Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Eastern Europe's contamination legacy a 'disaster'

Luke Walsh in edie.net: A combined legacy of neglect and corruption has left many eastern European countries with huge pollution problems, according to a leading contamination expert at BEX. BEX, the contaminated land seminar theatre for Sustainabilitylive!, heard from Neil Foster of WSP Environmental on the plight of many former communist countries.

Focusing on Romania he explained that during communism environmentalism was ignored and after its fall corruption also meant nothing was done. Showing slides of tar lagoons metres from a small housing development Mr Foster explained the countries oil and gas waste management was 'horrific'.

"Romania has the oldest gas finery in Europe, but across the country it now has just the oldest equipment." While Mr Foster explained a lack of incentives for developers to remediate brownfield sites was hampering regeneration in a country with a vast surplus of land….

A 1953 shot by Rolf Unterberg of a plant near Bonn -- but it has that Stalinist feel. From the Bundesarchiv's file transfer to Wikimedia Commons

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