• This is our first 2012 newsletter and we look ahead with guarded optimism that a new Government in office committed to open governance and action on long standing environmental issues will bear fruition.

• One key 2012 development concerning the ESG is our appointment to the DPC, that is, the Development and Planning Commission. For years we have been calling for greater transparency and access to information for the citizen with respect to planning applications and decisions behind those projects given the green light. Government projects to date have not required any form of screening or environmental impact assessments, but this is now also set to change. We hope to learn more about how the democratisation process of planning will be carried out over the next few weeks when the second meeting of the revised DPC is scheduled to be held.

• For those who believe that the ESG would simply oppose all development let us please offer some reassurance that our role will be to promote good practice and use of best available technology and standards with respect to all projects especially when they risk impacting people and the living environment. Longer term we would be urging policy makers within Government to put in place a greening up programme for Gibraltar to ensure that we fall in line with other communities trying to play a responsible part in meeting the serious challenges of global warming and climate change. Gibraltar is not and will not escape the impact in future years from resource depletion, global energy crisis, climate instability and we believe we also have to inform, equip and prepare ourselves for an unpredictable future that our children and future generations will likely face. But the ESG are also realists and we know we cannot perform miracles overnight; we also know, however, that there is much that can be done to restore a healthier environmental balance in our community today without sacrificing the shorter term, but nevertheless critical “progress” which is so important to today’s’ families.

• Moving on we have already begun a series of talks and presentations covering issues like last years Clean Up as well as familiarisation talks on local and regional environmental issues. The film, carrying the central message of the Clean Up Campaign which in 2011 was “Our Place, Our Planet, Our Responsibility”, will be screened at our local cinema soon and we shall be promoting dates and times shortly. You can also catch the film online by visiting ESG homepage and clicking on film link posted there. Our website: esg-gib.net.

• We would like to refer briefly to the recent heavy pollution from both generating stations on Rosia Road which caused terrible pollution recently and on which we issued a press release. The situation, as we all know, is getting from bad to worse and after many years of lobbying we know that the only solution to this problem is the new replacement power station. We shall be meeting with the new Minister for the Environment on this issue in late January when we shall be pressing for a date to be announced for the completion of the new power station

• Towards the end of 2011 the ESG held its AGM and a call was made for subscription renewal to all ESG members. Many have already sent in their subs but we would like to remind you to please send in yours if you haven’t yet done so. Thank you.

• Future clean ups on the horizon include revisiting Witham’s Cemetery where last year, together with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust and other volunteers we started clearing overgrown vegetation and rubbish material and plan to do so again soon. If you are listening and would like to get involved please do contact us at: 200-48966/or 200-42844, and leave your details. You can also reach us at 54960000 or on email: esg@gibtelecom.net
Thanks for listening

Under our new Coastal Survey programme, our monitor yesterday spotted another dead dolphin at Eastern Beach. This is the second such sighting since our survey began two months ago! The tragic sight raises alarm bells for the safety for marine life in our waters.

Following on from regular surveys of Gibraltars “key flotsam collection points” which we are doing as part of a new exercise under the CUTW umbrella, the ESG was most concerned to find another dead dolphin washed ashore at Eastern Beach. This is the second dead dolphin found in as many months and raises serious concerns about the safety at sea for our marine life.
We are hoping to collect useful information over a period of time to help create a picture of what waste material is affecting the marine environment :

either because of litter travelling out from our streets through storm drains, or brought to shore via storms at sea.

The survey also concluded that the calmer weather is resulting in much cleaner beaches on the whole which was positive.

ESG to form part of Gibraltar’s Development and
Planning Commission (DPC)

The ESG is very happy to form part of a more public and transparent Planning Commission where we shall be able to directly submit our concerns and recommendations for adherence to best environmental practice and standards in all applications laid before the DPC. This will help lead to a healthier and more sustainable local environment and therefore quality of life.

The ESG has campaigned during the past decade for urgent improvements to our planning process and therefore welcomes this opportunity to contribute more substantially as part of the new DPC.

ESG Radio Newsletter Thursday 15th December 2011

Hello, it’s good to be back with you after a very interesting and busy gap. We have seen a lot of
activity in our community recently with the culmination of the hustings and a change of
Government after-a very tightly fought election.

During the campaign it was refreshing to hear people from all sides stepping forward and raising
issues which matter deeply to the community, in an intelligent and informed manner. However, it
has highlighted the glaring absence of such debate in between elections – these important issues
have traditionally then fallen to NGO’s and Associations to prioritise and make public. Let’s hope
however, that all those candidates who so passionately shared their aspirations and ideas with us –
the public- will continue to do so for the betterment of our community. Maybe we need a Question
Time Programme in Gibraltar where different issues are focused on every week or fortnight with an
invited audience and informed panel?? !

Or maybe this is what will happen in Parliament if we are to have the numerous sittings
promised, and televised at that. What is clear is that the community should not be fed an obscene
amount of information during a 7 day period before making such important decisions as electing a
government into office for the next four years.

The ESG submitted a detailed Wish List to all parties and this is our working document which we
shall now take up with renewed energy with the new Minister for the Environment. With meetings
starting soon, we hope to continue working hard to realise as many of our aims and objectives as
possible. Look out for updates on our website esg-gib.net.

Obviously Government has much to do on the environment. Sewage pollution is a serious matter
and we now have three no-go areas in Gibraltar due to this problem -Western Beach, Mid Harbour
area and of course, Europa Point.. With today’s data on the Env Agency Website showing Western
Beach to be carrying dangerous levels of pollution once again, we strongly urge everyone to avoid
entering the waters in that area for either for bathing or for water sport purposes. We shall also be
pressing for Govt to close this beach. Mid Harbour area with the influx of residents into new
estates, is suffering from dreadful levels of sewage pollution, this time from infrastructural
problems of our own at Line Wall Road. It demands that urgent action is taken and we were pleased
to hear this week that this problem should be repaired within two weeks. If only we could do the
same for Western Beach,

but that is another story

For those of you interested and concerned about maritime safety it was very positive to note that the
Maritime Agency is giving serious consideration to making piloting compulsory for vessels leaving
as well as ·entering Gibraltar waters. This has been one of our aims for some years and so we
welcome hearing that this will soon become a reality and increase maritime safety in our waters.
The ESG will also be making representations to Govt over complaints we have received from local
staff working at the border over the extreme levels of air pollution caused by slow or gridlocked
traffic due to border controls and how this is affecting people’s wellbeing. A very serious matter to
those affected and needs urgent attention. Perhaps some controls and notices to all drivers to switch
off engines when not moving could help as well as other measures to be explored.

Of course we couldn’t finish today without mentioning Christmas. This will be our last newsletter
until 2012 and so I would like to convey warm wishes to one and all on behalf of the ESG, thank
our members, sponsors and supporters for the work we have been able to achieve this past year and
for stepping forward to support various yampaigns and actions. Let’s keep working together for a
cleaner and healthier environment.

December 16th

The ESG yesterday met with the new Minister for the Environment and held a positive and constructive meeting.

We hope our local environment will further improve in the future through such dialogue where we shall continue to focus on our Wish List aims and objectives.

This week starts the new term of office in Government for the GSLP Liberals in Gibraltar.

We have lobbied all three contesting parties in the run up to the election and believe that more than ever today, politicians are listening to the concerns held by environmental groups such as ours and our membership.These concerns are contained in our Wish List posted on our website home page and we shall work hard to ensure that these are addressed by the new Government in the next few years.

Don’t miss seeing our film on the Gibraltar wide clean up which we organise each year. Click on the link below for an online version of the ESG’s first commissioned film based on our participation in the global “Clean up the World Campaign”. This campaign originated in Australia 20 years ago and has now spread to over 100 countries!

See Gibraltar like you have never seen it before…!

“Our Place, Our Planet, Our Responsibility”

http://vimeo.com/32959666

Direction & Cinematography Pedro Mesquita

Executive Producer Janet Howitt ESG

Production
Pedro Mesquita
Jonathan Scott

Script
Jonathan Scott
Janet Howitt
Pedro Mesquita

Original Sound Track João Bernardo

Editing Filipe Ferreira

Voice Over Jonathan Scott

Motion Graphics David Gabriel

Additional footage/archive Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation

ESG Radio Newsletter 1st December 2011

Hello- sitting here in the beautiful Alameda Gardens I can honestly say that the ESG is extremely pleased to see the pledges made by all political parties to green up Gibraltar. This plays a major influence on our quality of life and on the quality of our air. The extra shade that more trees and plants will provide during the long hot summer months will undoubtedly bring great relief to all.
Moving on from there we are also aware and pleased to see that our year round lobbying efforts and detailed Wish List, which has been discussed at length with all political parties, is also resulting in many of our core aims and issues appearing in all manifestos.
Signs of progress we earnestly hope!

This week we have seen reason to publish a number of press statements on various issues and includes the unanimous pledge by all parties to ban bunkering on the eastern side of Gibraltar. The Coalition against such practices is delighted with this result and strongly believes Gibraltar’s environment will benefit from the decision.

We have also jointly commented, (alongside Western Beach users) on the worsening state of Western Beach waters, particularly as many of our civic minded citizens have launched their charity swims or dives from this beach very recently. We have urged Government to close down this beach during what will undoubtedly be a return of dangerously high levels of sewage in the area. This issue needs to be resolved!

We have also commented publicly on the Nature Tank Fire reports and our full press release on this can be found on our website. We urge the public concerned about these issues to please visit our site: esg-gib.net for further information.

Ending on a positive note, the ESG has been very busy these past few weeks with talks to numerous associations and clubs, a cleanup with the Heritage Trust, GreenChange and concerned citizens at Witham’s Cemetery, and also focusing on a greener Xmas with special talks delivered by one of our younger active members Chelsea Edwards.

We hope you also caught our first ever Clean Up Film screened by GBC last week. Don’t worry if you didn’t as they have promised to show it again soon. We are also preparing the film footage to be able to post this on our website.

That’s all for now. Thank you for listening

Calls to Close Western Beach
30th November 2011

ONE YEAR ON and NOTHING HAS CHANGED. This is the situation at Western Beach.

“Actually, that statement is not true”, said Karen Everett of the Western Beach Group, “I can no longer call myself a Western Beach user as I have not used the beach for over a year. I cannot use the beach as I think the risk to health is just too dangerous”.

In fact the situation has changed, it has got worse. Most of Gibraltar’s beaches have been affected by different levels of sewage contamination in the water over the summer.
The Campaigners against sewage into the Western Beach area consider it necessary to remind the public that once again in the winter months the levels of contamination discharged into the beach substantially increases. The situation radically worsens when there is rainfall, and even a small amount of rain washes a great deal of RAW SEWAGE into the water. Yet another charity swim took off from Western Beach last weekend. This was on the same day that reports were received from residents in the area of terrible smells and the sight of a sewage sheen covering most of the western bay area.
Campaigners call for the closure of this beach during the winter period until such time as all discharges are stopped or sealed off. The beach was closed last year due to the risk to public health and nothing has changed suggesting the beach should be closed this winter too.

The groups also note that data continues to be scant on the Environmental Agency website and are certain that if more sampling was done the evidence will be all too clear. It is also important for Gibraltar to be collecting this data to help support the Official Complaint and Petition currently under review at the European Commission with support from Sir Graham Watson. “We need this data to help maintain pressure to try and get this cross border problem resolved,” said Karen.

Both the Western Beach Group and the ESG call for the immediate closure of the beach believing it to be the only way to limit use of the waters during this period, when illnesses could be caused in our community.

ESG responds to Tank Fire Reports

28th November 2011

Reacting to Capita Symonds report into the Tank Fire in Western Arm, the ESG sincerely hopes that critical lessons will be learnt from the accident which tragically claimed the life of a contractor.

This Government-commissioned, comprehensive report (available on: www.gibraltar.gov.gi) outlines in detail the protocols, procedures, and more importantly the devastating condition of both tanks which contributed to the accident on the 31st May 2011. Metallurgical expert from Capita Symonds confirmed both tanks contained numerous perforations which created the conditions for an explosion whilst welding was taking place. These perforations could well have caused the regular, offensive smells in the area during normal operations at the Nature Plant and frequently reported to the ESG by affected residents.

In a 2008 report produced by M.Belilo & Partners (1) (a Civil & Structural Engineering Firm in Gibraltar) the authors make several recommendations for necessary repairs to be carried out to the tanks in question.

Another important issue which has arisen in the report and which must be addressed is the fact that this industry was licensed by the Environmental Agency. (2) It says:
6.3 The Environment Agency (EA) issued a Pollution Prevention and Control Permit (PCC 001) to SORT on 15 October 2007 allowing operation of an installation at the North Mole site. EA also issued a Licence, (number WL 025(B)), to Nature under Part VA of the Public Health
Act. The current Licence was issued on 16 August 2010 and is valid for 2 years.

The ESG questions how these licences could have been issued by the agency when it would appear that all the necessary repairs were never carried out and were, according to the Capita Symonds report, easy to detect with the naked eye.

Gibraltar needs to apply best practice and the precautionary principle throughout all its industrial activity- this clearly was not applied, and the ESG insists that no more lives should be lost before we learn lessons and raise standards of safety and enforcement of environmental protection legislation.(1) (http://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/images/stories/PDF/pressoffice/north_mole_incident/1/appendix.pdf page 10)
(2) http://www.gibraltar.gov.gi/images/stories/PDF/pressoffice/north_mole_incident/3/north_mole_incident-procedural_matters.pdf Page 17-22)