Hello, today is our first newsletter for 2014. Hope the festive celebrations met all your expectations.

2013 seems to have passed in a flash – on the environmental front we are hopeful that significant steps taken last year by Government will now pave the way for several major projects to take off in 2014. These being: The Sewage Treatment and Waste Treatment Plants and the long awaited new Power Generating Station.

All three projects were put out to tender in 2013 and we hope contracts are awarded quickly, once all consultation processes are completed. The ESG has lobbied for these since we formed over 13 years ago. Therefore we welcome the signs of imminent action. We further hope that once these three facilities are in place, we shall see major environmental gains that will also improve quality of life for all on the Rock.

We shall of course continue to share our own recommendations and monitor these issues with keen interest. We hope to reflect on other issues on our wish list in our next broadcast two weeks from now.

A quick mention of our highly successful environmental community campaign “Clean up the World” in 2013, engaged around 1,000 people including schools, clubs, associations, businesses, govt agencies and individuals to come together to do something practical and positive for our environment. 2014 will see our tenth year – plans will soon start for this years actions – plse get in touch if you would like to be involved. Call 54960000, or email: esg@gibtelecom.net.

The DPC, that’s the Development and Planning Commission, had its last meeting of the year in December with a number of controversial items on the agenda. Among these was the approval of the destruction of the Risso Bakery on Engineers Lane, the deferral of a proposed office block and large hotel on what was the Royal Yacht Club footprint –deferred in view of wide public objection, and permission for a new fuel pipeline in the port area.

The ESG is taking up the issue of the pipeline directly with Government, as we believe that holistic planning for the Port area is essential – an industrial area like the Port carries environmental impacts far beyond its fence line, and we reiterate our view that any new activity must be rigorously and publicly assessed.

The DPC will resume the same agenda, which was not completed, on the 10th January at 9.30am in the John Mackintosh Hall.

In 2014 we shall continue to work for the precautionary principle and best available technology to be applied to all industrial activity on the Rock – we know we are too small to simply adhere to EU standards – this includes the mobile phone network and industry, port and shipping activity, and much more.

We end by wishing all listeners and our members and supporters in particular a Happy New Year!

ESG Press Release

10th October 2013

The ESG confirms it will be holding a meeting with MEP Sir Graham Watson on Friday morning during his visit to Gibraltar. The group’s legal advisor, David Dumas QC, will also be present at this meeting.

The meeting will review issues raised in a paper recently published by the ESG during the visit to the area by EU inspectors. In it the group decries the lack of meaningful focus by all agencies on the critical and regional environmental issues affecting the health of all bay citizens and the living environment.

Issues such as: sewage pollution; long-term emissions from the CEPSA Oil Refinery; lack of adequate monitoring of major, chemical installations in the Bay, and other matters.

The group hopes to enlist the help of the MEP to remind the European Commission of the outstanding and unresolved environmental issues the ESG has presented to them in the form of complaints and petitions over the past few years; especially important given the present spotlight on Gibraltar and the Campo area due to border queues and other issues.

ESG CONCERNED ABOUT ONGOING REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IGNORED DURING POLITICAL UNREST

“The ESG is concerned that the ongoing political situation is seriously affecting agencies and governments ability to effectively address critical environmental issues which have a regional bearing and which are currently getting very little airplay.

Throughout the summer our group has highlighted the ongoing sewage contamination at Western Beach which has threatened public health and is widely known to be caused by a storm drainpipe illegally discharging raw sewage from la Linea. And still nothing is done about this at an official, legal or European level. Instead we have witnessed complete silence on the part of La Linea’s municipality on this and our Government taking steps to attract bathers to this contaminated area.

These past few weeks has also seen sewage and chemical pollution affecting several spanish coastal areas only brought to the publics notice by NGO’s from the Spanish side.These relate to Spanish sewage discharges into Bay waters from Algeciras through to Palmones and highlights sewage management is a critical issue for spanish citizens.

The latest reminder of the intense air and water pollution from the industrial and chemical installations in the Campo area came in the form of a 2012 report (commissioned by the spanish authorities) that nickel levels found by air monitoring systems were among the highest in Andalucia and was linked to Acerinox, a steel processing plant located in the Bay. Given the report is an official paper its possible that the levels admitted are conservative and could conceivably be worse. This is not a surprise to the ESG. There have been copious reports over the years emanating from Spain on the Bay’s air and water quality which have generally confirmed the pollution caused by the chemical industries. The problem is enforcement of regulations and this requires agency action.

The ESG has learnt from cross border environmental colleagues that another key worry is how the spanish economic crisis has further weakened the official agencies ability to monitor industrial activity. This is a very grave situation as major chemical installations such as those located in the hinterland need strict and independent
evaluation and monitoring because any slip in standards or shortcuts in safety practices can have dire consequences for the health of all Bay communities as well as the living environment. Sustained chemical discharge into air and water systems will naturally enter the food chain and hence affect our health. Monitoring of industry standards is obviously a critical matter which should come under the microscope of any EU Inspection team worth its salt.

Although being stuck for hours in hot vehicles and delays at the border are clearly very unpleasant, the longterm environmental problems in the region are a real health concern.

Throughout our campaigns particularly on the CEPSA Oil Refinery and petrochemical industry which is massive and has expanded exponentially in the past two decades, we have tried to get our voices heard, at cross border level, over the genuine fears, supported by a growing number of health studies, that such industries could be causing higher than average mortality and disease in the bay area. MEP Neil Parish organised for a party from Gibraltar including the ESG, a global public health expert from Barcelona, a top legal adviser, and a global industry activist, to take our health and environmental issues to the heart of Brussels. They heard but did not act. Mr Parish urged the Commission to visit the area, see the installations for themselves, ageing infrastructure/proximity to schools, nurseries and residential areas – in complete defiance, in fact, of most health and safety regulations. But they did not come. We persevered with the support of our technical and legal advisers, cross border petitions, and more recently via the support of MEP Sir Graham Watson. Some progress has been made but it has taken much longer than it should. Our industry expert compared our Refinery problem as a “slow Bhopal”. Global Community Monitor, Denny Larson produced a detailed report for Mr Parish who pressed these directly into the hands of those officials in Brussels whose job it is to ensure that environmental standards and regulations are being met. And still the inspectors did not come.

We therefore wish to publicly request the team of inspectors heading to Gibraltar to give us an audience so that we can directly appraise them of the regional longstanding environmental issues which affect all Bay citizens health and wellbeing and that will prevail unless serious action is taken – long after the politcal troubles have faded into the background. We shall remind them of the 14,000 strong cross border petition calling for help from the European Commission to see independently commissioned epidemiological studies done at a cross border level to assess the full impacts of the toxic chemical industry that many of us are living next to and undeniably affected by.

Please refer to the ESG’s website at : www.esg-gib.net for more information on the groups regional environmental campaigns in Brussels.”

Today is significant on many fronts. Speaking as a global citizen it’s especially important to consider the impact we are having on the planet and consequently how this will affect not so distant future generations. Two issues are currently in the news that are important to mention: Insofar as global resources, we continue to undermine nature’s ability to renew herself and absorb the filth and waste we constantly throw at her. According to Global Footprint Network, the world has already reached “earth overshoot day” in 2013, explaining how we are tipping the balance in terms of resource use and the planets ability to replenish and absorb waste. With a rapidly rising global population, it’s hard to see how this balance will improve and will likely worsen with the ensuing economic and social upheaval this will create. Only then shall we realise the folly of our ways and how we should have taken better care in living more sustainably. Look at news on fracking.

If you go to guardian.com you will find a range of articles and comment on the technical aspects of this technology as exploratory works are underway in the UK. You will also hear about protests which include both residents and national protesters as fracking will have both local and global impact. While you hear a lot about securing power source as the key argument for fracking, there is silence on the CO2 emissions this will produce. While many Governments behave as though renewable energy is unable to deliver today’s energy needs, there remains much that can be done to process our waste into energy, such as biogas from farm waste and sewage, or converting other waste into different forms of useable energy –as well as harnessing all forms of renewable energy. This requires political will on a major scale to develop necessary financial and legal tools to increase the pace at which these ultimately, cleaner technologies, can start replacing fossil fuel as the seemingly first natural choice.

On a day that we hear about how we are already borrowing resources from our children’s future, its critical that choices made today reflect the need to increase efficiency and sustainability.

Closer to home and because this will be the last newsletter before the main CUTW planning meeting I would like to remind those of you keen to participate in this years clean up to please get in touch as soon as possible. We are busy taking calls and emails and have a healthy list of teams already. You are welcome to sign up as a volunteer as additional teams are formed closer to the day, but not on the day. It is important for all team leaders to attend on the 3rd September at 7pm at the John Mack Hall, Charles Hunt Room. Please call 54960000 and/or email esg@gibtelecom.net. Clean up the World will take place on the 21st September.

Another issue is Western Beach – we continue to advise against bathing there –visit environmental-agency.gi and check the data for yourself on the site for Western Beach. Compare it to other beaches and you will see a glaring difference in contamination levels at Western Beach compared to all our other beaches. We do not understand how Government has chosen to introduce a water play park there. We shall be issuing a press release soon as we follow up our complaint lodged at the European Commission.

Finally, another one for your diary – a reminder that the next planning meeting takes place on the 5th September. Look out for the agenda that should be published online a week beforehand as we understand there could be interesting projects to be considered.
Thanks for listening.

Radio Broadcast 8th August 2013

• We wanted to say first of all that we have been running our membership renewal programme these past few weeks and would like to thank all members who have responded to date; also for the messages of encouragement and support for the work we do towards improving our local environment. With the changes in funding we are currently experiencing we need community support more than ever and invite you to please contact us and join up by emailing: esg@gibtelecom.net and you will be sent details. All donations gratefully received.

• We shall later today be issuing a press statement on Western Beach, closed this week by the police due to high levels of sewage contamination – to our knowledge no official statement has yet been made, and no details as to what is planned for this beach are known. What is clear is that very high levels of sewage contamination picked up by the agency’s sampling on Monday, were realised on Tuesday and led to the order given for police assistance to close the beach. What a situation this has developed into! Keep the beach closed until its safe – that’s our view.

• An analysis of water quality on the Environmental Agency website shows Western beach 2013 is presenting a much darker picture than for the same period in 2012. Of 15 sample days in July 2013, two thirds failed guide levels, with one failing mandatory. In July 2012, of the 9 sampling days, only one failed guide levels, with none failing mandatory.

In a matter of weeks, this summer we have seen Western Beach close twice. Instead of keeping the beach closed however, Government has chosen to increase beach use and the sense of security of use by introducing an Aqua Park feature!!. We do not understand their position and are approaching Govt directly on this. The ESG and fellow campaigners will also be following up their complaint lodged with the European Commission.

• Another discussion this week has focused on artificial reefs. The ESG has been contacted by a number of international media bodies for comment and interview. We have strived to steer conversation towards the environment and the wider bay issues and shall continue to do so as best we can.

• Only yesterday we rec’d calls and reports from both sides of the border regarding the heavy flaring at the CEPSA Oil Refinery. This highlights the importance of working together as Bay citizens for a clean environment as politics clearly defines borders, but we all breathe the same air! Given the Oil Refinery is under new ownership and the episodes of heavy flaring and other pollution becoming more frequent, the ESG is looking into lodging a fresh complaint with the European Commission. More news on this soon.

• For those of you with an interest in planning and development issues in Gibraltar, make a note in your diary that the next DPC meeting has been brought forward will now take place on the 5th September – likely to be at 9.30am though this will be confirmed closer to the time.

• Under the CUTW banner we also ask you to please send in details of any litter hotspot areas that could receive a good clean up during this year’s campaign held on the 21st September. Remember you can also sign up to volunteer simply by emailing esg@gibtelecom.net or calling 54960000. Check our website esg-gib.net for more details and where you can download this year’s poster. Thanks for listening.

ESG Press Release On Western Beach

8th August 2013

Given the high levels of pollution which caused the police to close Western Beach on Tuesday afternoon the ESG believes that the Government has to seriously consider keeping it closed until such time as the contamination problem is finally resolved.
The delays in sample results alone mean that people are swimming in potentially heavily contaminated water without knowing.
Government should explore the possible use of a “real time “sampling method that can at least confirm the presence of numerous bacteria with the sophisticated interpretation of the sample being finalised a day or so later.
The ESG further believes that Government should be discouraging bathing at this extremely unpredictable beach, with its recurrent bouts of heavy pollution, instead of actively encouraging its use by introducing the aqua-park feature.
Finally, the ESG stands by previous statements it has made public on this issue especially the fact that the beach is prone to bouts of sewage contamination and presents a serious risk to public health. The group continues to believe that the account given by the family suffering an infection understood by them to have been contracted at Western Beach is genuine and raises significant issues that need to be addressed by the authorities.

See :- http://www.environmental-agency.gi/beachresult.php?beachid=6
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Given the ongoing, general low standard of water quality at Western beach, the ESG renews its call for beach closure until such time as samples are collecting clear for a period of time and until all sources of potential contamination in this area are resolved.

Members of the public are regularly in contact with us sharing their concerns over the situation and the ongoing uncertainty. The readings on the Environmental Agency show continued pollution at the beach.

One member of the public also confirmed to us over the weekend that her son, while going through post op recovery, happened to swim at Western Beach during the time of its highest recorded sewage pollution in recent times (10th July) although the beach was declared open and fit for bathing on the day, and contracted a serious infection via his wound. This was confirmed at St Bernard’s as having been caused by faecal bacteria. The young man is now requiring high dose of antibiotics with swelling in the ankle leading to the need once again of the use of crutches. The family feel very aggrieved that the beach was officially declared safe and open for bathing on that day.

Although Government is taking additional readings and providing information to the public over and above legal requirements, it’s clear that the time delay in obtaining results under the present system means people do not know – at the time of bathing – what exactly they are bathing in.

Soon after the spike on the 10th July which led to beach closure, the beach was re-opened as further samples showed a marked decrease in pollution levels. However pollution persists in the area and is slowly increasing as demonstrated by the agencies sampling information posted online.

Given this situation the ESG repeats its call for the beach to be closed in order to ensure that public health is protected.

“The ESG urges Government to consider permanently closing Western Beach for bathing given the increase in sewage pollution from Spain in the past week. This breakthrough effluence is unprecedented given there has been no rainfall in the area. It suggests that the pollution will be impossible to predict and therefore manage safely. While welcoming the visible efforts by the Environmental Agency and Ministry for the Environment to monitor the area and keep the public fully informed, the erratic nature of the contamination should, in the group’s opinion, result in beach closure and certainly until investigations into the July episodes have taken place. Furthermore the time lag between sample taking and results means that bathers do not actually know the pollution levels present in the waters at the time of bathing.

The ESG welcomes the tender notice by Government to invite bidders to construct our own wastewater treatment plant (dated 28th June). The group hopes that as with the Power Station, the wastewater plant will be handled as a priority.

A major campaign was undertaken by the ESG, beachgoers and MEP Sir Graham Watson when the illegal pipe works first appeared near Western beach. This took the form of protests, petitions and an official complaint. However, while the EU listened with some sympathy, its hard-line response was to direct us to our own sewage management.

Its clear that no amount of cross border pressure can resolve this problem until our own house is in order on this matter. Once done the EU should have no excuse but to strictly enforce its laws against the Spanish Government on wastewater treatment compliance. There are several well known sewage pollution hotspots in the Spanish towns in the Bay area and these must be addressed.”

o Well, we now have the publication of the Fishing Report. From an environmental point of view it is unsurprising that the experts require more time and more data before recommending any new regulations be put in place. The marine environment knows no borders and this will not be an easy task to perform. Full transparency and access to information will hopefully influence public opinion and subsequent policy implementation

o Looking around the Bay – and relevant to the region is an annual report just released by a Spanish NGO awarding black flags to 16 locations with dangerous environmental practices in the Cadiz region. You can find more details at 20minutos.es and search for banderas negras. Issues such as industrial chemical discharge and air pollution from nearby, petrochemical installations, to major urbanisation works planned in protected areas such as Valdevaqueros and the entire Tarifa area have earned this award. Bunkering practices in the Alboran Sea, another protected EU area, is also highlighted among several others. Occurring as these are within a desperately failing economy means that environmental monitoring and controls will be much harder to implement. We welcome the efforts by the NGO to nevertheless promote awareness of these serious issues

o Closer to home and Gibraltar sees another energised celebration of World Environment Day where the children tell the rest of us how we should be looking after our planet. This event has gone from strength to strength –well done to all involved! We hope the long anticipated publication of Gibraltar’s own Environmental Action and Management Plan will also see the light of day with our own plan to tackle our environmental issues and impacts

o Concerns have been raised about the mounting piles of household waste at the Public Waste site. We understand this was linked to paperwork issues which are now resolved and normal operations will resume

o Moving on to the next Development and Planning Commission meeting in Gibraltar –taking place next Friday, 14th at 9.00am at the John Mackintosh Hall. Agenda should be posted on the Town Planning website as from tomorrow

o The Flotel is another current issue with concerns about reclamation for a car park area. We are hopeful that while significant works are ongoing at the Ocean Village site that the authorities achieve a rethink of existing plans of reclamation and preserve the water feature – and that this will be announced soon.

o We would like to remind listeners to be careful about using Western Beach. Visit environmental-agency.gi for monitoring data that will confirm the safety of the water quality for bathing for you and your family. Up until a few days ago, the EA was still picking up sewage contamination in the waters at Western. Even in previous years the waters have usually cleaned up by April, not so this time and so diligence is called for. If the samples continue to register pollution it is our view that Government should close the beach

o Remember to watch Channel 5, on the 11th June at 9pm local time for the first of a series of programmes on Gibraltar, and when CUTW day 2012 will feature! See esg-gib.net for more info
Thanks for listening!

ESG Radio Newsletter 23rd May 2013

Today we would like to review a number of environmental issues – we start with concerns over the high levels of sewage at Western Beach still being detected by the Environmental Agency sampling programme as recently as mid May. Some contaminants are registering at over 10 times the “guide limits”, while others are double the mandatory limit – meaning illegal levels and unsafe to bathe in, calling for the beach to be closed. We heard Sir Graham Watson discussing the matter last night from Brussels on GBC and welcome his support, of course, but it is a shame it is taking so long to resolve.

Another item that caught our eye was the concrete platform on Catalan Bay beach –one assumes it’s related to the play area but did it need to be that big? We shall be making enquiries in that direction. On the positive side, it is great to see beaches like Sandy Bay get the much needed infrastructural works it is now receiving. That coastline has taken a battering over the years, good to see it being strengthened and receiving some tlc at long last.

Yesterday’s brief power cut also brings us to another matter, that of electricity supply for the Rock.
This is a subject that matters to everyone, because it affects everyone. The ESG has had a special interest in our heavily polluting power stations and have campaigned for over a decade for a modern power plant to be built to best available technology and replace these as soon as possible. When Govt finally released a tender specification for the next generation power station we issued a positive statement welcoming this long awaited development.

We then rec’d a number of enquiries from members of the public ranging from technical questions to issues of environmental safety and so our technical advisers put together a comprehensive paper outlining our views on this important issue. It’s clear that a new power station must be completed as soon as possible to remove heavy pollution from our neighbourhoods and to secure power supply for the community. You can find this and other statements on our website at esg-gib.net, under the news section- link as follows:-

http://www.esg-gib.net/esg-on-new-power-station-for-gibraltar/

Regarding the CEPSA Oil Refinery and recent episodes of heavy pollution –we are investigating this issue and have contacted the company to ask for an explanation of what happened. Concerns were raised on both sides of the border but were not followed by any public announcement either from the Spanish authorities or the Refinery. We know only too well that fumes from this plant are toxic and harmful to health and they are legally obliged to limit such episodes to periods of breakdown or power failure only–explanations will be sought.

This week we were invited to a meeting with the Chief Minister and Ministers for the Environment and Planning to discuss our concerns surrounding the preparatory works underway for the Floating Hotel– with the reclamation of an important water feature as a car park a serious concern. Discussions continue and we shall also update on this soon.

Gibraltar’s Development and Planning Commission held their monthly meeting this morning: A reminder that you can keep up with the agendas and minutes of all meetings online by going to “Town Planning Gibraltar” and clicking on DPC. There was nothing too contentious on there this morning but you may find it interesting reading nonetheless.

One last point is about our face book page on mobile phone masts now up and running and attracting a growing amount of interest. Why not visit our page, send us a comment or question on this issue? Search for MobilePhoneMast Concern Gibraltar. Our technical advisers update the page with news and info and are happy to provide answers to specific questions or concerns.

You can contact us by emailing esg@gibtelecom.net , calling 200-48996 or ringing mobile 54960000
Thanks for listening.