30 Aug
2006 - WWF is concerned by the recent discovery
of more than 3 500 barrels of catalytic waste
legally dumped around 50 years ago off the coast
of Sundsvall. These barrels may be part of approximately
21 000 barrels dumped in the area, which together
may contain as much as 9 tons of mercury. The
research results from a mapping cruise of the
Swedish Geological Survey (SGU) found that some
of these barrels are now corroding. This could
leave the toxic contents exposed to the sensitive
sea environment.
“WWF was very disappointed to
learn that investigations of this situation have
now ceased due to lack of funding. Any delay in
taking decisive steps to minimise the risk of
an environmental disaster are not only irresponsible
but potentially very dangerous”, says Lasse Gustavsson,
director of the WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme.
“Over time, the mercury in these
barrels could easily be released and thus could
devastate the Baltic Sea’s sensitive marine environment”,
says Ninja Reineke, Senior Programme Officer,
WWF Toxics programme.
In a letter sent yesterday to
Swedish Environmental Minister, Lena Sommestad,
WWF urged the Swedish government to:
• Immediately launch a full-scale,
fully-funded, investigation to accurately assess
the scope and status of this area – i.e. exactly
locate and map the position of the barrels, their
condition and identify the potential threat they
pose.
• Immediately identify solutions
and a plan for how to effectively eliminate the
threat these barrels pose - i.e. how can these
barrels, and their toxic contents, be properly
treated and/or removed from the marine environment.
WWF believes that all governments
around the Baltic Sea should assess the amount
of known hazardous substances that have been dumped
in their national waters and identify a plan for
proper removal and treatment. WWF also urges the
Swedish government to prepare a masterplan for
revealing the complete situation in Swedish waters
in order to prepare a solution for the situation
of dumped hazardous substances in the whole Baltic
Sea.
