The 7 chemical companies behind the 7 hills of Basel still do not clean up their chemical waste landfills… – and because nothing is done about it, the chemical waste still continues to contaminate the Basel water!
That’s why Greenpeace launched an art competition and now calls on the public to award the EURoePoison Dwarf of the YearEUR -> vote here (just click onto your favorite “Poison Dwarf”)!
7 surprise-prices to be won -> click here and fill your email into the form)!
More information about the Poison Dwarfs and the chemical waste-problem of Swiss TNC Novartis, Roche, Ciba, Syngenta click here
The Poison Dwarf
To draw attention to this fact, Greenpeace Switzerland launched an art competition and now calls on the public to select the EURoePoison Dwarf of the YearEUR from among the entries! The poison dwarf that received the most votes will be created by the artists. Greenpeace will use this poison dwarf as a symbol for advocating the thorough cleanup of landfills.
Vote until April 15 with a click onto your favorite poison dwarf!
The Prize
7 surprise-prices to be won (fill your email into the form).
The toxic landfills
In the Basel region the Basel Chemical Industry (Novartis, Roche, Ciba, Syngenta, Clariant, Rohner, SF-Chem) has about a dozen non-secure chemical landfills with at least 35,000 tons of toxic waste. The landfills leak, contaminate the ground water and threaten our drinking water. The risk to people, animals and the environment is unacceptable.
Greenpeace advocates the thorough cleanup of leaking chemical waste landfills at the cost of the polluter and would like to draw attention to this issue by awarding the prize of EURoePoison Dwarf of the YearEUR.
Background Information
In the Basel region the Basel Chemical Industry has about a dozen non-secure chemical landfills with at least 35,000 tons of toxic waste.
Between 1945 and 1961, the predecessor companies of Novartis, Roche, Ciba SC, Syngenta, Clariant, Rohner and SF-Chem have deposited tons of in part highly toxic chemical waste in old gravel pits.
Today we know that chemicals leak from landfills, contaminate the ground water and threaten our drinking water. In the spring of 2006, Greenpeace showed that traces of toxins were present in the Basel drinking water. The risk to people, animals and the environment is unacceptable.
News Update: April 2007
Summary of events from January to March 2007:
Greenpeace proved that the chemical contamination of the drinking water in Muttenz has already been known for 20 years. The industry and the authorities kept quiet. The Basler Zeitung then reported that the chemical waste in the ground in the Basel region is eight times higher than previously suspected. At the same time, the chemical industry carried out a risky excavation operation at Le Letten near Schönenbuch. Greenpeace launches the art competition.
In February, Greenpeace caused quite a stir in the Basel region with a new study. Greenpeace, together with the Forum besorgter Trinkwasser-KonsumentInnen (Forum for Concerned Consumers of Drinking Water), showed that the chemical contamination in the Muttenz drinking water catchments has already been known for 20 years. What is particularly striking is that the authorities and the industry not only keep this information secret, but simply excluded it in the tests of 2002: contaminated water catchments were no longer analyzed and the water no longer tested for critical substances.
This is why Greenpeace activists presented the shareholders of Novartis and Ciba with some Basel drinking water – brand “Toxic”- at their general assemblies in early March. At the podium, Matthias Wüthrich explained why it is high time that the companies begin a thorough cleanup of the landfills in the Basel area.
Dirty part-cleanup without permission
The chemical companies thought that things would calm down after their general assemblies. But this was not the case. In neighboring Alsace, representatives of Novartis, Ciba and Syngenta carried out a partial cleanup of the Le Letten landfill near Schönenbuch, but without permission and without sufficient protective measures for humans and the environment. At the time of this writing it was not known whether Greenpeace will take legal action.
Eight times higher amounts of chemical waste
However, it is known that over three weeks the topic of chemical waste has been regularly addressed on the front page of the Basler Zeitung as well as on television, radio and in the press in France, Germany and Switzerland in a decisive and at times sharp tone. In addition, the aforementioned newspaper discovered from internal chemical company documents that the amount of chemical waste in the region is eight times higher than previously suspected!
Poison dwarf of the year
Those who like to create sculptures were invited to design a “Poison Dwarf of the Year” by the end of March as part of the “Seven Poison Dwarfs” art competition. The seven best poison dwarfs will be selected by the public at the website www.totalsanieren.ch and the artists will be awarded a prize by Greenpeace. Take part in this event! Select your favorite poison dwarf of the year!
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