Unemployment is only 2 percent in Iceland and the smelter would be likely to rely upon immigrant labor, he said. Sources at the national power company say the station will only be built if the smelter goes ahead. Norsk Hydro and the Icelandic power company are conducting the EIAs which they plan to present to the Ministry of Environment before the end of March 2001. The ministry will make a decision on whether to allow the projects to go ahead in June 2001 after a three-month public consultation period. Environment minister Siv Fridleifsdottir promised that the decision to go ahead would be made independently of the plans of the state-owned power company.
Environment is a synonym for people, animals, plants, climate, health, work and material value.
Tony Snape is a free-lance reporter based in Brussels, Belgium. A version of this report was prepared for the World Wide Fund for Nature. Pages will open in a new browser window External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you.