And since last October The Little Red Province has become a pejorative term, like Reds . The first new group to appear in Lauchhammer called itself Environmental Forum. It grew out of the first demonstrations, towards the end of October 1989, and was composed of women and men who were outraged at the filth and the toxins in the air, water and soil. They d had a gutful of official lies. The Environmental Forum found some support amongst professionals in the water industry and in medicine, people who had known about the problems for years but kept quiet about them.
Smoke signals Take the ferrous alloy plant.
This is a factory, more than 100 years old, which produces silicone for steel production and computer chips. A thick, milky white cloud of smoke belches from this factory s chimneys day and night. The smoke is totally harmless, claims the company director. It s psychological, says the director. Teachers find that the children become unteachable those in the lower classes have to be fed sedatives to calm them down.