Rock wool, whilst sold as an eco-friendly product, is a dirty thing to make. In the USA, Erin Brokovich is investigating claims that a now-closed Rockwool Group factory is responsible for the high rate of cancer locally. Meanwhile, the residents of the municipality of Pican, Croatia are protesting against a new factory which was built illegally. The factory regularly floods the valley with thick smoke. Read their press release below:
the chimney flooding the valley with smoke
the factory at a distance
a valley full of pollution
URGENT APPEAL FOR HELP
In October 2005, Rockwool Adriatic (part of the Danish-based Rockwool Group) bought land in Croatia for 1.98 Euro per m2 – a gift from the Croatian Government, which was falling over itself in eagerness to accept foreign investment, no matter what the future costs would be. Rockwool had already established a headquarters in Zagreb before the land was bought! They do not have to pay ANY income tax for the next TEN YEARS!! The agreement states that Rockwool will be made 10,000 Euros a month if for any reason they are prevented from normal production.
But many facts point to an obious conclusion: The multinational corporation moved in under false pretences. Local residents were initially told a blanket making factory would be built (in the USA, building insulation is labelled 'insulating blankets'). The site was presented as a greenfield project and there is evidence that the EU is blackmailing the Croatian government to this factory. It is in fact being used to produce rock wool, which is a fibrous solid (an amorphous silicate to be precise) manufactured from slag metal and used as insulation. Whilst undeniably safe as an end product, and ironically enough, praised as an ecofriendly means of insulation, the production process is a dirty one.
The factory was built in Pican, which lies in a region at the top of a large peninsula called Istria (Istra in Croatian). Istria is next to Italy and is a popular tourist location, but for how much longer? Prior to the factory's arrival, the state offered incentives for rural development and growth. The factory itself is built in the midst of an agricultural area, on protected national water reserves which are the only source of drinking water on the peninsula.
Rockwool's modus operandi appears to be to produce for 10 to 15 years and then movE on before encountering problems, that is to say, before the consequences of pollution become visible.The impetus in Croatia may be a new EU law that prohibits the use of formaldehyde. Rockwool multinational continues to use this chemical in Croatia, which is still not under EU laws. The factory has transferred parts from Poland, where rumour has it the workers have started getting all sorts of diseases.
In 2007, a complaint was filled against the Rockwool factory by the Inspector for Environmental Protection for using the emergency chimney (in contravention of the Environment Protection Law). In September 2007, a legal complaint was made for breaking the Waste Management Law for improper disposal of waste. Both of these legal actions have failed in the lower courts.
In November 2007, a legal complaint was made for emitting polluting substances into the air - SO2 and ammonium above the the limits prescribed by Croatian (and EU) laws.
Laws were broken or bent to the maximum to get the factory running. There were changes made to the location and construction permit which fundamentally altered the conditions of factory production; but no new Environmental Study was made (July 2008). The factory has no legal agreement on water use – they need vast amounts of water and right now they buy it privately, literally pumping water from an adjacent abandoned business site.
Activists have made independent measurements. The results are shocking, but the state refuses to verify them. The measurements: CO2, CO and methane portions in the air were way above the allowed limits. There was not enough oxygen, whereas CO2 and CO were way above the measured numbers on Rockwool's "official" measuring stations.
Zdravko Beric, scientist and a director of the firm that did a measuring with a non-pilot flying vessel (his licence is not acknowledged in Croatia although he is one of eight people in Europe that is qualified to make such measurements), stated: K - 40 (Kalij): limiting value 3000 Bk/kg, value measured above Rockwool:11.730 Bk/kg, for Ra - 226 (Radium) limiting value 300 Bk/kg, value measured above Rockwool: 2.570 Bk/kg. He also found 7 hard metals and 29 carcinogenic substances. Further on, salts of nitrates, sulfides, sulfates, acetates of mercury's compounds antimone and cadmium that fall on the earth contaminate the agricultural area 100%. Consumption of fruit and vegetables containing these substances at 0,53 gr/m2 causes health problems, but WITH consistent exposure, cancer is caused by 1.430 gr/kg of vegetables or fruit. [1]
Beric comments "With this amount of radioactivity we guarantee that in 10 years all the population will start getting ill from throat, thyroid and bronchial cancer, getting skin allergies, and for every month of the factory's production 10 years of decontamination will be needed." [2]
Beric's observations are interesting in the light of the situation in the USA where Erin Brokovich is currently considering a case to sue Rockwool on behalf of 87 people with brain tumours who live near the site of a former Rockwool factory in Cameron, Missouri. [2]
By any intelligent standard, every facility of this type needs to be based on a legal-scientific document - this study was done by the firm Ekonerg, hired by Rockwool and the Environment Protection Ministry. It is full of false data, comprised of incomplete and estimated measurements. For example, the nearest settlements are said to be 3.5 km away, when in fact they are 300 to 500 metres away. The study says that the population resides in this area only temporarily. The data from the cost-benefit analysis are also false. The study was not done by qualified independent scientists who were familiar with atmospheric conditions, geography and demography.
The local community here is spontaneously resisting; the last bigger protest was November 30 (approximately 1000 people) and before that August 31st (1500 people). The entire population of the immediate surrounding valley and hillsides is only 2,500.There are three ecological and environmental associations fighting against it, but it feels like we are fighting something that is bigger than us. The week after the last bigger protest the factory fumed like hell and smelled of urine, firecrackers and sawn iron. The factory works mainly by night, since the smoke is less visible. 200 protestors spontaneously appeared in front of the factory every night until the operation was shut down. Heavy police escorts were deployed to protect the workers and the poice also intimidated protestors. Neighbourhood families coming out in the middle of the cold and rainy night prompted politicians to reinvent themselves as 'concerned'.
WE NEED HELP URGENTLY!
An international campaign is just beginning, we cannot let Rockwool get away with this!
Contact:
Croatia -
antirockwoolakcijaATgmail.com
narodprotivrockwoolaATnet.hr
istra.nasazemljaATgmail.com
00385/92-2317331 (Helena or Tihana)
England -
welovenatureATpressured.plus.com
Webinfo:
English information:
http://www.pressured.plus.com/
Facebook groups:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39557279076
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6010983923
Online petition - http://labin.info/10,9,stop-za-rockwool.aspx
NOTES
1
Zdravko Berić; e-mail:
tzr@prvomajska-tzr.hr
2
http://www.glasistre.hr/?d5acf51e174775f956966b162325aa5c,TS,3952,,19681,,245390
3
Brockovich talks tumors in Cameron
http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2008/oct/28/brockovich-talks-tumors-cameron/
Erin Brockovich Brings Hope To Cameron
http://www.kctv5.com/news/17819947/detail.html
Testing Starts On Plant Suspected In Tumor Cases
http://www.kmbc.com/health/16881894/detail.html
In October 2005, Rockwool Adriatic (part of the Danish-based Rockwool Group) bought land in Croatia for 1.98 Euro per m2 – a gift from the Croatian Government, which was falling over itself in eagerness to accept foreign investment, no matter what the future costs would be. Rockwool had already established a headquarters in Zagreb before the land was bought! They do not have to pay ANY income tax for the next TEN YEARS!! The agreement states that Rockwool will be made 10,000 Euros a month if for any reason they are prevented from normal production.
But many facts point to an obious conclusion: The multinational corporation moved in under false pretences. Local residents were initially told a blanket making factory would be built (in the USA, building insulation is labelled 'insulating blankets'). The site was presented as a greenfield project and there is evidence that the EU is blackmailing the Croatian government to this factory. It is in fact being used to produce rock wool, which is a fibrous solid (an amorphous silicate to be precise) manufactured from slag metal and used as insulation. Whilst undeniably safe as an end product, and ironically enough, praised as an ecofriendly means of insulation, the production process is a dirty one.
The factory was built in Pican, which lies in a region at the top of a large peninsula called Istria (Istra in Croatian). Istria is next to Italy and is a popular tourist location, but for how much longer? Prior to the factory's arrival, the state offered incentives for rural development and growth. The factory itself is built in the midst of an agricultural area, on protected national water reserves which are the only source of drinking water on the peninsula.
Rockwool's modus operandi appears to be to produce for 10 to 15 years and then movE on before encountering problems, that is to say, before the consequences of pollution become visible.The impetus in Croatia may be a new EU law that prohibits the use of formaldehyde. Rockwool multinational continues to use this chemical in Croatia, which is still not under EU laws. The factory has transferred parts from Poland, where rumour has it the workers have started getting all sorts of diseases.
In 2007, a complaint was filled against the Rockwool factory by the Inspector for Environmental Protection for using the emergency chimney (in contravention of the Environment Protection Law). In September 2007, a legal complaint was made for breaking the Waste Management Law for improper disposal of waste. Both of these legal actions have failed in the lower courts.
In November 2007, a legal complaint was made for emitting polluting substances into the air - SO2 and ammonium above the the limits prescribed by Croatian (and EU) laws.
Laws were broken or bent to the maximum to get the factory running. There were changes made to the location and construction permit which fundamentally altered the conditions of factory production; but no new Environmental Study was made (July 2008). The factory has no legal agreement on water use – they need vast amounts of water and right now they buy it privately, literally pumping water from an adjacent abandoned business site.
Activists have made independent measurements. The results are shocking, but the state refuses to verify them. The measurements: CO2, CO and methane portions in the air were way above the allowed limits. There was not enough oxygen, whereas CO2 and CO were way above the measured numbers on Rockwool's "official" measuring stations.
Zdravko Beric, scientist and a director of the firm that did a measuring with a non-pilot flying vessel (his licence is not acknowledged in Croatia although he is one of eight people in Europe that is qualified to make such measurements), stated: K - 40 (Kalij): limiting value 3000 Bk/kg, value measured above Rockwool:11.730 Bk/kg, for Ra - 226 (Radium) limiting value 300 Bk/kg, value measured above Rockwool: 2.570 Bk/kg. He also found 7 hard metals and 29 carcinogenic substances. Further on, salts of nitrates, sulfides, sulfates, acetates of mercury's compounds antimone and cadmium that fall on the earth contaminate the agricultural area 100%. Consumption of fruit and vegetables containing these substances at 0,53 gr/m2 causes health problems, but WITH consistent exposure, cancer is caused by 1.430 gr/kg of vegetables or fruit. [1]
Beric comments "With this amount of radioactivity we guarantee that in 10 years all the population will start getting ill from throat, thyroid and bronchial cancer, getting skin allergies, and for every month of the factory's production 10 years of decontamination will be needed." [2]
Beric's observations are interesting in the light of the situation in the USA where Erin Brokovich is currently considering a case to sue Rockwool on behalf of 87 people with brain tumours who live near the site of a former Rockwool factory in Cameron, Missouri. [2]
By any intelligent standard, every facility of this type needs to be based on a legal-scientific document - this study was done by the firm Ekonerg, hired by Rockwool and the Environment Protection Ministry. It is full of false data, comprised of incomplete and estimated measurements. For example, the nearest settlements are said to be 3.5 km away, when in fact they are 300 to 500 metres away. The study says that the population resides in this area only temporarily. The data from the cost-benefit analysis are also false. The study was not done by qualified independent scientists who were familiar with atmospheric conditions, geography and demography.
The local community here is spontaneously resisting; the last bigger protest was November 30 (approximately 1000 people) and before that August 31st (1500 people). The entire population of the immediate surrounding valley and hillsides is only 2,500.There are three ecological and environmental associations fighting against it, but it feels like we are fighting something that is bigger than us. The week after the last bigger protest the factory fumed like hell and smelled of urine, firecrackers and sawn iron. The factory works mainly by night, since the smoke is less visible. 200 protestors spontaneously appeared in front of the factory every night until the operation was shut down. Heavy police escorts were deployed to protect the workers and the poice also intimidated protestors. Neighbourhood families coming out in the middle of the cold and rainy night prompted politicians to reinvent themselves as 'concerned'.
WE NEED HELP URGENTLY!
An international campaign is just beginning, we cannot let Rockwool get away with this!
Contact:
Croatia -
antirockwoolakcijaATgmail.com
narodprotivrockwoolaATnet.hr
istra.nasazemljaATgmail.com
00385/92-2317331 (Helena or Tihana)
England -
welovenatureATpressured.plus.com
Webinfo:
English information:
http://www.pressured.plus.com/ Facebook groups:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39557279076 http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6010983923 Online petition -
http://labin.info/10,9,stop-za-rockwool.aspx NOTES
1
Zdravko Berić; e-mail:
tzr@prvomajska-tzr.hr 2
http://www.glasistre.hr/?d5acf51e174775f956966b162325aa5c,TS,3952,,19681,,245390 3
Brockovich talks tumors in Cameron
http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2008/oct/28/brockovich-talks-tumors-cameron/ Erin Brockovich Brings Hope To Cameron
http://www.kctv5.com/news/17819947/detail.html Testing Starts On Plant Suspected In Tumor Cases
http://www.kmbc.com/health/16881894/detail.html
Homepage:
Comments
Hide the following comment
Istrian NGO brings abundance of false accusations
14.01.2009 12:33
For instance, Rockwool International (headquartered in Denmark) has never had a factory in USA, therefore there is no logic to be associated with the case in America that the NGO repeatedly mentions. Among other, production technology as well as raw material used is different. We have communicated this information to them several times, but they know that by bringing up such data they continue to disturb local population. Also, contrary to what they claim, the use of formaldehyde is not prohibited in the European Union countries; rather its use is limited. Rockwool Group has secured that these limits are met, in EU as well as in other countries where we operate.
Another incorrect data is that our factory is built illegally, as we have a valid building license issued in July 2008 by the Croatian Ministry. Our Land association often mentions the price of the land and other incentives which are all conditions determined by the Croatian national and regional authorities, not by Rockwool. And to our surprise NZ labels this accusation on the investor. As a backup support for their false accusations they quote Mr. Berić who apparently did some analysis of the factory. But how relevant and serious are ecological measurements done by a company which is registered for production of metalwork machinery, and is not authorized by the Ministry to do any kind of ecological analyses, as they require sophisticated equipment and knowledge.
To blame the operation of our factory for the natural meteorological phenomenon named fog which has been present in the valley for centuries is yet another nontransparent, cheap argument to bring attention of the public to themselves. In many instances they have misused these photos of fog declaring it to be smoke. As we have communicated before, on rare occasions smell can be sensed from our factory. But even in those cases the monitoring systems did not mark any differences in the quality of air in the vicinity of the factory. The air quality has been of the first category both in the periods when the factory is producing and in the periods when the factory is stopped.
To accuse a multinational company to have established a sales office in a country where we do not have an operating factory is simply astonishing and strange. We currently have sales offices in more than 30 countries throughout the world, and ‘only’ 23 factories.
Our most important argument is that since August 2008 when the trial run started all parameters of production, waste management and emissions of Rockwool factory have been according to the Croatian regulations and laws.
As a responsible company we believe in a constructive dialogue with all interested parties. In every country where we operate we find the NGOs to be our partners in environmental issues, and so far we have not experienced such opposition to our operation. But since NZ has been constantly repeating such incorrect data and false accusations as stated above we were forced to forward the whole case to our lawyers to start a court case. Unfortunately, they are not only harming the image of our company, but have also been disturbing local population without any real grounds.
Rockwool has come to Croatia and invested into a facility that would for sure contribute to the economical well being and growth, not only of the region but also of the entire country. We are here to cooperate and bring benefit to the region and its inhabitants.
Public Relations Department, Rockwool Adriatic
Homepage:
http://www.rockwool.hr