JPRS ID: 10237 WORLDWIDE REPORT ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

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• Collection: JPRS
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00850R000500020006-8
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• Document Creation Date: November 1, 2016
• Sequence Number: 6
• Content Type: REPORTS

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JPRS L/ 10237
5 January 1982
Worldwid~ Re ort
p
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
CFOUO 1 /82)
~g0~ FORElGN BROADCAST INFORMATION SERVICE
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~ JP~S L/10237
' S Ja~luary 19~32
' WORLDWIDE REPORT
ENVIRONMENTAL DUALITY
(FOUO 1/82)
~ CONTENTS
- SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
INTER~AFRICAN AFFAIR.S
- ~ Brie.f s
Water Pollution Seminax 1
SOMAI,IA
~
~ Refugees Said To Ze Causing Deterioration of ~vironment
(Nigel Walsh; NEW AFRICAN, Oct 81) 2
WEST EUROPE
_ FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMArTY
. Pressure ~rom Greens Wins Ban on Herbicide
(Hans-Joest; CAPITAI~, No~* 81) L~
- a - [III - WW - 139 FOUO]
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INTER-AFRIi:t~N AFFAIRS
- BRIEFS
WATrR POLLUTION SEMINAR--At a seminar in Yaounde, be~inning 11 November, 25
= nations, mainly African and Asian French-speaking, met to examine water pollu-
tion. The seminar organized by the Swedish Office for International Development
and the FAO fell within the scape of the 8th International Seminar on Water
Pollution. [Text] [Paris MARCHES TROPICAUX ET MEDTTERRANEENS in French No 1880,
_ 20 Nov 81 p 2953J [COPYRIGHT: Rene Moreux et Cie Paris 1981]
~ CSO: 5000/5622
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SOMALIA
REFUGEES SAID TO BE CAUSIIJG DETERIORATION OF ENVIRONMENT
London NEW AFRICAN in English No 169 Oct 81 p 24 �
~ rArticle by Nigel Walsh~
~Text~
fiUGE CAMPS housing maet of Unly a few of the refugees came with
Somalia's one-million refugees are '.neir traditional house frames on their
rapidly destro~~ing the currounding coun- camels' backs; most walked in with
tryside. nathing. Trees and bushes had to be
The tla>ds which struck the camps and gathered to build shelters and the larger
many cities here in late April and early camp structures such as food stores, clin-
May, re-fucu::sing world attention on ics and feeding cenf.res.
Somalia's plight, ~~ere part of an Even small saplings and limi~s were
, environmental crisis which is making it used in the mud-and-wattle designs
more dift'icult for this country to cope which reauire rowa of branches tied with
with its human crisis. bark of sisal string and plastered with
As the ethnic Somalis began Aeeing mud or dung. Roofs, too, are made of .
~ ecross the border from the Ogaden and interwoven branches covered with a tar-
Western Haud regione of Ethiopia in paulin or plastic sheet.
1979 and 1980, they congregat~:d on some Thorn branches were gathered to make
of the best watered land the fragile coun- the t.. .'.:Eiunal barriers around each
- tryside had to ot~'er. household, despite the fact that families
ln the northwest, camps were estab- had no livestock to protect.
lished on the banks of the seasonal rivers The only bigger trees spared in the
which run thruugh the region. Because of camps were left to serve as shade for the.
sub-surface waters, these spcits were also Koranic schools in which the children
thc most heavily wouded. learn reading and scripture. The school
- leaders organiae the children into parties
~~CB~ B~tOpB to cut more thorn branches to make a
barrier around the school and to gather
In the goulh, camps were set up al~ng branches for school bonfires for night
the Wahc~ Shahelle and Jub;~ rivers, areas clasaes.
where nomads traditionally brought In addition 10,A00 families need wond
their herds for dry-season grazing whei~ for 10,000 nightly cooking fires.
vegetation was scarce elsewhere. When the camps were first established,
' Many of the 35 refugee camps in women and children could collect their
Somalia b}� the end of 1980 were built firewood during a 10-minute walk. Now,
almost overnight. In the northwest reg- a visitor often finds young children and
ion two lar~e camps - Las Durhe and old women searching for wood 10 to 15
Daray Ma'ane near Boramo - grew in a kms from their camps. They trudge back
matter af davs from scrubland to town- in t,he deepening tw�ilight, bowed down by
tihips of 7ri.000 people, some 10,000 fam- the bundles on their backs.
- ily dwellin~s. The destruction of all trees around the
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.a.
ramps hati l~~tL nc~ shadc for the smaller ~c~i~w~1~1 ~n turn create tremendous
v~~getation. This dies. The sun then bakes problems for the future.
- t}~e unprotected soil, and winds whip itup The camp commanders are aware of
- into clouds of dust. the danger and request other types of fuel
" The sterile su~bsoil is unable to absorb and building materials. But government
the rain when it does fall, so crops cannot of~ficials and aid agencies have found it i
- be grcwn. liard enough to keep food coming in.
� B~~ b~ Setbacks
Most of the rainwater runs down the
bare slopes into the valleys, where it OXFAM and the other agencies work-
causes severe flash floods. Verv little has ing in the area are seeking ways to
tirne to soak into the ground before it is provide the camps with wood, and the
carried away into the Aat, empty coastal area with vegetation, to keep the under-
plains and out to ~ea. ground water table from falling further.
The Wabc Shabelle, ~~~hich had almost Three nurseries are being developed.
. run dry after three years of drought, Firat reports are that fsst-growing tree
burst its banks in places in early May, species, auch as Leucaena, are doing well.
_ causing the evacuation of many towns A Somali volunteer et Amalow Camp
and camps. Belet Uen, the capital of along the Wabe Shabelle has been
Hiran province, was reachable only by organising the distribution of aeedlings
boat. to camp families. He said he gets good
The watars will reced~ as the rains reaponse from the people, who are
~ stop. The ephemeral a,~n~~:al grasses intrigued by the rapid growth of the
which appear with the rains will quickly t~�
dry out and vanish. The countryside will But the nurseries were set up near the
be bare again. river, and many of these have been
These lands were under pressure flooded, causing at least a temporary
before lhe refugees came. For the past 50 setback to the programme.
vears they have been fighting a losing Sma11 ealar cookers are being tried out,
battle against incressing human and along with improved versions of simple
livestock pressure. cooking stoves, to save firewood.
The average nomnd family, free to The agencies are considering systems
move where it must, needs a minimum of of earthen banks to spread the rainwater
- 3Ci adult animals, mostly carrsel~ and and slow its flow to reduce flash run-of~'
goats, to survive. As human numbers after storma, to conserve water in the
increase, the animal numbers increase ground and to encourage the regrowth of
faster. vegetation and stabilisation of the soil.
Yet the refugee camps have created if such efforts do not succeed, entire
' thcir own ev~~r-widenin~ bowls of de~ert, camps will have to be moved, undoub-
tedly creating new deserts elsewhere�
COPYRIGHT: 1981 IC Publications Limited
- CSO: SOUO/5002
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- FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMA'.JY
PRESSURE FROM GREENS WIN~ BAN ON HERBICIDE
Hamburg CAPITAL in German No~i 81 pp 28, 29
- [Article by Hans-Josef Joest: "Poisoning the Well"]
[Text] Bonn wants to pacify the "Greens" by banning the 2,4,5-T
herbicide; it is said to be carcinogenic. But the expert
specially hired in the matter denies that it is health-threatening.
Germany's "Greens" can cross one item off their protest list: the herbicide
2,4,5-T. Spectacular protest actions such as the aiege of the chimneys in the
factory of the only German 2,4,5-T manuf~cturerz C.H. Boehringer Sohn in Hamburg
and massive lobbying with coalition politicians have ahown results. The Federal
Health Office (BGA) and the Federal Biological Institute for Agri.ulture and
Forestry (BBA) have cancelled their pernait to manufacture the hPrbicide as of
October 1982 because it is strongly suspected of being a carcinage~.
This total prohibition came as a shock to the manufacturers who had counted on
no more than mand~tory instructions for use of the compound, auch as protective
clothing. The Celamerck Plant Protection Corp. in Ingelheim (jointly owaed bq
C.H. Boehringer Sohn and by E. Merck) and other manufacturers have protested the
ban. Celamerck considers tl?e revocation of the permit for the manufacture and use
of the 2,4,5-T trichlorphenoxy acetic acid to be "unequivocally politically
motivated and scientifically un3ustified."
As recently as last spring the Bonn government considered the herbicide spray for
eradicating dead-nettle, bindweed and broomweed to be harmless. In reply to an
inquiry by SPD and FDP Bundestag delegates (reference 9/379), the Ministry of
Agriculture stated that "the most recent comprehensive scientific test of all
currently available data was made by 15 independent scientists in Great Britain.
The resuZts show that with careful use of these compounds according to directions
there Is no danger to humans, animals and the environment."
Nor did Prof Dr Ulrich Mohr, expert on carcinogenic chemicals at the Hannover
Medical School, who retested a study of 2,4,5-T, produced by the Dow Cliemical
Company for the U.S. National Institutes of Healty, find any ei~nificant auspicion
of carcinogenicity. But the BGA chose to ignore the ~udgment of the scientist
whom it has itself hired at the taxpayers' expense. In a hearing about health
hazards of 2,4,5-T it allowed the professor. only a few minutes in which to run
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througti his results in a bare outline. Mohr did his duty. His favorable ~udgment
- of 2,4,5-T no longer fitted the political equation.
In an interview with CAPITAL, Mohr pointed out that his results were no ~ustification
for the BGA judgment that 2,4,5-T causes cancer: "From the toxicological aspect
I was greatly surprised by this decision." The expert's bottom line: "In my
opinion 2,4,5-T is not as dangerous as it is said to be." Mohr's opinion confirms
the manufacturers' worry that 2,4,5-T is being used by former BGA president and
present state secretary in Bonn's health ministry, Prof Dr Georges Fuelgraff as a
test case in the power struggle between paliticians, scientists and industrialists
over the evaluation af hazards of environmental chemicals.
_ During the past year Fuelgraff said at a meeting of the Industrial Association for
Plant Protection and Pesticides that in the future expert opinions would have to ~
be subordinated to the politictans' common sense. Intoned the political professor:
"Health hazard evaluation (the probability and severity of possibZe damage) is ~
a scientific undertaking. However, the judgment of whether a hazard can b~
tolerated from a socially adequate standpoint is a purely political function."
For several reasons, 2,4,5-T was eminently suitable as an illustration for this
political hazard scale. This herbicide:
' --is burdened by a tarnished past as a defoliant in Vietnam (code name: Agent
Orange); however, it was sprayed there in a 5,000-fold concentration;
--it contains a non-removable residue of TCDD (Dioxin), a poison known to cause
cancer, 2,000 grams of which suddenly appeared in an area of 300 hectares in Seveso,
' compared with 1 gram TCDD per year out of the herbicid~ 2,4,5--T on the 580,000
hectares of German soil;
--is manufacturPd by only one German firm, C.H. Boehringer Sohn, though the leading
Boehringer chemical enterprises process 2,4,5-T in 70 herbicide compounds;
--is on the prohibited list in Sweden, Holland and Italy due L-o pol3.tical pressure;
--may, since March 1979, be used in the United States only on open prairie lands
- and in rice planting--for political reasons. Said Fuelgraff at the time: "I
consider this decision by the U.S. authorities to be primarily a political one,
which was made by giving in to public pressure." However, when protF:sts started
to swell in the FRG, Fuelgraff remembered his concept that "normal c?~nsensus in
- society is subject to change." 2,4,5-T seemed ready to be sacrificed to the
~ "Greens" as a peace offering. BGA and BBA called a meeting and engaged Mohr to
put the Dow experiments in the United States to the test. This member of the
German research community found there what he described as "surely the most
comprehensive study of 2,4,5-T which has been done anywhere." At the highest
test concentration the U.S. scientists had found a tongue tumor in a rat--a
_ result, says Mohr, which they "openly presented to the public." But, agreeing
with the authors of the study, Mohr arrived at the conclusion that this tumor was
"not unequivocally caused by 2,4,5-�T." Says Mohr about the difference between the
feeding experiment and practical use of the herbicide: "After all, we do not eat
it 24 hours later." That is why he does not see any "great hazard with proper
use
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But the FRG Health Agency interprets the study differently. It considers a cancer
ha2ard through use of 2,4,5-T to be confirmed. BGA director Prof Dr 'Wolfgang Link
sees a"differential interpretation of test results." Apart from a different
interpretation of the same test results, the ban is further based on an epidemiologi-
_ cal expert opinion about increased cancer risk for agricultural workers engaged
in spraying 2,4,5-T--a study which even Link considers "methodologically questionable."
Nevertheless, Fuelgraff's ministry promises the "green" public that 2,4,5-T is
being ousted as a result of "the most recent scientific findings." The Dow study
was made in 1979.
Announcing its intention to "use all legally available resources, as Celamerck's
Dr Georg Leber puts it, the chemical industry appears determined to enter the power
struggle between science and politics in hazard evaluati~n. Prof Mohr urges his
political employers: "There really should be an end to this hysteria."
COPYRIGHT: 1981 Gruner + Jahr AG & Co
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CSO: 5000/2022 END
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