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UN environment agency praises new strategy to cut Eastern Europe's mining risks

UN environment agency praises new strategy to cut Eastern Europe's mining risks

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Governments attending an international conference in Romania have adopted an historic strategy to reduce the environmental risks of mining in Eastern Europe, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reported.

The plan, agreed on Saturday at the end of the conference by ministers and officials from around a dozen countries in the region, is likely to lead to detailed assessments of sites whose continued operation has become a source of pollution and tension in an already volatile part of the world, according to the agency.

The strategy will also accelerate the establishment and extension of early-warning systems on key rivers and tributaries in order to warn countries in the region of chronic pollution incidents.

Studies carried out on UNEP's behalf have concluded that numerous old and abandoned sites are now cause for environmental, social and political concern.

The sites, found in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Kosovo, have been involved in the extraction and processing of metals such as zinc, cadmium, copper, bauxite, silver and gold.

Over a third of the more than 150 of these sites, some of which have been abandoned or “orphaned,” may pose a serious risk to human health, the environment and regional stability experts have concluded.

Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director, praised the initiative to tackle the threats posed by mining and related industries. “I hope this commitment will be matched by support from Governments outside the region, bodies like the European Commission, industry and others so that we can put mining in this region on a sustainable track,” he said.