From: "Janet M. Eaton" <•••@••.•••> Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 01:41:59 +0000 Subject: BLACK CLOUD over BALKANS - PHOTOS !!! BLACK CLOUD OVER THE BALKANS -PHOTOS http://www.BalkanPeaceNetwork.freeserve.co.uk/Environment.htm [Network for Peace in the Balkans- courtesy of Bob Jiggins] ============================================== If you can access the above website you will find the following message [snipped] on line where you can view it along side three photographs of a huge dense ominous looking black cloud from the bombing and burning of the Petrochemical Complex in Pancevo, a suburb of Belgrade. I believe these photos offer testimony to the severity of the ecological catastrophe and health hazards in the region attributable to the NATO bombing. . Janet ========================================== <snip> Other articles, some 37 in all , pertaining to the Ecological Catastrophe and Health Hazards of the NATO bombings can be located as follows: ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE & HEALTH HAZARDS OF THE NATO BOMBINGS: AN ANNOTATED LIST OF INTERNET ARTICLES, NEWS, PRESS RELEASES !! PART 3 [Compiled by Dr. Janet M. Eaton, during the period May 3 - May 19th, 1999] http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11622 ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE & HEALTH HAZARDS OF THE NATO BOMBINGS: AN ANNOTATED LIST OF INTERNET ARTICLES, NEWS, PRESS RELEASES !! PART 2 [Compiled by Dr. Janet M. Eaton, during the period April 19th to May2 ] http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/new-11281 ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE & HEALTH HAZARDS OF THE NATO BOMBINGS: AN ANNOTATED LIST OF INTERNET ARTICLES, NEWS, PRESS RELEASES !! [Compiled by Dr. Janet M. Eaton, during the period March 31- April 18th] http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11003 All the best, Janet Eaton Dr. Janet M. Eaton, PhD Biologist, Educator, Researcher, Public Policy Consultant, Research Fellow, International Systems Institute, Wolfville, N.S. CANADA •••@••.••• ---------------------------------- From: "Janet M. Eaton" <•••@••.•••> Date: Fri, 21 May 1999 02:13:58 +0000 Subject: ECOLOGICAL Catastrophe Part 3 - Annotated List ! <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE & HEALTH HAZARDS OF THE NATO BOMBINGS: AN ANNOTATED LIST OF INTERNET ARTICLES, NEWS, PRESS RELEASES !! PART 3 [Compiled by Dr. Janet M. Eaton, during the period May 3 - May 19th, 1999] http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11622 Please add to PART 2 ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE & HEALTH HAZARDS OF THE NATO BOMBINGS: AN ANNOTATED LIST OF INTERNET ARTICLES, NEWS, PRESS RELEASES !! PART 2 [Compiled by Dr. Janet M. Eaton, during the period April 19th to May2 ] http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/new-11281 and PART 1 ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE & HEALTH HAZARDS OF THE NATO BOMBINGS: AN ANNOTATED LIST OF INTERNET ARTICLES, NEWS, PRESS RELEASES !! [Compiled by Dr. Janet M. Eaton, during the period March 31- April 18th] http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11003 This e-mail is for your information and use. It contains: A) INDEX OF ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHES -INTERNET ARTICLES B) ANNOTATED AND URL REFERENCED LIST OF ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHE ARTICLES ! Please distribute as widely as possible!! All the best, Janet Eaton Dr. Janet M. Eaton, PhD Biologist, Educator, Researcher, Public Policy Consultant, Research Fellow, International Systems Institute, Wolfville, N.S. CANADA •••@••.••• <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> A) INDEX OF ECOLOGICAL CATASTROPHES -INTERNET ARTICLES 1) Subject: The End of Imagination [An Anti-nuclear Essay] By: Arundhati Roy, novelist Date: 17 May 1999 10:31:38 -0400 Posted because of length in two parts: URL: http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11539 http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11540 2) Subject: Depleted Uranium -Please Act now From: Janet M Eaton post incorporating Depleted Uranium post from Catherine Euler. Date: may 17, 1999 URL: http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11567 3) Subject: NATO Bombings Could -> Ecol. Disaster - IEER News Release !! From: Dr. Arjun Makhijani, President of IEER. Date posted on mai-not : May 17, 1999 http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11554 Date Released from IEER: Date May 11, 1999. http://www.ieer.org/ieer/comments/yugo/pr051199.html and 4) Subject: Use of Depleted Uranium Weapons Threatens Environment in Kosovo Region. Media Release From: Elizabeth may, Ex.Dir., Sierra Club of Canada Date: April 28, 1999 . Date posted on mai-not website: May 17, 1999 URL; http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11553 [A background document on depleted uranium is included with this release. ] 5) Subject:Massage from a Cluster Bomb By: Norman Soloman Date published : May 12, 1999 Date posted to mai-not list serve: May 17, 1999 URL: http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11547 6) Subject:Dr. Bertell on DU & Can. Role -AUDIO Transcript May 6th Panel From: Janet M. Eaton (Transcriber) Date: May 16th URL : http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11531 7) Subject: NATO's bombs cause environmental disaster !! From: Greenleft Cover Story- "War Crimes- NATO's Attack on People and the environment." [Current Issue-May] Date: May 1999 URL: http://www.peg.apc.org/~greenleft/ Date posted to mai-not: May 16, 1999 http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11526 8) Subject: Nato Bombing Unleashes Environmental |Catastrophe in Europe From: International Action Center Date: May 14, 1999 URL: http://www.iacenter.org/natodu.htm 9) Subject: Green Horizon, May 13, Balkan Envir. Crisis - News from Reginal Environmental Centre for Eastern and Central Europe, Hungry. Posted by: Janet M Eaton on mai-not list serve Date: May 13th, 1999 URL http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11455 10) Subject: Green Horizon news tip sheet from Website Reginal Environmental Centre for Eastern and Central Europe, Hungary Date: April 23, 1999 Volume 2 Number 1 URL: http://www.rec.org/Default.shtml 11) Subject: European Environment Ministers Alarmed at NATO Bombing From: Environmental News Service [ENS] Date: May 10, 1999 URL: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may99/1999L-05-10-04.html 12) Subject: UN Task Force re Environmental Impact of the Balkans War !! From: ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS) Date: May 11, 1999. URL: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may99/1999L-05-11-02.html 13) Subject: NATO's Use of Cluster Munitions in Yugoslavia By: Human Rights Watch, New York. Date: May 11, 1999 URL: http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/arms/clus0511.htm 14) Subject: US escalates terror-bombing of Yugoslav cities From: World Socialist Web Site By: Editorial Board Date: May 8,1999 URL: http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/may1999/yugo-m08.shtml 15) Subject: Danube River Ecosystem Caught in Balkan War From: ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS SERVICE Date: 8 May 1999 00:31:02 -0400 URL: http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11352 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 1) Subject: The End of Imagination [An Anti-nuclear Essay] By: Arundhati Roy, novelist Date: 17 May 1999 10:31:38 -0400 Posted because of length in two parts: URL: http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11539 http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11540 The "End of Imagination" Arundhati Roy 's anti-nuclear essay written in opposition to the Indian governments May 1998 nuclear detonations , is her first piece of non-fiction writing. On the anniversary of India's Nuclear tests and particularly against the backdrop of the NATO war using DU weapons and threatening a new arms escalation - it seemed fitting to repost "The End of Imagination which provides a passionate, intelligent, satirical, challenging and profound anti-nuclear perspective. This longer version of this essay which first appeared in India in the magazines Frontline and Outlook on July 27 is separated into two posts for the purpose of e-mailing. While the link to Frontline seems to no longer be intact; there is now a shorter version on line at: http://www.TheNation.com/issue/980928/0928AROY.HTM Arundhati Roy, a distinguished author now in her mid-thirties and living in New Delhi, is the first Indian citizen to win the prestigious booker prize. She grew up in Kerala, which is the setting of her award winning novel "The God of Small Things" . Arundhati has become a champion of not only peace but of social justice with her forthright support for the Dalit people's struggle for justice and equality in a society wracked by caste prejudice and terrible violence against women as found in: http://www.the-hindu.com/fline/fl1603/16030820.htm And according to a May 13 th press release from the Hague, Arundhati Roy was in attendance at the Hague Appeal for Peace Conference. Read on and admire Arundhati Roy's courageous words, stunning imagery and profound insights: "And when all our larders are bursting with shiny bombs and our bellies are empty (Deterrence is an exorbitant beast), we can trade bombs for food. And when nuclear technology goes on the market, when it gets truly competitive and prices fall, not just governments, but anybody who can afford it can have their own private arsenal - businessmen, terrorists, perhaps even the occasional rich writer (like myself). Our planet will bristle with beautiful missiles. There will be a new world order. The dictatorship of the pro-nuke elite. " -- Arundhati Roy, 1998 All the very best, janet 2) Subject: Depleted Uranium -Please Act now From: Janet M Eaton post incorporating Depleted Uranium post from Catherine Euler. Date: may 18, 1999 URL: http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11567 Here's what three women in their wisdom are urging and suggesting in regard to DU weapons !! "CANADIAN URANIUM IS BASICALLY PROVIDING THE MATERIAL FOR THESE WEAPONS. And I really would ask you to make this an issue in the front / centre and STOP IT NOW AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN !! -- Dr. Rosalie Bertell "The Sierra Club of Canada is calling on the Canadian government to 1)explicitly state whether Canadian military forces are using DU weapons 2) take a firm and unequivocal position against their use by any country 3) ensure that Canadian uranium exported to the United States and elsewhere is not being used for military purposes and 4) support the United Nations initiative to have DU weapons permanently banned. " --Elizabeth May "PLEASE do not forget to mention the now confirmed NATO use of 'depleted' uranium in Kosovo/a at all anti-war meetings/demos... ... These are weapons of mass destruction, and we in the peace movement have enormous responsibility for trying to get an emergency UN ban on their use as quickly as possible." -Catherie Euler <><><><><><><><> 3) Subject: NATO Bombings Could -> Ecol. Disaster - IEER News Release !! From: Dr. Arjun Makhijani, President of IEER. Date posted on mai-not: May 17th, 1999. http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11554 Date of press release May 11, 1999 IEER URL for Article: http://www.ieer.org/ieer/comments/yugo/pr051199.html "NATO has undertaken actions that could put large numbers of people at risk in Yugoslavia as well as in other countries," said Dr. Arjun Makhijani, president of IEER. "It is imperative that NATO provide a full accounting of why these plants were bombed, and what assessments have been undertaken of their direct and indirect consequences for present and future generations." Depending on the specific chemicals and their concentrations, these effects include damage to the lungs, eyes, liver, bones, skin, and nervous system, and even death." IEER provided data from the New Jersey Department of Health on the hazards presented by the four chemicals alleged by Yugoslav authorities to have been released ( According to IEER, long-term damage to people much farther away exposed to lower concentrations of toxic materials is also possible. According to IEER, long-term damage to people much farther away exposed to lower concentrations of toxic materials is also possible. <><>><><><><><> 4) Subject: Use of Depleted Uranium Weapons Threatens Environment in Kosovo Region. Media Release From: Elizabeth May, Ex.Dir., Sierra Club of Canada Date of press release : April 28, 1999 . Date of posting on mai-not: May 17, 1998 URL; http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11553 [A background document on depleted uranium is included with this release. ] USE OF DEPLETED URANIUM WEAPONS Threatens Environment in Kosovo Region Wednesday, April 28, 1999 - For Immediate Release (update to release of Tuesday, April 27, 1999) Ottawa -- Environment and public health groups in Canada are concerned that populations in the Balkan region are being put at risk by fallout from depleted uranium (DU) weapons. In the past week NATO has confirmed that DU ammunition is being used against Yugoslav tanks, according to the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun. The Sierra Club of Canada and other groups are concerned that the use of Depleted Uranium by American, British and possibly other military forces in the Balkans will result in a repeat of some of the major health and environmental consequences which followed the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Immediate health risks associated with exposure to depleted uranium include kidney and respiratory problems. Long-term health risks include lung and bone cancer. The environmental consequences of DU weapons residue will be felt for thousands of years as its decay products continually transform into other hazardous radioactive substances in the uranium decay chain.... preliminary evidence from the Iraqi conflict suggests a significant increase in serious birth defects and mutant crops. There is no strategic advantage in poisoning the people and the countryside long after the current conflict will have subsided. Sierra Club of Canada Background on Depleted Uranium Weapons April 1999 <><><><><><> 5) Subject:Massage from a Cluster Bomb By: Norman Soloman Date published : May 12, 1999 Date posted to mai-not list serve: May 17, 1999 URL: http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11547 MY PALS AT THE PENTAGON put me in the category of a Combined Effects Munition. My maker describes me as an all-purpose, air-delivered cluster weapons system. Not to brag or anything, but such labels don't do me justice. When I explode, the results can really be awesome..... forgive me while I quote [ from my May 8 th Press Release] ' In a street leading from the market, dismembered bodies were strewn among carrots and other vegetables in pools of blood'.. You see, I'm a 1,000-pound marvel, a cluster bomb with an ingenious design. When I go off, a couple of hundred bomblets shoot out in all directions, aided by little parachutes that look like inverted umbrellas. Those parachutes slow down the descent of the bomblets and disperse them so they'll hit plenty of what my maker calls soft targets. Before that happens, though, each bomblet breaks into about 300 pieces of jagged steel shrapnel <><><><><><><><><> 6) Subject:Dr. Bertell on DU & Can. Role -AUDIO Transcript May 6th Panel From: Janet M. Eaton (Transcriber) Date: May 16th URL : http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11531 Dr. Bertell was one of nine prominent Canadians speaking at: An Unjust and Illegal WAR: Leading opponents of the War against Yugoslavia speak out: A public meeting held at Convocation Hall at the University of Toronto May 6 1999. ..Dr. Rosalie Bertell is one of the world's leading authorities on health effects of low level radiation. "...depleted uranium is worse than land mines and it will stay around for thousands of years after the war is over. It is incorporated into the farm land; it can be picked up by the vegetables; the schrapnel can be handled by children ; it stays around ; it doesn't disappear; and because it's an aerosol it can travel as much as 50 - 60 km from the point of release. THIS IS CHEMCIAL AND RADIOLOGICAL WARFARE - IT'S OUTRAGEOUS - IT'S A VERY SERIOUS VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS!! I think this talk about chemical warfare in Iraq and violation of Human Rights in Serbia is outrageous - because if anyone is waging chemical and radiological warfare and violating human rights it's NATO !! I think it might be better called a weapon of indiscriminate destruction .... because it will by choice affect women and children. Women have tisses that are more radioactively sensitive like the breast and uterine tissue. Children are closer to the ground; they're growing; they'll incorporate more uranium into their bones when they grow and they also have a longer life span so that the cancers that have a longer latency can be expressed. So it selects out women and children CANADIAN URANIUM IS BASICALLY PROVIDING THE MATERIAL FOR THESE WEAPONS. And I really would ask you to make this an issue in the front / centre and STOP IT NOW AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN !! <><><><><><><><> 7) Subject: NATO's bombs cause environmental disaster !! From: Greenleft Cover Story- "War Crimes- NATO's Attack on People and the environment." [Current Issue-May] Date: May 1999 URL: http://www.peg.apc.org/~greenleft/ Date posted to mai-not: May 16, 1999 http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11526 As NATO continues its bombing of Serbia and Kosova, more and more evidence of the social and human catastrophe it is creating is filtering out to the rest of the world. However, one aspect of the devastation is barely being reported by the Western media: the environmental carnage being inflicted on not only Serbia but the whole region. Bombing a civilian population, destroying their water supply, poisoning their crops -- ... ...... is the very essence of modern warfare, of advanced technologies specifically designed and utilised to inflict terror and ravage human beings and nature alike for their refusal to accede to the demands of international capital." <><><><><><> 8) Subject: Nato Bombing Unleashes Environmental |Catastrophe in Europe From: International Action Center Date: May 14, 1999 URL: http://www.iacenter.org/natodu.htm "....... This bombing creates environmental devastation that will impact on millions of people and for generations to come. The NATO generals [in their environmental arrogance] .... are making the whole region unfit for human habitation. And they will wind up poisoning their own soldiers as they did with Agent Orange in Vietnam and with DU in Iraq. "We in the International Action Center will spread this message far and wide in Europe and North America and expose anyone who defends NATO's war as a killer of the environment. We hope this will bring the Greens where they belong, side by side with anti-war forces that demand NATO end the bombing and get out." <><><><><><><><> 9) Subject: Green Horizon, May 13, Balkan Envir. Crisis - News from Reginal Environmental Centre for Eastern and Central Europe, Hungry. Posted by: Janet M Eaton on mai-not list serve Date: May 13th, 1999 URL http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11455 BALKAN CRISIS [] Report outlines dangers of depleted uranium weapons [] Articles worldwide detail concerns about war's damage [] Gorbachev: Balkan conflict has severe environmental implications [] UN task force to assess regionwide damage caused by conflict [] Bulgaria moves air defence to nuclear power plant [] WWF sees environmental crisis from Balkan bombing [] EU environment ministers discuss Kosovo NGO in Serbia: [] organic farming key to post-war survival [] Balkan environmental NGOs circulate petition to stop war [] Web site focuses on environmental damage of bombing [] Other sites carry information from Yugoslavia <><><><><><> 10) Subject: Green Horizon news tip sheet from Website Reginal Environmental Centre for Eastern and Central Europe, Hungary Date: April 23, 1999 Volume 2 Number 1 URL: http://www.rec.org/Default.shtml B A L K A N C R I S I S [] Bombing creates toxic cloud near Belgrade [] Other environmental threats reported in Yugoslavia [] Aftermath of war: 'humanitarian aid' causes ecological problem [] WHO maintains web site on war-related activities [] Serbian ecological society circulating petition <><><><><><><><><> 11) Subject: European Environment Ministers Alarmed at NATO Bombing From: Environmental News Service [ENS] Date: May 10, 1999 URL: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may99/1999L-05-10-04.html Several delegations, and especially Greece,... expressed concern over the environmental implications of NATO's bombing campaign.. Scientists and environmental groups across the Balkans and the Swiss based Worldwide Fund for Nature have expressed deep concern over the ecological effects of the NATO bombing. " <><><><><><><><><> 12) Subject: UN Task Force re Environmental Impact of the Balkans War !! From: ENVIRONMENT NEWS SERVICE (ENS) Date: May 11, 1999. URL: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/may99/1999L-05-11-02.html A United Nations task force has been established to conduct detailed assessment of the Kosovo conflict's impact on the environment of the Balkan region. The assessment will be conducted jointly by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Centre for Human Settlements, UNCHS (Habitat), Klaus Toepfer announced here today. Toepfer, a former environment minister of Germany, is UNEP executive director and acting executive director of the UN Centre for Human Settlements. "We urgently need clear, detailed and credible information on the impacts on human settlements and infrastructure, and on the possible environmental repercussions of the Balkans conflict, such as water and air pollution or the release of hazardous waste," said Toepfer. <><><><><><><><> 13) Subject: NATO's Use of Cluster Munitions in Yugoslavia By: Human Rights Watch, New York. Date: May 11, 1999 URL: http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/arms/clus0511.htm The U.S. Defense Department at the end of April announced a move toward the use of more "area weapons" in Operation Allied Force. At the same time, there are reports of NATO's growing shortage of precision-guided weapons. These factors suggest NATO may increasingly rely on unguided ("dumb") weapons, including so-called cluster bombs. Both the U.S. and Britain have acknowledged using cluster bombs in Yugoslavia already. U.S. F-15E and F-16 aircraft have dropped CBU-87 cluster bombs, and British Harrier GR7s began dropping RBL755 cluster bombs on April 6. Though probably no more than a few hundred air-delivered cluster bombs have been used to date in Yugoslavia, there reportedly already have been civilian casualties. Human Rights Watch condemns NATO's use of cluster bombs in Yugoslavia, given the proven high dud rate of the submunitions employed. These weapons are indiscriminate in effect-the equivalent of using antipersonnel landmines. Human Rights Watch is also concerned that cluster bombs may be used in attacks on urban centers. This would present a particularly hazardous condition for the civilian population and should therefore be avoided. <><><><><><><> 14 ) Subject: US escalates terror-bombing of Yugoslav cities From: World Socialist Web Site By: Editorial Board Date: May 8,1999 URL: http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/may1999/yugo-m08.shtml Depleted uranium weapons were extensively used in the Gulf War against Iraqi tanks. Veterans groups have charged that the radioactive and toxic substance is a major factor in Gulf War syndrome, the complex of health conditions suffered by tens of thousands of US and British soldiers who participated in the ground war. Southern Iraq, where many of the depleted uranium weapons were used, now reports an enormous increase in stillbirths, birth defects, leukemia and other cancers. The Military Toxics Project at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, has published a study predicting an increase of between 20,000 and 100,000 fatal cancers among Gulf War veterans and Iraqi civilians as a result of depleted uranium". <><><><><><><> 15) Subject: Danube River Ecosystem Caught in Balkan War From: ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS SERVICE Date: 8 May 1999 00:31:02 -0400 URL: http://news.flora.org/flora.mai-not/11352 VIENNA, Austria, May 7, 1999 (ENS) - An environmental crisis is looming in Yugoslavia, the lower Danube River and the Black Sea, the international organization Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned today. The river is a source of drinking water for up to 10 million people, and fishing has already been banned in stretches. Oil slicks are the most likely source of pollution, according to water sampling already done by Yugoslav, Romanian and Bulgarian environmental authorities. Any pollutants discharged into the river could kill fish and other water life, such as sturgeons now on their spawning run, or water-dependent birds like pelicans and herons. In the long-term there could be a build-up of toxins in the food chain and inability to reproduce among some species. "The humanitarian issues are first and foremost in our minds, as they are for everyone else," Philip Weller added. "However, only immediate measures to stop the downstream flow of pollution will prevent an ecological catastrophe from following the humanitarian one." <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Having difficulty getting "in synch" with list members? http://www.onelist.com Try ONElist's Shared Calendar to organize events, meetings and more! -- For MAI-not (un)subscription information, posting guidelines and links to other MAI sites please see http://mai.flora.org/
