"Austrian leather factories will be fitted with filters to prevent pollution on the Rába river and remove salt on the Lapincs under an agreement signed Tuesday by Environment Minister Gábor Fodor and his Austrian counterpart Josef Pröll.Meeting in the Fertő-Hanság-Örség National Park, the two ministers agreed that the Austrian authorities will pay €8 million to restore the Rába ecosystem.
Fodor later told Magyar Hírlap that under the action plan Austria will introduce more stringent regulations for emissions from the tanneries responsible for the pollution, set limits to reduce the quantity of salt on the river and have filters installed at the leather factories to cleanse the polluted water. The costs will be borne by the provincial governments of Burgenland and Styria, as well as state authorities.
Pröll told Népszabadság that improvements in the quality of the Rába will possibly be noticeable next year, when the full effect of the filters will be seen.
The two ministers also agreed to stop within two years salt pollution on the Lapincs and Rába rivers caused by the geothermic power plant at Fürstenfeld. A group has been formed to monitor the implementation of the action plan.
Greenpeace official Noémi Nemes said her organisation welcomes the news, but objected that there are no specific time frames for setting the new limits on emissions from the tanneries."
Source: Hungary Around the Clock.
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27.06.2007