homes," a spokesman said.

CSO: 5000
MALAYSIA

ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS FOR RUBBER FACTORIES

Kuala Lumpur BUSINESS TIMES in English 11 Aug 78 p 1

[Article by Hardev Kaur]

[Text]

; NEW^environmental

j regulations,._ similar to

•those already enforced

for palm oil, are being

; drawn up for rubber.

• The regulations, to be

• gazetted on Oct. 1, will

I come into force on April

II next year, thus allowing rubber factories six

j months to prepare to

meet prescribed limits

I under the order. f

. The regulations will

t be notified under the Entvironmental Quality

J (Prescribed Premises)

(Raw Natural Rubber)

-Order 1978, which the Minister of Science, Technology and Environment

Ms empowered to issue

Junder the Environmental Quality Act 1974>:,

• "Mr A. Maheswaran,

«.director Qf Water Pollu--

tiön Control,. Environmental Division, told Business Times that under

|the order any effluents

^discharged into watercourses must not exceed

'300 ppm (parts per million) by April 1,1979 and'

£00 ppm by April 1, 1980

of BOD (biochemical

loxygen demand), as

sagainst the present average of 1,500 ppm.

The BOD has to be

skept low so that enough

oxygen is spared to support marine life.

Mr Maheswaran added that under the order

two sets of standards will

be drawn up. One will be

for factories producing

concentrated latex and

associated products and

the other for factories

producing block and conventional grade rubber.

In the case of conventional grade rubber factories, only those with an

installed capacity of five

tonnes or more will be

affected by the order,

which means that the

smaller" factories will be

exempt from the law.

The standards for factories producing concentrated latex and associated latex are not yet

available as they are still

being worked out.

"However, these factories will be subjected

to certain guidelines for

good housekeeping. The

fuidelines will be issued

y the Director General

of Environment in a

week or ..two," Mr Maheswaran said;

Once the standards

were drawn up for; factories producing concentrated latex and associated products they will become part of the order

which is with the Attore-,

hy General's Chambers

for final vetting.

Under the order, the

250 rubber factories including 50 factories producing concentrated latex and associated products will have to apply

for a licence to operate

from April 1, 1979. The

factories can apply for

the licence from Oct. 1

when the Order is gazetted.

However, factories in

existence before April

14,1974 will be allowed to

operate even after April

1, 1979 if. their licences

are not issued prior to

that date provided they

apply for their licence

before Dec. 31, this year.

This is a privilege extended to factories in existence before the Environmental Quality Act,

1974 came into force.

Those found contravening the law will be liable' to a fine of up to

$5,000 or a year's jail, or

both.

Mr Maheswaran said

in drawing up the regulations, consideration

had been, given to the

current lack of economically j viable effluent

treatnient and disposal

technology.

"In view of this, effluent standards ljave1

been based essentialiy

on a year-to-year

progressive reduction of

the BOD load discharge," he added.

Mr Maheswaran said

the raw rubber industry

in Malaysia has been

identified as the second

most serious source of

organic-type effluent

wastes, the first being

the palm oil industry.

The pollution from

sewage, oil, palni mills

and rubber factory effluents had been quantified and together they

discharge a total BOD of

two million pounds per

day of which oil palm

and rubber factories account for one million

pounds.

Twelve rivers in the

country are said to be

grossly polluted. These

include, Kelang, Melaka,

Perak, Muar and Johore.

Rivers are also subjected to pollutants from

other sources such; as the

pineapple, tapioca and

the sugar industries.

As for water pollution

caused by the discharge

of other industrial effluents, particularly in

industrial centres such

as Kuala Liuntpur andv

Petäling Jaya, the major!

sources are electroplai

ting industries, • tanneA^

nes, textileyaniHsirfoad

processing, fbMwejfiesu

distillers, electronic fac*i,

tories and sulphuric acid

plants.

CSO: 5000
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

'KWANGMING DAILY' CALLS FOR PREVENTING POLLUTION

Peking KWANGMING DAILY in Chinese 17 Sep 78 p 2 HK

[KWANGMING DAILY commentary: "Factories and Mining Enterprises Should Never

Be Allowed to Cause Pollution!"]

[Text] Following the rapid development of our country's industry, the problem

of pollution in the environment, caused by industrial "waste materials," is

causing increasingly grave concern among the party and masses of people.

During a tour of the Peking Iron and Steel Company this year, Chairman Hua

pointed out: "Steps must be taken to solve the problem of pollution."

However, environmental pollution has still not been brought under control in

many localities. In certain places, it has even developed to such a serious

degree in some industrial and mining enterprises that it has become almost

intolerable and a public menace affecting production and work and jeopardizing

people's health. Today, this paper is publishing people's letters which

reflect the seriousness of such pollution. Besieged by dense smoke, dust and

factory noise, people are strongly calling for protection of the environment

and the safeguarding of public health. Industrial pollution has definitely

become a matter of utmost urgency and the time has come for it to be solved!

Ours is a socialist country and everything we.do aims to serve the people. Eliminating

pollution and protecting the environment is a vital matter concerning the health of the

broad masses and the well-being of future generations; it has also been written into the

Constitution of the People's Republic of China. Consequently, when grasping industrial

construction, with a spirit of great responsibility toward the people and future generations, we must simultaneously adopt effective measures to conscientiously solve the

problem of pollution. We definitely cannot permit our socialist enterprises to be

creators of public menaces, developing production on the one hand for the welfare of

the people but polluting the environment on the other hand to harm the people. This is

a sharp contradiction. Any industrial and mining enterprise that cannot properly solve

this contradiction cannot be called a genuine socialist enterprise.
However, at present some leading members of industrial and mining enterprises still do

not basically understand the important political significance of controlling "waste

materials" and eliminating pollution. They have not only failed to attach importance

to controlling "waste materials," but have also wilfully permitted their emmission.

They have turned a blind eye to the serious results already created and have ignored

the reasonable demands of the masses. Because of this, the masses have the right to

ask them: "Do you still have any class feeling?"

Many excellent articles have already been written on the subject of eliminating pollution

and protecting the environment; many plans have been formulated and many rules have been

laid down. However, some people are not conscientiously implementing them and, even

though they publicly obey them, they privately oppose them. This cannot be permitted

and must be resolutely corrected. A time limit must be set for them to mend their ways.

The CCP Central Committee has already clearly stipulated by law that "actions will be

taken against leading members responsible" who do not mend their ways after repeated

warnings.

We must realize the four modernizations of the motherland within the shortest possible

time. We must also certainly push forward the work of protecting the environment within

the shortest possible time so that the skies of the motherland will always be blue, the

waters of the motherland will always be clear, and our 800 million people can work

happily and lead a good life in a clean, beautiful environment.

CSO: 5000
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

PEKING REORGANIZING INDUSTRIES TO REDUCE POLLUTION

Peking NCNA in English 0707 GMT 28 Sep 78 OW

[Text] Peking, 28 Sep (HSINHUA)—Turning Peking into a modern and clean

metropolis in which someone standing on the white dagoba in the city's

Peihai Park, may have a clear view of the western hills 25 kilometres away

is the aim of Peking's economic construction departments.

"Concrete""plans" have'been made" to modernize and reorganize systematically Peking's industry and to turn the country's political centre into one that is also a centre for

culture, education and scientific research. Crowded, polluting factories in the city

will be gradually moved to the outskirts and steps will be taken to cut down on

pollution from them. Industries related to the needs of the city population and which

are not environmentally harmful such as food, arts and crafts, radio and printing

industries will remain in the capital. They, too, will be reorganized according to

principles of specialization and division of labour, and will be modernized to provide

a clean working environment.

At present, Peking's metallurgical, machine building and textile bureaus are among

nine municipal bureaus that have taken over all the plants run by the eight city

districts and suburban districts. Seventy-two specialized production companies or

plants have been set up by the bureaus as one step in the industrial reorganization of

the city. At the same time Peking has started to build more housing, hotels, restaurants

and other public facilities. New roads are being paved and new sewage pipes are being

laid as part of the planned municipal construction.

Peking, a consumer city before liberation, has grown into an industrial base with one

million industrial workers since the founding of new China in 19^9» Metallurgical,

engineering, power, oil, chemical, electronics, meters and instruments, textile and

light industries have developed here to the extent that Peking's annual industrial output

value now surpasses the total for the whole of China at the time of liberation. At

the same time as building large industrial enterprises, Peking has established a number

of small and medium-sized plants. By the end of 1977, the gross industrial output of

Peking's 18 urban and suburban districts and counties, including neighbourhood enterprises and rural workshops, accounted for one sixth of the capital's total output.

The problem has been however that the scattered enterprises lacked unified management

and leadership. A wastage of manpower, materials and funds have resulted. Pollution,

including noise pollution, has become a big problem. The expansion of urban industry has

reached a state of saturation. Some industries have squeezed out some of the service

trades needed for municipal construction and for essential services for the people who

live in the city.
engineers ana the 2,000 engineers no» have a voice S Che 1 t fn„ ,**' Ch"

f

oTe:^',^ *>" Pr0PerlJ- "» h«—" "v,r„"enl5e0"o

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rpritlon

appointed" 5 a " berT bS JacPonle,! ^T" "? "

ei"ltl'CMer ««nee ap. to bo

se.eotmg eaones „ho -1»1L^SLÄ^^^S^^»- »f «

giving responsibility for the running of » „i A f, leadlnS bodies. A system

leadership of the par^y oc^gg^^fff*J^*"* "*"*» «"« «»

15,6 Caf,tal Ir0n and Steel ComP^> one of China's major steel producer complexes

TiuelT:iIT ZTT5 T

technicians as directors ^ **Zy^ '

a

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der^-directors ** ^e Peking general petro-chemical works' eight plants are graduates of colleges of engineering.

TJ^.o!^^ - -ar. Local

enrollment before the areat Cultural Ivo"^ 11 "ouS "T*

s condary technical schools have begun teaching computer science numerical ontrol

microwave technology, and courses on man-made satellites monitoring and a^tomatio^'

All the new production companies will each set up a workers' university or a snare tw

university. Many factories are taking measures to see their new SrkSs reach tnTlevel

of secondary technical school graduates within three to five years Worker^„!» I

„n^r3*

5 have been set

-

in

" • - ^rsrofLTriTy6;^

CSO: 5000
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION EXHIBITION HEED IN PEKING .'.-''

0W11J-1351Y Peking NCNA Domestic Service in Chinese 0328 GMT 12 Sep. 78 OW

[Text] Peking, 12 Sep--Can we prevent pollution in the new Long March to. realize the

four modernizations? The Second National Exhibition on Environmental Protection nowbeing held in Peking by the environmental protection leading group office of the state

council.has answered this question, which the people are concerned about. ___

The exhibition depicts the present level of environmental pollution in our country

by displaying data acquired after investigation, monitoring and detection by the

environmental protection departments and scientific and public health departments and

by displaying numerous letters from the masses. After visiting the exhibition, visitors

have realized that although our country has done much work in the field of environmental

protection in the past several years, pollution is still not under control. In fact,

the situation in some places is even getting worse. The exhibition points out: If

we do not conscientiously solve this question in the course of the new Long March to

realize the four modernizations, it will become a serious calamity, seriously threaten

the people's health, tremendously damage our ecological development and waste our national

wealth to an astonishing extent. Pollution has become a "new challenge" in the course

of realizing the four modernizations.

At the exhibition, photos are on display that show Chairman Mao concerned with the question

of multipurpose utilization while on an inspection tour to the Canton papermill in 1956;

Premier Chou concerned with the question of the disposal of polluted water while inspecting the Tungfanghung oil refinery in October 1971; and Chairman Hua concerned with the

question of eliminating pollution. A series of documents, regulations, stipulations and

criteria on environmental protection worked out by the party Central Committee, the

NPC Standing Committee, the State Council and the Environmental Protection Leading Group

Office of the State Council are also on display, as well as the important speeches and

directives concerned of the leading comrades of the central authorities. The late

Premier Chou repeatedly stressed: Ours is a socialist planned economy which serves the

people. While we are engaging in industrial construction, we should make great efforts

to solve the question of industrial pollution and environmental pollution. We must

absolutely not do anything that will cause problems for our offspring. The great attention

paid to and the great concern shown for environmental protection work by the party and

state are a gigantic motivating force for mobilizing tens of millions of masses to eliminate

pollution and fundamentally guarantee our success in environmental protection work.
Also on display at the exhibition are the advanced experiences of the Hunan Changling oil

refinery, the Wuhsi County electrochemical plant, the Shenyang chemical plant, the

Shantung Hsinwen cement plant, the Hofei tannery, the Shanghai carbon plant and two other

typical units. These plants have in the main eliminated the pollution of the "three

wastes." In the plant districts trees are growing everywhere and flowers are in full bloom

and outside the plants crops are growing healthily. These plants are clean plants welcomed by the broad masses. In addition, the prominent results achieved by the petroleum

industry, chemical industry, light industry, metallurgical industry, communications, building materials industry, coal industry, machine-building industry and electric power industry fronts in more than 380 fields, including disposal of the "three wastes," prevention

and cure of mercury poisoning, electroplating innovation, smoke and dust elimination and

noise control, are on display. These advanced experiences profoundly prove that if the

leading cadres pay great attention to this question, firmly grasp environmental protection

while promoting production simultaneously and make extensive socialist coordination by

relying on the masses, the question of pollution can be solved.

The exhibition shows that in the past several years the staff members, workers and scientific research personnel of the environmental protection departments in our country have

achieved good results in the scientific research of environmental protection. These

results in scientific research have supplied the scientific basis for and new approaches

to multipurpose utilization, harnessing the "three wastes" and eliminating pollution.

The vehicle monitoring and detecting pollution in the atmosphere and other instruments

and the effective methods of analysis and detection that they have successfully researched

have made contributions to enviromental protection work in our country. ~~ "

CSO: 5000

10
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

BRIEFS

YUNNAN RIVER POLLUTION—Kunming, Sep 9—Great efforts are being made to

tackle pollution of the Tanglangchuan river area near this scenic capital

of Yunnan Province. Eleven of the 26 environmental protection projects

planned for this year, have already been completed. During an inspection

of Yunnan Province in 1972, the late Premier Chou En-lai gave instruction

to the provincial party committee on pollution. He said that the

Tanglangchuan River area should be protected. The interference and sabotage of the gang of four meant that the problem was not solved properly

at that time. Since the downfall of the gang, the provincial party committee has stressed the importance of pollution control in the Tanglangchuan River area. Factories causing the pollution have begun to deal

with the problem. The Kunming phosphate fertilizer plant has built a

special system to treat its waste water. The Kunming iron and steel

plant now recovers and makes use of waste acid from steel rolling and

waste gas from the blast furnace. The provincial government has made

a ruling that in future factories producing heavy industrial waste would

not be allowed to be built along the Tanglangchuan river. [Peking NCNA

in English 0700 GMT 9 Sep 78 OW]

CSO: 5000

11
CUBA

CORAL MINING AT SEA TO SUPPLY NICKEL PROCESSING INDUSTRY

Havana JUVENTUD REBSLDE in Spanish 5 Sep 78 p 2

[Article by Ramon Alberto Bendoyro]

[Text] Coral is used in the processing of nickel and, due to

its importance in this industry, it is of inestimable economic

value.

Through ocean currents and unevennesses on the ocean floor,

nature has over a period of many years built up deposits of

calcium subcarbonate on the north coast of Moa, precisely in

the neighborhood of the nickel-ore deposits.

This substance, which forms the basis for one of the sea's

many corals, is used as an alkaline base to reduce the acidity

of sulphuric acid and obtain the desired levels for more effective precipitation in the leaching ducts, one of the operations

employed in purifying nickel ore.

The cost of mining this coral is much less that that required

to industrially produce calcium'subcarbonate. Mining operations have been adapted to the Pedro Sotta Alba Nickel Company's

production plan.

The Mine and Its Seven Men

In 1957, long before the nickel-refining plant went into operation, an American commission had spent 3 months making studies

to determine whether this kind of coral could be used.

The results showed that the existing currents over the highgrade limestone deposit (fossil remains contain only as much

as 8 percent sand), the estimated size of the deposit — which

goes back 100 years -- and the proximity of the site all economically favored the institution of mining operations.

12
Therefore, when the plant went into operation in 1962, mining

operations, coral cleaning and mechanical equipment maintenance,

all of which since then have "been providing a supply of this

important substance, were begun.

Seven seamen, silent and steady workers, did the job. With a

tugboat and a barge with its derrick set up on one side of it,

they mine the precious coral from the ocean floor.

After a long day and with the barge's hold filled to the brim,

they return to port where the coral is cleaned in a special

plant where impurities are removed.

Later, after the coral has been prepared for processing, the

calcium subcarbonate is hauled to the factory. Meanwhile, the

seven coral miners leave their equipment ready for the next'

day when they will start all over again.

11,466

CSO: 5000

13
IMPROVEMENT PLANS UNDER WAY IN UPPER REGION

Nairobi DAILY NATION in English 21 Sep 78 p 6

GHANA

[Text] IN THIS scorched, remote corner of West

Africa a big international effort has been

launched to assure a livelihood for one

million people living in fear of famine.

After decades of neglect, three development projects have begun which together could dramatically

improve the sometimes precarious existence of the

farmers on the savannah lands of Ghana's upper

region.

Beset by periodic drought, this underdeveloped

area not far from the fringes of the Sahara Desert

. has never been self-sufficient. It was hit hard by the

great Sahel drought of the mid-Seventies.

The region, stretching along Ghana's"border with

Upper Volta, has no other _ resources but its

agriculture. Parts of it are" plagued by river

blindness.

Its people have different ethnic origins to

Ghanaians living in the central rain forests or

coastal cities 800 km away. Until recently Accra

civil servants regarded a posting here as a punishment.

Ghana, Canada, Britain and

the World Bank are nowinvolved in various programmes

aimed at providing the Upper

.-region' with a stronger

agricultural base and a reliable

source of drinking water. These

-are:

*A_??P million Ghanaian-,

Canadian project to sink 2,500*

drinking wells is well advanced.

litigation

•Construction by British

engineers of a 3.5 kilometre dani

for the Ghanaian government

i to harness the waters of the

Tono River for irrigation at an

: estimated cost of $30 million.

•A sophisticated agricultural

development programme "set up

i'with Ghanaian, British and

.World Bank funds to educate

farmers and provide them with

full back-up services. The whole

scheme has a budget of more

than $50 million.

The wells project has

transformed the daily lives of

village women. Instead of

walking up to eight km to find

water that was often muddy

they now have hand-operated

pumps close by.

Some 2,000 wells have been

sunk so far and when the

project is completed in December, 1979, every community of

300 people or more should have

its own supply.

Project manager Robert Bannerman said tests had

established there was sufficient

good underground water to

meet household, livestock and

backyard gardening needs

without adversely affecting the

water table level.

"The reaction from the

^villages has been tremendous. It

as honestly no exaggeration to

say we have lifted a burden

from their lives," he added.

Sanitation

Now a follow-up programme

is under way to educate villages

-in water use, sanitation and

.cleanliness. "They are

coping with a new phenomenon

:"<— regular,. , constantwater, Mr. Bannerman said.

A reservoir has begun building up behind the Tono Dam

;which will provide year-round

irrigation for 6,000 hectares that

before could only be farmed half

gthe year. t

14
Eventually a network of

canals stretching a total of 250

km. will snake out across the

plain, irrigating crops of rice,

cotton, groundnuts, maize and

^tomatoes.

Villagers watched

suspiciously as the first of the

huge earthmoving vehicles

began clearing their land. In the

past month the benefit of the

scheme became apparent "to

them.

On one plot irrigated by the.

dam, maize grew high and thick.

On a nearby farm not linked to

the project, the maize was thin

and scraggy.

Experts estimate the scheme,

will give the locality a gross

agricultural output of about six

million dollars a year. But a lot

of water will go to waste.

Temperatures rise so high in

the long, hot season that some 21

million cubic metres of water —

about a quarter of the

reservoir's volume — will be

lost by evaporation.

The Upper Region

Agricultural Development

Programme (URADEP) will

take virtual charge of the

region's agriculture from Accrabased civil servants.

"This area is so different from

: the rest of Ghana, it needs ideas

developed in Bolgatanga," said

URADEP manager. Dr. AsibT

Abudu, an economist.

The ambitious project, the

work of years of study, will

cover all aspects of farming. It

: will set up training courses,

i develop ranches, tackle soil

erosion and expand cash crops

such as cotton.

URADEP will have its own

radio station to reach farmers;

and 22,000 transistor radios are

to be distributed.

It will work closely with a

separate company, Fascom,

; which has been established tor

i market farm equipment and

'provisions. In the past tools earmarked for the upper region had

a habit of ending up in the

' hands of profiteers.

Fascom, run by American

William Ramey, from

Richmond, Indiana, is opening

90 service centres across the

: region. Its staff will use

motorcycles and walkie-talkies

to get into the most far-flung

; villages.

On each of its sales there will

be a two-and-a-half per cent

surcharge. This, will be credited

to the purchasers to buy shares

—eventually the farmers

themselves will become the

.majority shareholders in

Fascom.

"This is the toughest

development proiect I have ever

been involved with, said a

..British " expert:

! "Communications here are

virtually non-existence and the

climate is bloody.

"...but if URADEP works it

will revolutionise the upper

region."

CSO: 5000

15
NIGERIA

FLOODS LEAVE 500 HOMELESS IN KWARA STATE

Kaduna NEW NIGERIAN in English 26 Sep 78 p 32

[Text] FOUR villages in Kotonkarfe

District of Kwara State have

been completely submerged by

floods from both the Rivers

Niger and Benue.

The villages affected were

Olumaye, Odah, Akpatsu and

Irenedu.

As a result, abont 500 people

had been rendered homeless

while properties including farm

plantations; foodstuffs, domeestic animals and birds were

destroyed.

Another seven villages in the

area — Edekapo, Ukwo, Mosete

Esikapu, Odamah, Gbangede

and Gitata had beenencompassed by the two rivers thereby

making them inaccessible.

Meanwhile, the local council

authority in the area had

advised the victims of the

floods to move out and take

shelter at Kbtonkarfe in order

to avoid loss of fives and

properties..

A councillor^ in the area

Malam Sam Musa, had called

on philantroptsts to assist die

flood victims both in kind and

cash

He said they did not expect

the floods because it occurred

last in 1954.

A hydrological engineer with

the Federal Ministry of Transport, Inland Waterways Department, Mr. J. O. Bassey,

said that the level of River

Niger had risen considerably.

CSO: 5000

16
NIGERIA

BRIEFS

MILLION TREE SEEDLINGS PLANTED—More than 1 million tree seedlings have been

planted in Guyuk Local Government area of Gongola State in an attempt against

desert encroachment. The seedlings which are presently in nursery beds would

be distributed for replanting in different parts of the local government area.

These facts were made known in an address by the chairman of Guyuk Local

Government Council, Malam Muhammadu Bala during a tree-planting campaign in

the area, Malam Muhammed urged the people in the area to do all in their

efforts to see to the afforestation of the area. Stressing the importance

of trees in the area, the head of department of the Natural Resources said

that the planting of trees was the best way of preventing soil erosion.

He said that the department of forestry, in the Guyuk Local Government would

do all it could to aid the people to see to the success of tree planting

exercise in the area. [Text] [Kaduna NEW NIGERIAN in English 19 Sep 78 p 7]

CSO: 5000

17
USSR

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION STANDARDS BEING DEVELOPED

Moscow EKONOMICHESKAYA GAZETA in Russian No 36, Sep 78 p 13

[Article by Doctor of Agricultural Sciences V. Zavarzin, VNIIS department

head, and Candidate of Economic Sciences S. Kozhanov, VNIIS sector chief:

"Ecology and the Standard"]

[Text] Standardization in the environmental protection field is being done

in accordance with the 1976-1978 work program of the USSR State Committee for

Science and Technology. Two years ago, the USSR State Standards Committee

approved the basic All-Union State Standard, "A System of Standards in the

Field of Environmental Protection and Improving Natural Resources. Basic

provisions," which was to have developed nine complexes of standards on protecting and making efficient use of water, the air, land and other natural

resources.

Twelve state environmental protection standards have now been approved. They

establish a classification of water resources and industrial discharges, rules

for protecting streams near floatages and dry land near gas and oil well drilling and operating facilities, rules for monitoring air quality in view of the

maximum allowable concentrations of harmful substances in air around residential areas, and so forth. More than 50 State Standards will have been created

by 1980.

Standardization in the environmental protection field relies on sanitationhygiene environmental quality norms which define the conditions necessary to

normal human existence and which serve as the basis for setting maximum concentrations of harmful substances in the soil, water and air.

One of the most important topics scientific organizations are now working on,

and our All-Union Scientific-Research Institute of Standardization (VNIIS)

in particular, is standardization in the water quality field. It includes

the development of water-quality requirements for making production technology more efficient, purification methods requirements, and requirements

for products which seriously pollute water resources (pesticides, fertilizers, and so forth). Methods are also being developed for setting maximum

18
allowable norms for the discharge of pollutants into running water, lakes

and other bodies of water, and regulations are being established for protecting water resources during different types of economic activity. Finally, an

international standard is being readied for protecting the World Ocean.

Motor transport is known to be guilty of polluting the air basin. Much attention is being paid to setting automobile pollution standards. The State

Standards which set the allowable content of harmful substances in exhaust

gases are constantly being improved. For example, the standard on exhaust

carbon monoxide was reviewed last year.

In May of this year, the USSR State Standards Committee examined and approved

an important organizational-methods standard, "Protecting Nature. The Atmosphere. Rules for Setting Maximum Allowable Discharges of Harmful Substances

by Industrial Enterprises," which was introduced by the USSR State Committee

for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring. The State Standard was

developed by the Main Geophysical Observatory imeni A. I. Voyeykov, with the

participation of institutes of the USSR State Standards Committee, the USSR

Ministry of Health, the USSR Gosstroy, the Ministry of Chemical and Petroleum

Machine Building and the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences. The State Committee for Science and Technology, the USSR Gosplan and leading industrial ministries assisted in its preparation.

The standard regulates the rules for setting and monitoring allowable discharges of harmful substances by industrial enterprises with consideration

of hygienic requirements, the latest scientific and technical achievements

in production technology, and economic and ecological requirements.

The State Standard anticipates setting maximum allowable and temporarily

agreed-upon discharges of harmful substances (MAD and TAD) for each source

of air pollution, based on sanitation-hygiene norms and with consideration

of weather conditions, the characteristics of the discharge, terrain relief,

enterprise location, housing zone, and other factors. Observance of MAD's

and TAD's under the standard is mandatory in planning, renovating and operating enterprises and other sources of air pollution.

Other important directions in standardizing air-protection measures would include the development of exhaust gas discharge normatives depending on composition, concentration, source and specific local conditions; requirements on

organizing territory which will facilitate protecting the atmosphere of residential areas from harmful household, industrial and transport discharges.

The USSR State Standards Committee is also developing statewide standards

and organizational-technical documents on soil and landscape protection and

on efficient land use.

Standardization work in the soil protection field is being done in the following areas: protecting soil from various types of anthropogenic pollution

and inefficient use, preventing erosion, and taking various types of steps.

19
Landscapes play a major role in protecting the nation's flora and fauna, in

meeting the aesthetic and recreational needs of society. Standardization in

the landscape protection field is being done along two main lines. Standards

are being developed first for protecting natural landscapes in order to create

standards in the various natural zones and second to set standards for planned

landscape changes.

The efficient land use standards complex being worked on now anticipates setting norms for confiscating land for various land users, as well as the development of measures to improve land condition, its recultivation, and restoring soil fertility. Introduction of these State Standards will help eliminate excesses in withdrawing land for various projects and accelerate the

return of land to economic circulation. As of now, a number of state standards have already been approved, in particular, those establishing the composition and size of urban greenbelts, classifying deteriorated land for recultivation, and classifying stripped and country rock for biological recultivation.

Standardization in the environmental protection field is picking up steam.

Suffice it to say that the VNIIS, as the lead institute, coordinates the activity of 137 organizations of 39 ministries and departments.

The State Scientific Research Institute of Land Resources of the USSR Ministry

of Agriculture and the USSR State Committee for Forestry's "Soyuzgiproleskhoz"

Institute are working actively in the area of improving land use; in the field of air quality -- the Main Geophysical Observatory imeni A. I. Voyeykov of the USSR

State Committee for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, the Institute of General and Communal Hygiene imeni A. N. Sysin of the USSR Academy of

Medical Sciences, and the Central Order of Lenin Institute of Advanced Training of Physicians of the USSR Ministry of Health. The VNIIvodgeo [Ail-Union

Scientific Research Institute of Water Supply, Sewer Systems, Hydraulic Engineering Structures and Engineering Hydrogeology] of the USSR Gosstroy, the

Central Scientific Research Institute for Overall Water Resources Use and

the All-Union Scientific Research Institute for Water Quality of the USSR

Ministry of Water Management are actively developing water quality and efficient water use standards.

At the same time, it must be noted that several scientific organizations are

late in carrying out planned work. This applies, for example, to the Hydrochemical Institute of the USSR State Committee for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring.

In view of the exceptional importance of the environmental protection problem, the effectiveness of scientific work must be improved, as must be coordination of the actions of co-executor agencies.

In order to determine the economic effectiveness of capital investments in

the construction of various projects it is necessary, in our view, to take

into account any harm done to natural resources. But it is hard to do that

20
without a standard for evaluating natural riches in economic terms. Thus

far, unfortunately, no such standard has been developed. At the same time,

one would think it would restrain the "appetite" of land users and water users,

which is sometimes unjustifiably large.

11052

CSO: 5000

21
USSR

CLEANING UP INDUSTRIAL AIR POLLUTION

Mosccw TRUD in Russian 24 Aug 78 p 2

[Article by A. Matrosov, director of the All-Union Scientific Research

Institute of Work Safety of the AUCCTU, candidate of technical sciences, and

V. Rabinovich, director of the sector of dust-removing devices, candidate of

technical sciences in the column "Opinion of the Specialist": "Clean Air

Industry"]

LTextJ One of the most important tasks of the work safety service is control

of dust and harmful gases whose release accompanies many production processes.

The state is releasing great resources to solve it. In the Sverdlovskaya oblast,

for example, about 70 million R have been spent on measures to sanitize the

production medium and protect the air basin during the Ninth Five-Year Plan.

This is almost 3 times more than during the Eighth. The USSR Ministry of

Nonferrous Metallurgy for the construction and reconstruction of the systems

of industrial ventilation annually allocate 35 million R. A lot has been done,

especially in recent years. The atmosphere has notably improved in the shops

of enterprises, and the air has become cleaner in industrial cities. On the

Ural this is felt by the residents of Revda and Asbest, Pervoural'sk and

Nizhniy Tagil.

But there are still many enterprises of metallurgy, chemical industry, thermal

power engineering, paper and pulp industry, and other branches that are operating under difficult conditions unfavorable to human health.

At the same time the enormous resources given by the state to work safety, in

particular to control the dust content and gas content of the production areas

are far from being used with full efficiency. There are frequent cases when the

money in the direct sense of the word is thrown to the wind. We were convinced

of this having analyzed on the instructions of the AUCCTU jointly with other

institutes of work safety the condition of the designing, assembly, setup and

operation of systems of industrial ventilation in 15 branches of industry.

The employees of the laboratory of dust removal in our institute went to tens

of enterprises of the USSR Ministry of Nonferrous Metallurgy. However unfortunately, among them there was not one where systems of ventilation, suction,

and air conditioning were completely solving their task.

22
To a considerable degree such a situation is explained by the poor organization of the planning work. The level of technical solutions placed in the

standard plans often does not meet modern requirements, and the developed

designs are inefficient. They often indicate sanitary engineering and electrical engineering equipment that has long been removed from production. For

years the necessary corrections have not been made in the drawings.

What is the reason for such a situation? The quality of the planning solutions is determined a great deal by how rapidly the developers receive information on the latest achievements of science and technology, and to what

degree they are provided with original working material. At the same time the

system of information that is forming now is far from perfection. Over 30

organizations that distribute materials for planners operate separately.

Currently they are about 400 standard documents that concern ventilation of

industrial enterprises. At the same time the majority of them were issued

before 1970 and today are a bibliographic rarity. There is essentially also

no promising information on newly developed documentation and designs of

ventilation equipment. It is evident that the time has come for the USSR

Gosstroy to create a single, centralized system of information.

Frequently the branch institutes do not have a scientific research base to

solve a broad range of problems associated with work safety. In the copper

industry, for example, a single laboratory operates in this direction.

The structure of the planning organization is incomplete. Only in a quarter

of them the departments of ventilation have been staffed with skilled personnel. The errors of the planners that develop as a result often result

in very unpleasant consequences. For example, the specialists of the Leningrad

VAMI [All-Union Institute of Aluminum and Magnesium] planned a system of

ventilation for the Dneprovskiy Aluminum Plant such that with a southwest

wind it forces harmful gases into production areas. The institute

Kavkazgiprotsvetnet solved the problem of purifying gases in the vitriol shop

of the Ordzhonikidzevskiy Plant "Elektrotsink" such that the enterprise began

to lose with the escaping gases about two tons of zinc sulfate per day Investigations indicated that as a result of such errors in counting at the

Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Plant one-third of the ventilation units operated unsatisfactorily, at the Alaverdi Mining and Smelting Kombinat—half, and at

the Bogoslovskiy Aluminum Plant—even more.

However it would be incorrect to see in the work of the planners only minuses

and errors in counting. In nonferrous metallurgy and other branches ventilation purifying devices are used that are not inferior to the best foreign

models. These are, in particular, the dust extractors and filters designed by

the NIIOGAZ [state Scientific Research Institute for Gas Purification in

Industry and Sanitation], the dust catchers of the Sverdlovsk and Leningrad

Institutes of Work Safety, the Institute TsNIIpromzdaniy LCentral Scientific

Research, Planning and Experimental Institute of industrial Buildings and

Structures], and others. However the equipment that has proved to be good is

put out by the industry in a clearly insufficient quantity. More than half

of the enterprises of nonferrous metallurgy now are not provided with reliable

filters, ventilators, and heating elements. ___

23
It is evident that in relation to the concentration of production and putting

into operation of powerful enterprises it is expedient to create centralized

systems of ventilation. For this ventilators are needed with output up to

200,000 cubic meters per hour. At the same time our industry as yet is

not producing them.

The problems of the clean air industry at the active enterprises is felt

especially acutely. Thus at the plants of the USSR Ministry of Nonferrous

Metallurgy over 30% of the dust-and-gas-collecting equipment is obsolete and

needs to be replaced. However from year to year the claims are not satisfied.

The enterprises that can be modernized often are forced to plan the ventilation apparatus with their own forces. For example, the design bureau of

the Noril*sk Mining and Smelting Kombinat, where they are seriously involved

in improving working conditions, about 600 sheets of drawings of different

types of purification devices are put out during the year. It is clear that

not every enterprise has such power. This is because the resources isolated

for work safety often remain unassimilated. Thus at the Ufaleyskiy Nickel

Kombinat 40% of these allocations have not been used, and at the Kanakerskiy

Aluminum Plant--70%. And on the whole for the enterprises of the USSR Ministry

of Nonferrous Metallurgy the resources to improve working conditions and

protect the air basin are regularly used by only three-fourths.

How can the situation be corrected in the clean air industry? A lot in the

solution to these problems depends on the recently created Main Administration

of the USSR Minkhimmasha [Ministry of Chemical Machinery] to develop and

produce gas-purifying and dust-catching equipment which has been called upon

to become the interindustry coordinating center. However, it appears that

it is necessary to undertake yet another step: to create branch scientific

production associations which would solve all the questions of manufacturing

systems of ventilation, air conditioning and air suctioning, starting from the

scientific developments and ending with the setup of the finished equipment.

It is no less important to achieve the correct use of the means to control the

dust and gas content. For unfortunately, the ventilation equipment of the

majority of enterprises is now being run unsatisfactorily.

The staffs of workers and the duration of between servicing cycles are set by

eye. If one adds to this the lack at many enterprises of a modern operating

base, the picture that is outlined is rather unattractive. At the same time

with good organization of this matter significant successes can be achieved.

An example is the Noril'sk GMK [Mining and Smelting Kombinat]. The ventilation service here has been given great authority, it is headed by the assistant chief engineer of the kombinat under whose direct supervision the reconstruction, setup and certification of the systems of air purification are

conducted at all the enterprises. There is constant control over the timely

repair of the units and the efficiency of their operation, innovations are

systematically introduced, and close ties are maintained with many scientific

research organizations in the country. The ventilation service of the kombinat

has existed a little more than nine years, but during this period the discharges

into the atmosphere have been reduced by more than 3-fold, and the working

conditions have been significantly improved at the sintering factory, and the

nickel and copper plants. __„

24
The creation of analogous subdivisions at each enterprise must become not

only the duty of the administration, but also the concern of the local

trade-union committees, and the technical inspection of work of the trade

unions.

It seems that it is also necessary to devise a system of material incentive

for the planning, setup organizations, and officials of enterprises to improve

working conditions. Control of dust and harmful gases in industrial areas

is an important matter that requires a comprehensive approach and constant

concern. And one cannot omit active trade union control.

9035

CSO: 5000

25
USSR

NEUTRALIZING PETROCHEMICAL WATER POLLUTION

Moscow SOTSIALISTICHESKAYA INDUSTRIYA in Russian 29 Jun 78 p 2

[Article by V. Kostyuk, head of the laboratory of VNIIPKneftekhira: "To

Receive Equal Rights"]

[Text] The technological activity of people has resulted in the fact that

after 50 years of our century pollution of the planet has sharply increased

and become universal. The word "ecology" is known to everybody today. The

problem of environmental protection has become one of the most urgent. And

you will not find a man who would not vote with both hands for its most rapid

solution. But when the matter reaches the practical implementation of any

environmental protection measure, it is easier to overcome technical complexities than to withstand the inertia of traditional views.

One of the major consumers of water is oil refining and the petrochemical

industry. The oil refining plants {NPZ) , as a rule, are located on the shores

of major rivers, and basins in mid and upstream. The specific consumption

of fresh water at the modern NPZ with high water turnover equals 0.1-0.5

cubic meters per ton of oil refined. In the wastewaters of the NPZ there are

fairly large quantities of petroleum products, phenols, sulfides, surfaceactive substances, and other admixtures. The most significant of them are

different mineral salts which until recently were discharged into fresh-water

basins.

Several years ago the petrochemical branch was faced with the task of automating

the NPZ, that is to eliminate the need of direct links between the plants and

the reservoirs. On the order of the USSR Minister of Oil Refining and Petrochemical Industry V. S. Fedorov the first such plant became the Lisichansk

NPZ. One of the executors of this task was our All-Union Scientific Research

and Planning-Design Institute of the Oil Refining and Petrochemical Industry.

Neither in the world nor in the domestic practice was there any experience

of reprocessing and neutralizing the saline effluence of the NPZ. This

matter had to be started from zero.

September, 1977 at the Lisichansk NPZ a unit for neutralization of saline

effluence was put into industrial operation. This was the first unit in the

26
branch, in the country, in the world... The difficult technical problems

remained behind. Social ones appeared.

The neutralization unit is not a traditional purification structure. It

can only be compared with the shop of the modern chemical enterprise--both

in scale, and in equipping with complex apparatus. Foreseeing that it would

not be that easy to handle it the institute in advance, while the unit was

being built, prepared,and trained the service personnel. But...as soon as

the work had started of the trained personnel there remained only a half.

A year of operation had not passed when the supervision of both the unit and

the shop of treatment facilities in which it was included had changed three

times. All of this was because the unit, this most important section of the

plant, was an auxiliary production. And if it was auxiliary then the attitude

towards it corresponded to that.

The head of the unit has so many duties in return his wages are lower than

an employee in main production. We will add (more precisely, subtract) the

additional payments for the quality and other incentives. And we will understand why in the main shops the personnel are selected more carefully. Why

one head of the unit did not have higher education. Why another changed his

place because of an apartment. Why a third went to another shop.

Requirements for the qualification of workers that serve the unit are not lower

than for workers of the main shops, while the incentives for them differ in

the same proportion as for the heads. Therefore today the unit is served

mainly by workers who only yesterday finished the EFU Vocational and Technical

School . We assume that from inexperience they will disrupt the pattern and

will put the unit out of action. However neither the first or the second fact

will become an extraordinary occurrence for the enterprise. For if it does hot

run for a month no one will be strongly disturbed.

What is the matter? For one thing they consider oil that has been refined.

They do not consider and do not plan for purified water. It automatically

passes from the circle of mandatory measures to the circle of desirable.

But one can act thus without considering when the water flows by gravity into

the settling tank—as much as went in, that much also came out. Today it is

reprocessed. The new technical level of purification, and the new type of

work require also a new approach. The work must also be considered and encouraged. And whether we want it or not we will have to pay. Either according

to that large bill which nature will give us, or according to that reasonable

bill which we can provide for in our planned economy.

9035

CSO: 5000

27
USSR

ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION IN ARMENIA BEMOANED

Yerevan KOMMUNIST in Russian 26 Jul 78 p 2

[Article by M. Adonts, doctor of economic sciences, professor, and S. Musayelyan, doctor of technical sciences in the column "Man and Nature": "In the

Interests of Each and Everyone"J

[Text] Environmental protection in our country is considered the most important

state task and a concern of all the people. In this respect one cannot help

but recall the wise words of K. Marx that each generation must have the task

of using the natural resources such that they are left in a better condition

than the given generation received them from their ancestors. The soviet

power from the first days of its existence has taught a prudent and thrifty

attitude to the resources of our environment.

Socialist transformations, and the gigantic scope of man's effect on nature today

require legislative solutions to environmental protection. The Soviet Constitution proclaims humanistic principles of environmental protection. Who and

in what state is capable of still imposing upon themself the law of such environmental protection and such concern for future generations! Only in the socialist society can such humane goals be set, and they are only within the power

of it.

An enormous path has been taken from the first Lenin decrees "On the Earth"

(1917), "On Eorests" (1918), and "On Mineral Resources" (1920) to the vast

complex of constitutional statutes that have been successively realized under

the conditions of developed socialism.

The laws issued on environmental protection in all the union republics indicate

the constant concern of the Communist Party and the Soviet state on environmental protection. A whole series of decrees of the CPSU Central Committee and

the USSR Council of Ministers have been adopted on questions of land reclamation,

intensification of environmental protection, and the rational use of natural

resources.

In the Fundamental Law of the Armenian SSR environmental protection and the

rational use of its resources acquire the nature of a constitutional requirement.

Reading carefully in the lines of the new Constitution of the republic one is

convinced again and again that this document completely meets the aspirations

28
of our people. The advances of the republic in environmental protection are

evident and enjoy general acknowledgement. They are a consequence of the

state's concern for the health of people, the sources of natural raw material,

the flora and fauna, purity of water and air, and fertility of the soil.

The new stage of the scientific and technical revolution also requires new

calculations in man's interrelationships with the environment and a more

advanced technical policy in this sphere.

For Armenia with its complicated natural conditions, highly developed industry,

multibranch agriculture, and great population density the problems of the

rational use of natural resources and environmental protection are vitally

important. These problems are very numerous and diverse. We would like to

dwell only on some of them.

In recent years, as we noted, a lot has been done to sanitize the water and

air basins of the republic, and for the rational use of natural resources.

However it is no secret that the enterprises continue to discharge polluted

gases and sewage. This, in our opinion, is the result of imperfect plans

for the recovery of wastes during the construction of new industrial plants,

and the reconstruction of the active productions. Often in the planned calculations the quantity of discharges is directed to an absolutely pure medium,

and local conditions are not considered. As a result each plant taken individually is fit into the established norms, and on the whole for the industry

of the city the permissible level is exceeded.

The earth is our wealth. It should be guarded as we guard our health. At

the same time under modern conditions the problem of the efficient use of

land in agriculture and in other spheres of social production is especially

acute. It would be erroneous to believe that the land is not worth anything

to society. First of all we have very limited land, especially the best

sections. Moreover a lot of the land drops out of the agricultural turnover

as a result of municipal, industrial, power engineering, road, and other

construction.

There are serious claims also for the enterprises of construction materials

who often, without any need attempt to place their plants on good lands, and

do not fulfill the recultivation plans. From year to year the plans of waterand air-protecting measures are not fulfilled, for years, and sometimes decades,

the putting into operation of treatment facilities is delayed.

It appears that it is necessary to take a comprehensive approach to the protection and rational use of natural resources, from a single state position

not separated by departmental barriers. In our republic there are many

protection inspections, institutions and services, the majority of which have

a particularly departmental nature. This of course is not in favor of the

matter. Apparently the time has come to follow the example of other republics

and create a republic, organ for protection of all natural resources. It

must also express a firm will and exacting concern for land, forests, waters

and mineral resources. In evaluating environmental protection as a component

29
part of our economy one should concentrate its control under the Council

of Ministers of the republics. With the creation of such a governmental

organ the departmental barriers, and seniority will disappear, and it will

become possible to make a more objective and comprehensive plan of the

environmental protection measures, and to conduct strict state control over

their implementation. The matter in whose success the population of our

republic is deeply interested in benefits from this.

The role of science increases in the matter of the rational use of nature and

environmental protection. In different institutions extensive environmental

protection research is being conducted. As yet they are insufficiently coordinated. It is necessary to subject their complicated system to the solution

of a single goal, and to unite the efforts of specialists of different fields.

Therefore the creation of a scientific center for the comprehensive use of

natural productive forces, environmental protection measures, and prediction

of changes in the environment has become for the republic an urgent need.

In the Tenth Five-Year Plan for measures of environmental protection in Armenia

more capital investments will be allocated. Our task consists of skilfully and

zealously using these resources, and protecting nature from pollution. Each

resident of Armenia, and each laborer must to the extent of their powers,

potentialities, and service duties guard the natural resources, and think

about the condition of the environment in which we live and in which our

children and the next generations will live.

9035

CSO: 5000

30
USSR

GEOGHEMICAL MAPS AID IN CLEANING MOSCOW'S AIR

Moscow STROITEL»NAYA GAZETA in Russian 16 Jul 78 p 3

[Article by Yu. Bersenev, TASS correspondent: "Clean Sky of Moscow"]

[Text] In Moscow the first geochemical maps of the city have been draxm up.

They designate even the smallest foci that threaten the environment with

pollution and which must be eliminated. The studies which are of great importance for the protection of the pure air and water basins of the capital have

been begun on the initiative of the ispolkom of the Mossovet [Moscow City

Soviet Workers' Deputies].

The supervisor of the work, head of the sector of geochemistry of the environment of the Institute of Mineralogy, Geochemistry and Chrystallography of

Rare Elements Yu. Sayet told the TASS correspondent:

"The expedition formed by the institute took about 25,000 soil samples

deposited in rivers and reservoirs, snow cover and vegetation. The density of

observations were comparatively high: in certain places--up to 100 samples

per square kilometer. A very detailed map of the environment was obtained.

In the studied regions we can precisely state its condition at any point--all

the way to the street, house and even courtyard.

Among the major cities in the world Moscow is one of the cleanest. The results

of our studies once again confirm this. Thus, in the new large residential

blocks, the air, soil and precipitation do not differ from the suburban.

Comprehensive measures are being implemented in the struggle for cleanliness

of the city. At the plants and factories modern treatment facilities are

being introduced. The enterprises that pollute the atmosphere are being moved

beyond the city limits.

With the expedition contacts were established with over 40 scientific and

planning-design organizations. With some of them, in particular with the

All-Union Institute of Secondary Resources agreements were concluded on

cooperation in developing resources to protect the environment, and recover

wastes of production and domestic garbage.

The experience of Moscow in organizing and conducting geochemical studies

can be useful also for other cities in the country.

9035

CSO: 5000

3I
USSR

BRIEFS

ROMANOV AT ENVIRONMENT SESSION—A city soviet session was held in Leningrad

today to examine the tasks of the city and rayon Soviets of people's deputies

to fulfill the clauses in the USSR Constitution relating to environmental

protection. Romanov, CPSU Central Committee Politburo member and first

secretary of the Leningrad Obkom, took part in the session. [Text]

[Moscow Domestic Service in Russian 1900 GMT 18 Sep 78 LD]

CSO: 5000

32
FRANCE

GRUSON INTERVIEWED ON GOVERNMENT'S ECOLOGICAL EFFORTS

Paris LE MONDE in French 23 Sep 78 pp 1, 2

[Interview with Claude Gruson, former chairman of the interministerial group

for evaluation of the environment, by Maro Ambroise-Rendu; place and date

not given]

[Text] Claude Gruson, 68 years old, former director of

the INSEE [National Institute of Statistics and Economic

Studies], now director in a banking company, headed for

six years the interministerial group for evaluation of

the environment. He has just resigned from that position. That organization is little known but it has

worked hard. Credit goes to Claude Gruson for about 10

reports on anti-waste, agriculture, energy, the economic

theory of the environment, statistics on the quality of

life, nuclear waste, and so on. Claude Gruson feels

that his mission has been accomplished. Today he shared

with us some of his thoughts, at times highly critical,

inspired by six years of effort on ecological problems.

First, he explained the nature of the interministerial

group for evaluation of the environment.

The group was established by Robert Poujade, who was the first Minister of

the Environment. At that time this ministry had a new political objective

but did not have any data-gathering system of its own, no branch to do any

initial planning. So Robert Poujade and his aide Serge Antoine had the idea

of entrusting these tasks to a group consisting of some 20 officials representing the various ministries, specialists in ecology, and economists.

Seven working groups were organized to determine the notion of quality of

life, the system of statistics, the use of space, natural resources, energy,

technology, and agriculture. These working groups called on numerous outside consultants. The effort generated much curiosity, interest, and even

devotion. The outcome was a series of very interesting reports such as that

of Jean Couture on "energy and environment" which in 1975 really crystallized

the problem; that of Jacques Attali on the mathematical evaluation of the

33
environment; and so on. Then, an ad hoc group was created to draw up the report on the anti-waste campaign.

[Question] Have statistical data, the thoughts and proposals flowing from

your efforts modified the policy on the environment and the management of

French affairs?

[Answer] What a question! If they have had an impact at all it was infinitesimal. Some reports hit bull's eyes with public opinion, notably

that on waste. But on the political plane our efforts were in no way followed by results. It should be recognized that between the initial question

of Robert Poujade—and of the other ministers who succeeded him--and the

manner in which I answered there has been a discrepancy. The ministers expected the group to supply recipes making it possible to build general indexes, synthetic but quantitative of the quality of life--a kind of gauge.

This work was done elsewhere. Two years ago the OECD [Organization for

Economic Cooperation and Development] collected statisticians specialized in

problems of urban environment. They managed by using strategies and formulas

to find a way to compute such or such an index. That is what was expected

of me.

[Question] And that is what you did not do....

;[Answer] Let us say that that is not everything that I accomplished. At

each meeting of the group I made my point of view very clear. It is perhaps

possible--though I am not sure of it--in a given region, at a given moment,

to classify the important points as regards the environment and to derive

indexes from them. But to devise an over-all index, surely not. A concept

of Gross National Happiness is absurd; it is phantasmagoria.

[Question] In 1974 you published statistics on the environment and the

quality of life which were updated and published once more in 1978. Can one

not find in these 650 pages of data the elements for a series of ^indexes?

[Answer] These volumes of statistics are very interesting and even amusing

to consult. They show the immense variety of the phenomena that are relevant when one speaks of the quality of life. The drawback of this periodical review is that it places everything on the same plane: pollution, noise,

waste, credits assigned to regional parks, and so on. You have a mass of

figures. What weight will you give them? Is it the political authority as

a function of what it believes it knows of the wishes of the population which

is to determine such weighting? It is completely prepared to do so, but I

believe that it is not equipped for that. And it would be a mistake to give

it that right.

In my opinion the government should be entitled to choose only after a serious discussion during which opinion leaders, appropriately informed, would

have spoken out. We should follow the example of The Netherlands where a

veritable debate concerning the idea of a change in life styles has occurred.

But Holland is a truly advanced democracy.

34
[Question] In 1974 you published a report entitled "The Anti-Waste Struggle:

A New Policy on the Environment, a New Economic Policy." The agency for the

conservation of raw materials, the national agency for waste products, the

delegation for energy conservation, the policy of time allocation—are these

not fall-outs from that report?

[Answer] I did not have much to do with their establishment. They were

ideas in the air which I reiterated. Besides, I do not believe that they

are fully effective.

[Question] Yet, the government became strongly inspired by your work....

[Answer] Yes, we had a lot of fun with the 100 proposals that we had formulated. But there were a few initial pages, more important in my eyes, which

were not taken seriously. I was saying that a veritable struggle against

waste, that is, a campaign for the recycling of waste, for promoting

maintenance and repair work, and for conserving energy assumed a large

number of decentralized efforts which should be profitable, or at least

not very expensive, if they were done by the public services. A problem

of economic computation and consequently a problem of price arose. But

under the existing price system repairs, which call for labor, are becoming

more and more expensive while activities connected with the replacement of

used equipment are profitable. If the price of energy were at a level compatible with a long-term solution of the energy crisis, that is, much higher

than it is, it would be in our interest to keep our old automobiles (if they

did not consume excessive gasoline) and washing machines and to have them

repaired. However, the eccnomic instruments available to us do not enable

us to oversee the price system. Prices evolve as they can without ever taking the long-term requirements into account. Price policy, when it exists,

is limited to controls analogous to freezes. In order to act otherwise

planning would be necessary. That is what the anti-waste report stated.

That condition has been forgotten.

"Long-Term Dynamics"

[Question] At that time you predicted that society would be prompted to alter its patterns of consumption and production. You characterized the privately owned automobile as "outdated." Were you not overly pessimistic?

[Answer] I continue to believe that the proliferation of the privately

owned automobile in its present form is a dismaying absurdity. There are

others. But this absurdity will become evident only in the long run. For

we have not solved the following series of problems: the Western world has

a deficit trade balance vis-a-vis the oil-producing countries. The latter

are unable to consume the aggregate of their purchasing power. The petrodollars are being recycled in ways that defy anticipation. Hence the aggressive export policies, Japanese or German style, entailing growing monetary disorder. It is impossible to set clear perspectives. No one knows

35
any longer what to commit himself to. In the meantime, it is true, people

continue to live. The governments know now how to manage even deteriorated

situations. They mitigate unemployment a little; the international financial

system is able to recycle the petrodollars. In brief, people succeed in concealing the profound lack of coherence in which we live. Can we hold out for

a year, five years? What is sure is that no one in the leadership circles

wishes to bring about the economic, political, and social changes which

adaptation of this challenge would imply. People lock themselves up in

this situation and postpone the necessary changes indefinitely.

[Question] The policy that you propose is premised on fairly solid planning.

Yet, contrariwise it is liberalism which is on the ascendant. What could be

the result of this trend for the economy and the environment?

[Answer] The absence of planning and its consequences on the French economy

over-all involve an enormous and major debate. We cannot broach this problem in its entirety. But we can perceive one of its concrete aspects connected with the problems of environment.

For three years now we have- pursued a study on the agglomeration of Rouen.

It was indeed very imprudent to come out from the top of our head with an

information system on the environment. For what is environment? What makes

it satisfying or not? How is it perceived by a collectivity? These questions are not simple. It was necessary to take a concrete, localized,

example. We asked teams of sociologists how the idea of the quality of life

was viewed by the population and the local leaders. We were not overwhelmingly enlightened. The man-in-the-street as well as official circles speak

especially of ideas that are in the air, of things that are common knowledge.

A truly considered view does not exist at all. We ordered a study on the

problem of transportation. It shows that a strictly sectorial perspective

leads to a vicious circle. To measure the growth of traffic, to seek to

adapt the road network is to create the temptation of additional traffic and

leads sooner or later to further clogging of the roads. Conclusion: any

transportation policy, when it is planned by pure technicians, can only lead

to an impasse.

We also had an exhaustive review made of all the indexes connected with the

quality of life. The review indicates that it is thus possible to establish

a fairly extensive data bank. But life is movement and problems relating to

the quality of life have a long-term dynamic. That is why we have outlined

three possible scenarios for development in the Rouen region by the end of

the century. The first assumes reactivated growth under a system of free

enterprise. The second envisions planned development. The third projects a

decline despite a few local initiatives.

"To Proceed Like Teachers Before Students"

[Question] Of these three scenarios, which is the most favorable for the

quality of life?

36
[Answer] Since I am of leftist persuasion I say that it is the second even

though not in the immediate future. But our essential conclusion is that depending on the scenario in which one is placed the problems of roads, the

educational system, leisure, and many others are posed differently. For example, the leisure habits of a population which tends to become older are

not the same as those that should be promoted to attract young cadres. The

crucial thing consists then in initiating reflection, a debate on life styles

premised on several scenarios.

[Question] Can this method of scenarios serve elsewhere?

[Answer] The idea that we have started to implement seems to me to be perfectly transposable in other regions. At Rennes or Lille or Rouen, the problems of the quality of life become concrete only from the time when one tries

to view them within a framework of evolution. It is here that the need for

planning reappears. As long as we do not have an aggregate concept of our

future in France as well as in Europe generally, regional studies can only

continue to be very vague. It is first necessary to answer the question:

"How will the economy of the West get out of its present difficult situation?" And if a solution is perceived what type of society does it imply?

It is only at that time that regional problems can be specified.

[Question] Among the efforts of the interministerial committee for evaluation of the environment is an unknown report. It deals with radioactive

waste and was written in 1976. Some 20 of its members and about 30 consultants participated in its preparation for two years. Why has that report

never been published?

[Answer] The publication of the other reports of the group depended on the

Ministry of the Environment alone. For the latter the endorsement of the

Ministry of Industry was requested and Michel d'Ornano, at that time minister

of industry, never answered. The political and administrative authorities

were greatly disconcerted by the nuclear problem. Until 1970 people were indulging in a Commissariat for Nuclear Energy concentrating on its peaceful

applications. Then came the Yom Kippur war and the accelerated nuclear

program. An opposition movement began. The men with power—political leaders and executives of the EDF [French Electric Power Company]--told each

other: "Here is a case that we have been studying for years: we have examined all imaginable prospects. We see indeed that the solution that we

approve is the only one admissible. Consequently, it is enough for us to

make it understood." And they wished to proceed like teachers before students. However, the teachers have received baked apples.

This is where our report on nuclear waste becomes involved. It was drawn up

to a large extent at the initiative of Vertrand Giroud, chief mining engineer,

a physicist and a great spirit. He had wished to stage an exemplary operation: to take the most important problem, to collect people from various

horizons but all of them competent, and to try to have them list the points

37
about which the scientific community felt there were no problems and the

points on which it was necessary to experiment, reflect, in short to debate.

But by that time the debate had already become enveomed. Abuse if not bombs

started to be traded. When the Ministry of Industry saw our report whose

purpose it did not quite understand even though it had been explained to

its officials, that department drew back. It did not feel like creating

additional worries.

[Question] Are the conclusions of this report of a nature to disquiet the

government?

[Answer] Absolutely not. We raise a certain number of unclarified problems and we indicate the solutions that must be sought. We are neither

worrisome nor reassuring.

[Question] Can democracy in 1978 really function without a nuclear debate

being held?

[Answer] It is not possible to avoid an energy debate. It goes far beyond

the nuclear debäte. This one could be its start. One would be led to reflection on life styles.

[Question] What role can the ecologists play in this debate?

[Answer] Among the ecologists one finds serious individuals and those who

are less so. The labor union members of the CFDT [French Democratic Confederation of Labor], of the atomic energy, for example, who published a book

on nuclear power, seem to be serious to me. It is probable that without

the ecologists the debate would not be opened. But they have elevated it

right away to such a degree of passion and even of violence that its development has become difficult. They have thus finally snowed it under. A

debate implies that people listen to each other, that information is exchanged, that one makes a common analysis with a major effort at objectivity. That is what is not being done.

[Question] How should the citizens be inspired to participate in a scientific

debate when all the polls show that the French are not really interested in

scientific problems and even less so in a nuclear question?

[Answer] If people had published and studied the report on nuclear waste

they would have seen that, rid of all its scientific aspects, the problem

becomes fairly clear. Should one, for example, break up the most dangerous

waste despite the cost of the operation, bury it underground despite the

risks of earthquakes, when such waste continues to be dangerous for centuries?

Here is a major political problem. It seems to me to be of a nature to have

a concrete bearing on Frenchmen given that the problem would be posed clearly

when it comes to its immediate implications. In passing, other less mindboggling problems would become clarified.

38
"The Difficulty of Reorienting a Complex Economy and Society"

[Question] Does the current of thought of the ecologists which, on many

points, coincides with your efforts, appear to you to be in a position to

modify this policy of secrecy?

[Answer] I set rabid ecologism aside--the one which places bombs. All it

does is lead us toward some kind of fascism. There are other forms of

ecologism which are completely respectable. What strikes me is that they

do not seem aware that they generate long-term problems. According to them

one changes directions as in a small sailboat. They do not perceive the

extraordinary difficulty that exists in reorienting a complex economy and

society. The logic of planning seems to escape them. However, the ecological debate does not become useful and operational except from the time when

it is placed in a programable perspective.

[Question] Is this trend, even forgetting the difficulties that you mention,

strong enough to change something?

[Answer] The ecological current has an unquestionable impact on public

opinion. This is a fairly judiciously oriented force. But it may not have

a real political influence except on condition that it accept gradualism.

From this viewpoint the nuclear moratorium is much too radical. To be sure,

those who demand it do not lack arguments. But one cannot halt the EDF's

capital programs without saying at the same time that one is moving toward

an insufficiency of installed power, toward interruptions in supplies, and

finally toward such serious dramas as an accident in a power station. That

is what the protestant Federation of France—of which I am a member—stated

in response to the expressed concerns of the Churches of Alsace: a nuclear

debate should be held. But this will slow down the execution of the program. It is thus necessary to get ready to oversee an economy of scarcity.

We have not been understood by some who have accused us of wishing to impose

our idealist views by means of bureaucratic constraints. Yet, from the

moment that one agrees to hold a difficult and ill-prepared debate it is

certain that one exposes oneself to delay in the execution of the nuclear

program. Besides, it is already delayed.

"To Control the Technocracy"

[Question] How should this discussion be started?

[Answer] It would be necessary to begin by indicating that we are moving

toward an economy of scarcity which must be managed by means other than resorting to cuts in power. This demonstration would place the entire

energy problem and the nuclear question in their proper context. In this

respect, President Valery Giscard d'Estaing's idea of creating an electricnuclear information council is not bad. But what would that council do?

It would have to bring together a certain number of major impartial technicians.

39
[Question] Do they exist?

fAnswer] Those people who are on the side of government say: "They either

have no responsibilities and are not competent or else they have responsibilities and are committed." I am not that pessimistic.

An individual of high intellectual quality, a good university physicist, for

example, who may have been associated for a long time with a working group

charged with answering the questions of the various currents of opinion

should manage to do it. Even if he is not competent at the outset he will

become so even though perhaps not to the same extent as the EDF technician.

But it is indeed necessary to control the technocracy. It is to this group

of major impartial technicians that the CFDT, for example, would address its

questions. The group would answer. At that point a genuine discussion would

get started.

[Question] Why are you relinquishing the chairmanship of the interministerial

group for evaluation of the environment?

[Answer] First because I am 68 years old. Then, because the group has no

more significance. The Ministry of the Environment has been in existence for

six years now. It has not become a major department but it has services,

individuals who think, notable statisticians. The arrangement of a group

in charge of weeding things out has become inadequate. We have executed a

program that made sense. I hope at present that our study of Rouen will be

published integrally. But it is a report put together by independent men

and women. It is not conformist.

[Question] A mission charged with establishing, in cooperation with six public enterprises used as guinea pigs, a patrimonial system of accounting has

been set up. What do you think of it?

[Answer] It is a good idea. On a certain number of points such as cultivable

areas, green areas, historical monuments, and so on, it is possible to make

an inventory of our patrimony and describe it in systematic manner. This

is a step which goes in the same direction as that of the statisticians who

have published an inventory of the environment. It is a very weighty undertaking and it is necessary to do it as soon as possible. The risk is that

the discussion may become blurred. To collect data is great. But the problem of synthesis is not solved thereby. I am now moving toward other fields

of reflection.

2662

CSO: 5000

40
ICELAND

INSTITUTE WARNS: NEW VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS EXPECTED

Helsinki HELSINGIN SANOMAT in Finnish 27 Aug 78 p 20

[Article by Ritva Remes: "Will Iceland Be Torn Asunder"]

[Text] The residents of Iceland confirm an issue of vast importance with

peaceful resignation: their country can tear in half and a part of the

island can sink into the depths of the ocean.

Iceland is divided by a two-pronged belt of fire, in which tension is so

great that it is possible the country could be torn asunder any day now.

On this same belt one can find nearly all of Iceland's living volcanos. It

is expected that the next eruption will occur after approximately a month, '

or between 30 September and 4 October.

According to seismic waves under the area to erupt there is approximately

30 cubic kilometers of molten rock [magma] striving to get to the surface.

This volcanic eruption will also threaten the small rown of Reykjahlid

where emergency evacuations are being carefully rehearsed.

If and when Iceland is some day torn asunder, it is probable the portion of

the island toward the North American Continent will sink into the depths of

the sea. Geologists consider the prediction to be unscientific, and the

residents of Iceland are not too inclined to talk about the matter.

A possible eruption is explained by the fact that the volcanic belt cutting

the island in half is sliding slowly at an annual rate of 2 centimeters.

At its fastest a volcanic belt can move even 2 meters during an eruption.

There where the surface of the earth is the thinnest above the molten mass

or approximately 3 kilometers thick, the molten mass will immediately fill

up openings in the surface of the earth caused by an earthquake. According

to research this will not solidify because of the continuing circulation of

heat.

41
More Than a Hundred Eruptions

In the 1100-year history of Iceland the majority of the 150 volcanic eruptions has occurred on the belt cutting through this country. Only 14 have

been located on the eastern branch of this belt near Reykjavik.

There have been only two eruptions outside of this zone, one in the year

900 in the vicinity of the Vididalsa River where President Urho Kekkonen

recently went fishing and the other occurred later in the country's southeast section.

The last eruption in the belt passing near the capital city of Reykjavik

was in the year 1360.

The most recent eruptions on this island were those of Hekla 1947 and 1970,

Askja 1961, Surtsey (a new island was created on the shore of Iceland) 1963-

67, Heimayen 1973, and Krafla 1975 and 1977.

In addition to these, there are numerous eruptions under the icefield in

the volcanic belt. For example, it has previously not been possible to

define the southeast shoreline of Iceland because of the water current

caused by the eruptions. Deviating from other shorelines on the map there

is just a straight line at this point.

The year 1975 is calculated as the beginning of a new era in the northern

section of the belt in the area of Krafla since in this area it has been

quiet for 300 years.

On the basis of this quiet period a few years ago a power plant was constructed in the area, which has been estimated to be Iceland's greatest money

drain eating up many American dollars.

A trial run of the plant had just commenced when the era of eruptions began.

The vibrations connected with the eruptions cracked the bore holes drilled

into the earth, by which gas was to have been brought to the power plant.

Now the power plant stands as a huge, lonely memorial. Instruments measuring movements in the earth's lithosphere are its only operating parts.

The instruments relate the slow, 2-meter movement of the earth's crust per

every 3 months. When the swelling is at its highest point, an eruption

occurs on the surface of the earth. Then one can expect a volcanic eruption. There have been three of these in the area since the construction of

the plant.

A City in the DAnger Area

The small town of Reykjahlid with a little less than 1,000 residents is

also located on the shore of Lake Myvatn on the border of the area of eruptions .

42
Every week the residents conduct an emergency evacuation drill. During a

particularly violent eruption the town could be covered with lava in half a

minute. It is calculated that the town lies in the path of the flow of

lava.

Predictions of eruptions are made by the Volcanological Institute established in Iceland in 1973 under the Council of Nordic Country Ministers.

The prediction concerning the great Heimayen eruption in 1975 was not completely correct. Indeed, the eruption was expected, but it occurred at a

surprising point.

The resident of Heimayen awoke only after the sounding of sirens and seeing a strange blaze.

"A similar thing cannot happen today," states Heikki Makipaa, a Finnish

recipient of a scholarship in the institute.

Since the Heimayen eruption the institute has developed new instruments and

procedures by which predictions can be made more precisely than before.

Everyone Goes to Eruption Site

When the eruption of a volcano begins somewhere all the personnel of the institute rush to the site.'

Makipaa, who is beginning his third year of study in the institute, has

observed the sites of eruptions several times.

In Makipaa's opinion it is impossible to describe the event. The sound

coming from the eruption is immense, uneven. The lava flows quickly made

incandescent by the fire while looking for passageways in the earth as it

flows like water.

At the eruption site the researchers examine the measurement sof the instruments and observe the whole event, for example, the earth's vibrations. The

asbestos-clothed research workers quickly measure the temperature of the lava

flow with special meters situated on the end of a long pole.

Observation at the point of eruption facilitates the formation of a total

picture in future eruptions. An experienced volcanologist can predict quite

precisely the sequence of events and decide on the possible evacuation of

the population.

During an eruption researchers can, for example, observe the movement of

magma. If it does not erupt upward, the flow under the earth can be seen

on the surface as accumulating clouds of steam. If previous events in the

area are known, the future directions of lava flows can be predicted.

43
When Makipaa observed the eruption in the area of Krafla, the movement of

magma to the north was not expected. The area should have been full. However, the magma still found small passageways to the north.

Now according to the researchers the north is full. Next time the direction

should be to the south, toward the town of Reykjahlid.

Earthquakes Predict

The institute's most important means of research, by which an eruption is

predicted, are measurements of the earth's crust, seismographs, and an

analysis of volcanic gases.

Of these means the most important is an examination of rises in the earth's

crust. Instruments are located at, among other places, the power plant in

Krafla.

In the area of Krafla, where the town of Reykjahlid is located, there are

three automatically operated seismograph stations. From these stations

information is sent to the town where it is examined daily. During critical periods the time on duty is continuous.

Tremors occur daily. When an eruption is imminent, the number and strength

of the tremors increase rapidly on the average of 4 to 5 hours before an

eruption. During an eruption there are 2,500-3,000 tremors in a 24-hour

period.

If the tremors increase slowly, prediction is easy with a preciseness within

a few hours. During a slow increase the coming of an eruption will last for

days, during a quick increase it is a question of hours.

44
Ice and fire: The greatest portion of Iceland's ice fields (gray areas)

are located on the two-pronged volcanic belt, which splits the island in

two.

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PORTUGAL

PUSH TO FIGHT WATER POLLUTION OFF IBERIAN/NORTH AFRICAN COASTS

Lisbon DIARIO DE NOTICIAS in Portuguese 6 Jun 78 p 2

[Text] "The sea cannot continue to be an immense garbage pail for lethal

wastes of our civilization. The false idea that its enormous size makes it

immune to the growing attack from pollutants can no longer be ignored. If

we do not protect marine life, we make jeopardized life on earth," said

Almeida Santos, the assistant minister to the prime minister, yesterday at

the opening session of the conference for the creation of the AtlanticIberian-African Region which will last until tomorrow afternoon. The conference is attended by delegations from Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal

and Guinea-Bissau, in addition to Portugal.

The zone of influence of the proposed Atlantic-Iberian-African Region is

geographically defined to the north by the parallel that passes through

Nazare on the Portuguese coast; to the south by the Cacine River in GuineaBissau; on the west by the meridian that passes through the Flores Island

in the Azores Archipelago; and on the east by the coasts of Portugal, Spain,

Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. This region also incorporates the Azores Archipelago on the northwest, the Madeira and Canary

islands in the central part, and Cape Verde Islands on the southwest.

Speaking about these geographic borders Commander Jose Cabido de Ataide, who

presides over the Portuguese delegation and organizer of the conference,

stressed that"...the geographic position of these archipelagos allows us to

have available oceanographic observation stations on open sea especially

suitable for convenient support to research of such an extensive maritime

area. We also have the advantage of being able to program studies of some

oceanographic importance having at our disposal only small-sized ships."

Reasons for the Creation of a New Maritime Region

Speaking about the reasons leading to the project to create a new international maritime zone which is being discussed in Lisbon at this time, the

head of the Portuguese delegation alluded "...to the problems that we have

to face today and which are derived from the increase of the jurisdiction

of our countries over the sea with the creation of the Exclusive Economic

46
Zone and the appearance of the maritime pollution phenomena which we are

forced to face under the threat that if we do not do so, and soon, we shall

run the risk of allowing the creation of irreversible situations which

could be harmful to us."

Commander Cabido de Ataide added: "Sea pollution caused in various ways

and having various origins is a fact of our times." He continued bystressing that to be a part of various conventions and international

treaties on this matter already negotiated or to be negotiated, "...is a

need that we all have, because in spite of not having industrial development which forces us to use the various means for elimination of pollutants

tffat are controlled by such conventions, we do not have any other way of

knowing where, in what quantity and when the discharges are being made."

He said this with reference to the fact that "...the most used zones of

waste discharge are located in the abyssal trenches located between the

European continent and the Central-Atlantic mountain range, and that as a

consequence there are great probabilities that part of the pollutants are

transported to the south when they are incorporated into the dynamics of

the currents of Portugal and the Canary Islands."

The head of the Portuguese delegation continued: "This being the case, our

Atlantic-Iberian-African Region is potentially subject to pollution and we

can only defend it if we are on the alert and control the situation, acting

in time to prevent irreversible situations. It must be us, the countries

of the region, who are to take the initiative of the continuous 'control'

of this pollution by forming a bloc of countries with common interests concerning the defense against the pollution of maritime ecosystems which it

is our duty to preserve for the benefit of the people of our countries."

Selection of Portugal to Host the First Meeting

In the speech officially marking the opening of the session, in his capacity

as the representative of the Portuguese Government, Almeida Santos, the

assistant minister to the prime minister, said that "Portugal is honored of

having in good time taken the initiative of presenting to the 10th General

Assembly of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission a proposal

for the study of an oceanographic region to be called the Atlantic-IberianAfrican Region. Of course, also with the support of the countries here

represented as directly interested parties in addition to other countries

such as Brazil, the United States of America, Kenya, Venezuela, and so forth

which, although geographically farther removed, already understand the real

significance and potential importance of this initiative.

"The fact that at the initiative of Spain your countries have selected

Portugal to coordinate this important work honors us and fills us with pride

and at the same time imposes on us a responsibility which we shall try to

honor," said Almeida Santos.

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Great Economic Interest in the New Maritime Zone

In another passage of his speech Almeida Santos also stressed that "...the

Atlantic-Iberian-African Oceanographic Region, well defined geographically,

just as other regions of which the most outstanding examples are those of

the Caribbean Sea and the ecosystem of the Mediterranean, constitute a

limited oceanographic region insufficiently studied, but known well enough

to be aware that it has reasonable meteorological stability and therefore

sufficient climatological regularity so that its study permits conclusions

with a satisfactory degree of certainty. Of this region it is already

sufficiently known that it can constitute an essential contributor to the

economic development of the countries here represented."

Almeida Santos continued: "For its study we are not starting from zero.

There are already operational laboratories on the Santa Maria Island in the

Azores Archipelago, on the Madeira Island and on Tenerife in the Canary

Archipelago. Identical research installations can be established on Sal

Island in the Cape Verde Archipelago. The work already done and what will

be done in the future in cooperation will allow very shortly to reach the

point of no return starting from which we shall be able to ensure not only

the expectation, but also the support and technical and financial aid from

specialized international organizations of which we are a part."

State Secretary for Fisheries Vasco Neves and deputy chief of the Navy

General Staff Vice Admiral Silva Horta were present at the inaugural working

session of this conference which is being held at the installations of the

Gulbenkian Foundation.

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SPAIN

GOVERNMENT EFFORT AGAINST POLLUTION CONTINUES

Madrid ACTUALIDAD ECONOMICA in Spanish 19 Aug 78 pp 22-24

[Article by Jeronimo Martel]

[Text] War Against Atmospheric Pollution

In the next Council of Ministers session of two royal decrees will be

passed that are like a certificate of life for the administrative structure

represented by the General Directorate of Environment [DGMA]. After its

well-deserved vacation, congress will soon study the first draft of the

Donana National Park Law, on which so much proecologist ink as been lavished.

Finally, the following announcement, dated last July, will soon be made by

the DGMA: "One of the most urgent tasks we are initiating is the preparation of the first draft of a General Law for the Protection of the Environment ."

ACTUALIDAD ECONOMICA spoke on these matters with Daniel de Linos, director

general of environment.

Why seek "summer snakes," when the environment "nature's economy," as someone called it—is crying out after so many forest fires and so many beaches

polluted by our truly hot and tourist-infested summer? Why is that the goal

for which—in fact, as early as 1972 Laureano Lopez Rodo went by bicycle

to the United Nations Conference on Human Environment held in Stockholm—

good legal and financial therapeutics are going to be applied, for the present, with the two impending decrees, the one—generic—a combination of

the Ministry of Treasury and MOPU [Ministry of Public Works and Urbanism]

to give greater flexibility to the granting of subsidies to public and private entities for the implementation of Article 11 of the Law for the Protection of the Atmospheric Environment, and the other—specific—a sanitation plan for Greater Bilbao so polluted these days with sulfur dioxide

(so2).

49
That therapeutic measure was indeed necessary, as has just been pointed out

in the First Congress on Natural Areas, held in Daimiel, and culminating in

the Third General Assembly of the Ecology Movement. The latter ridiculed

previous legislation on the environment or related to it—for example, the

law for the protection of natural areas or that of the soil—and even violently contested Article 41 of the Draft constitutional in which, to be

sure, the environment receives unusual treatment compared with other legislation.

Bilbao, How You Have Changed!

According to recent information put out by the Vizcaya Savings Bank, 80

percent of the residents of Bilbao are affected by the annual outfall of

120,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and 52,000 tons of dust on the city. That

is how it is reported.

Therefore, it is no wonder that in the "General Report on the Environment

in Spain," published in 1978 by the MOPU's undersecretary of territorial

and environmental planning, the sectorial analysis of industrial pollution

in its atmospheric pollution aspect concludes with the elaboration of a

"pilot plan for the reduction of atmospheric pollution in Greater Bilbao,"

which will undoubtedly be used by the impending decree; as an emergency

pilot plan designed to reduce conventional pollution-—and not the phenomenon

that is more difficult to attack, called "photochemical fog"—the plan provides for the following emergency measures during anticyclonic periods:

—Restrict the circulation of vehicles as much as possible.

—Reduce production in certain activities of the chemical industry and in

thermal power plants.

—Regulate and reduce the operation of combustion installations in industry

to limit the emission of nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbons.

—Regulate and reduce the operation of central heating systems.

—Regulate certain processing operations in the organic-chemical industry

and in some ferrous-metal industries.

In Daniel de Linos' opinion, just as the problem which gave rise to the

ecological assault on the industrialization of Campo de Gibraltar was political, that which gave rise to the uncontrolled industrialization of the

Bilbao estuary was merely one of economics. So be it. That economic problem ended up ruining this natural environment causing Pio Baroja to say:

"I do not believe there is anything in the peninsula that gives a greater

impression of strength, work and energy than those 14 or 15 km of waterway."

It is indeed true that Unamuno, more realistic, at least in this instance,

50
describes it as a narrow estuary between banks that is now a canal, an

estuary of metallic reflections, ordinarily obscured by black heaps of coal

and red heaps of iron ore, an estuary that swells during high tide with

nearby sea water and, soon after, at low tide, becomes almost a sewer; an

estuary that seems like an artery of someone who is ill."

Whoever Pollutes Must Pay

In the document entitled Directives for the Formulation of an Environmental

Policy» with governmental status, of 5 June 1978—anniversary of World

Environmental Day—the following action, among other measures, is indicated to combat atmospheric pollution: "Ascribing to each sector, and within

each sector to each focal point, its responsibility for pollution through

the application of the principle, 'Whoever pollutes must pay.' Undoubtedly,

that type of action is somehow included in the impending Bilbao sanitation

plan, although De Linos made it clear to ACTUALIDAD ECONOMICA that the

other decree is aimed at obviating the harshness of this principle imposed

in a strict manner in the United States but which, in his opinion, cannot

be applied in the same way here.

"When the Bilbao industrialist is asked to make a greater effort to fight

against atmospheric pollution," De Linos stated, "the possibility of giving him a subsidy is simultaneously offered. It is not possible to apply

the American principle. 'Whoever pollutes must pay,' literally in this

instance, particularly if we take into consideration the debated subject

of the inclusion—or repercussion—of the cost of the struggle against

pollution in the final price. That is possible so long as there is not,

contrary to what we have here, a final price control that is incompatible

with the genuine economy of a free market."

Bilbao is not the only polluted city: Madrid, Huelva—with serious problems—and Tarragona are also polluted, according to Daniel de Linos,

although Greater Bilbao and part of Madrid deserve the prize for being

declared polluted-atmosphere areas-at the request of their own city councils.

And, in addition, Bilbao is going to contribute some antipollution money

that was "sleeping the sleep of the righteous," due to the supplementary

legislation of Article 11 of the Law for the Protection of the Atmospheric

Environment of 1972.

51
Emission of Pollutants to the Atmosphere in Spain

(Tons)

1960 1965 1970 1975

Automotive vehicles 632,000 ,1,048,300 2,192,200 3,550,291

Heat generators 1,178,360 2,304,566 3,372,286 4,428,023

Industrial processing (1) 543,427 876,613 1,335,453 1,929,565

Miscellaneous 353,068 634,421 1,034,990 1,486,181

Totals 2,706,855 4,863,900 7,934,929 11,394,060

(1) Excluding the burning of fuels at fixed sources.

Quality Levels of the Air in Bilbao (Annual Averages in Micrograms per Square Meter)

Pollution 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976

so2 142 144 148 159 182 193 173

Accumulated Investments Made in Measures Aimed at Correcting Atmospheric Pollution in Industry During the Year 1976 (Figures Given Are

in Millions of Pesetas

Oil refinery 4,100

Cement manufacture 3,200

Iron and steel industry 1,500

Thermal power plants 1,500

Sulfuric acid manufacture 700

Aluminum metallurgy 200

Other industrial sectors 3,800

Total for industry 15,000

Source: GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE ENVIRONMENT IN SPAIN, by the undersecretary of territorial and environmental planning (second edition 1978)

52
The story is as follows. Article 11 permits the government to grant a

series of benefits: subsidies, tax exemptions and tariff reductions,

freedom to amortize and access to official credit. More specifically, it

states the following in Paragraph 1:

"Paragraph 1 Subsidies:

"a) In special cases and provided the measures taken against pollution

are obligatory and impose economic burdens that are not acceptable to those

so obliged, the government may grant subsidies to industries and activities established or authorized prior to the publication of this law in

accordance with the norms set by decree.

"b) Subsidies may also be granted to public or private entities that make

investments for the investigation of methods and systems aimed at vigilance,

purification and correction."

This supplementary legislation, in effect up to now, was so restrictive

that, according to the director general of environment, "no subsidy has

been granted to any firm having capital!" As a result, the government had

to assume responsibility for that investigation, which was made by the

pertinent sector of the Higher Council for Scientific Research reserving

350 million pesetas for Bilbao's future sanitation project. "This year

the remainder, summed up at this year's prices, was increased to 1.2

billion pesetas."

The Faust Pact

The second report to the Rome Club, entitled "Humanity at Crossroads,"

confirms being lenient to flagrant abuse, to the power of technology:

"The heavy pressure to which technology is subjected could easily be converted into a pact like that Dr Faust made with the devil; worse yet, to

satisfy our immediate needs for comfort, we would not just be selling our

soul but also the well-being—and perhaps the very existence—of generations that have not yet come into the world. Can this be what Greater Bilbao has done? In any event, public administration does not take that into

account, but it is in favor of cleansing Bilbao from a mysterious and evil

conjuration that appears to emerge from the mists of the estuary, where

they conceal the false splendor of the photochemical fog.

"The Bilbao sanitation project," Daniel de Linos says, "will have a first

phase of 4 years. First, it will attack the focal centers of pollution

for which some 40 firms are responsible; secondly, it will concentrate on

another 300 firms, which will account for practically all of Bilbao's

emission points.

"The plan has various aspects, one of which, of immediate implementation,

consists of a single and homologous network of censors—its aim, relative

to the agreement between the administration and those administered, is to

53
promote the plan's reliability—and, if possible, automatic like that of

Madrid, which proposes to be subordinate to the Ministry of Health in

collaboration with the National Meteorological Institute (in Madrid,

however, is a dependency of the city council). Since the Ministry of

Health is short of money for this purpose, the network will be financed

with the budgeted sum of 1.2 billion pesetas now released by the general

directorate for 1978, to be spent immediately."

That budgeted amount is really considerable, although it is insignificant

in comparison with that of the American Environmental Protection Agency,

the highest in the world, whose budget is $8 billion. Nevertheless, it is

something else that really worries the DGMA: "Here," the interviewee says,

"there are also other budgeted amounts, small ones, for industry, agriculture, health and so on. One of the objectives of the general directorate,

through CIMA—Interministerial Commission on the Environment—is to set up

a single program of public investments, or PIP, for the environment, which

would be administered in an integrated manner."

"There are already administrative precedents in the programs for Campo de

Gibraltar and Tierra de Campos with their joint investment plans approved

by the Council of Ministers. Instead of miscellaneous isolated efforts

including underhanded dealings, a formula with limited yield is preferable.

No more parallel plans, tangents and secants."

Environmental Law

The initiative taken, however remote from the desired law, was that taken

by the Senate or, more specifically, by Jose Luis Sampedro, royalist senator and president of the Commission on the Environment, who became the

law's promo tor. As. for congress, in which such a commission was administratively lacking, it set up the commission ad hoc because of the impending Donana National Park Law. The DGMA, which caused the commission to be

set up as a result of its preliminary plan, hopes—in the words of the director general—that the commission will become permanent.

"This subject," De Linos says, "had often been brought up at large by ecological associations, which wondered, with good reason, why the Spanish

Government was very weak on environmental matters. As a matter of fact,

there is an abundance of irrelevant legislation, particularly sectorial,

due to the lack of a general law that integrates and defines a major legal

system of directives relative to environmental policy."

Such directives on environmental policy are contained in the document entitled Directives on the Formulation of an Industrial Policy, of 5 June,

a working document directed to the members of CIMA by the Interministerial

Group by mandate of the 20th Plenary Session and containing 123 full pages.

In its introduction it states:

"One of the direct purposes of the document presented here is to have it

brought, at the right time, to the attention of the government and to

serve as a basis for the government—through CIMA—to draw up an environmental program that will unite all ministries involved in this matter."

54
Among "DGMA's objectives over the short term," as indicated in the publication, ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION, issued in 1978 by the directorate, the following appears:

"The elaboration of an integrated legal system as a feature of that policy.

(Preliminary draft of the Law for the Protection of the Environment)."

Nature is Better

Ronsard said it" "Nature is always better than art." Daniel de Linos must

be of the same opinion in view of his ideology as a social democrat, ready

to intervene only when a social principle is involved and not at the expense of a social cost. That is why he is concerned over Spain's environmental deterioration. It is too much to be able to see that, despite the

obviousness of atmospheric pollution—still combated by a law that qualifies as an "instrument without political awareness of the primary concern,

although valid enough with the necessary revision"—" the country's big

problem is the pollution of its waters, even though it may be slower."

"I refer to all continental waters while not, for a moment, forgetting the

coastal waters." In those waters, without purification, the landscape

has already died.

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