Veolia is currently involved in building a light railway linking Israeli colonies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories with Jerusalem; human rights groups have protested about this for some time and some financial institutions have divested/considered divesting from Veolia as a result.
Now it transpires that Veolia is also involved in dumping Israeli waste on Palestinian territory. The writer is an Israeli human rights advocate.
Veolia involved in Israel's waste dumping in West Bank
Adri Nieuwhof, The Electronic Intifada,16 December 2008
At the entrance of the Tovlan landfill, located beside the Jordan River in the OccupiedPalestinianTerritories (OPT), three flags fly proudly: those of Israel, France and the European company, Veolia. Through its Onyx subsidiary, Veolia, which is also constructing the Jerusalem light rail project on occupied Palestinian land, is managing the Tovlan landfill. In a 2004 year report on sustainable development, Veolia announced that its subsidiary Onyx brought "the new Tovlan landfill into service in Israel." Prior to that time, Tovlan was an old, unsanitary waste dump.
Veolia has a history of juggling with names. In 2005 Onyx became Veolia Environmental Services, also operating in Israel under the name TMM Onyx. Research by the Coalition of Women for Peace confirms that the Tovlan landfill is owned and operated by TMM, a company that is 100 percent owned by Veolia Environmental Services Israel.
Consistent with its activities in the light rail project, Veolia claims that the Tovlan landfill is located in Israel, rather than in the OPT. According to Israel's Ministry of Environment Protection there are 18 authorized landfills, including the Tovlan and Abu Dis landfills located in the occupied West Bank. The Tovlan site is managed by the Israeli settlement regional council of Biqat Hayarden, which covers 21 settlements. It is mainly used as a dump for solid waste from Israeli municipalities and the illegal settlements of Ariel, Maale Efrayim, the Regional Councils of Megilot, Biqat Hayarden and Shomron as well as the BarkanIndustrial Park.
Although located on Palestinian land, Tovlan landfill hardly serves Palestinian communities. Instead, it is used by Israel for dumping waste from the illegal Israeli settlements built on Palestinian land in the West Bank. Tovlan accounts for 14 percent of Israel's solid waste dumped in landfills, or 602,766 tons annually. In 2006, dumping one ton of waste at the site cost around 40 shekels ($10), a price Palestinian municipalities can hardly afford. In addition to the dumping charge a substantial amount is required for the transportation of waste, whereby trucks are hindered by the numerous Israeli checkpoints located throughout the West Bank.
In 2004, the International Court of Justice stated that Israel should dismantle the settlements built in the OPT. Instead, Israel has accelerated the expansion of settlements. After Veolia's involvement in the Jerusalem light rail project, intended to transport settlers to and from the city, the company now assists Israel in "solving" the problem of waste from the settlements. With the Tovlan "sanitary" landfill in the OPT, Veolia leaves Palestine with an unacceptable scar of garbage in the JordanValley, a monument to the company being on the wrong track yet again.
Adri Nieuwhof is a consultant and human rights advocate.
For more information about Veolia's track record in Israel/Palestine and other countries, email safe_waste_shropshire@yahoo.com.
A timely warning from Wales. Meanwhile, Veolia's application for an incinerator at Battlefield is expected to be submitted in 'Mid January' and SITA's application for the Granville incinerator is already in. Keep watching this site and the local media for more details and for help with objecting. People who want to object to the Granville incinerator should look at: http://www.nogranville.blogspot.com/ as a matter of urgency. It is vital that members of the public object to incineration. If the people responsible for our health and well-being get away with building the incinerators at Battlefield and Granville, we will be paying the price for decades to come with our health and pockets. Don't believe the hype: incinerators are not safe, clean or the only alternative to landfill. They can be stopped. Read our site, follow the links for more information. Get informed and HELP STOP INCINERATION IN SHROPSHIRE! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.newswales.co.uk/?section=Environment&F=1&id=15783
Cardiff giant incinerator rubbished 10/12/2008
A hugely over-sized and polluting waste incinerator plant could be coming to Cardiff if plans submitted to the City Council are given the go-ahead, says the environmental campaigning organization Cardiff Friends of the Earth.
The council received the planning application from waste management company Viridor on November 27 for an incinerator in Trident Park, Cardiff Bay.The timing of the application means that any objections have to be submitted to the planning department by Christmas Eve for a decision early in the New Year.
Heather Webber of Cardiff Friends of the Earth said: "Hauling huge amounts of rubbish around the country to be burnt is not a sensible, or sustainable, waste solution."This incinerator is massively over-sized, and would release dangerous emissions and increase congestion and pollution in Wales' capital city."If this incinerator is given the go-ahead, there will be more than 250 large lorries rumbling through Cardiff every day - feeding the incinerator's demands for a third of a million tonnes of rubbish a year."
Incineration is supposed to be the answer to keeping waste out of landfill, but for the environment, burning rubbish is worse than burying it."There are other, sustainable solutions available - incineration on this scale is absolutely not necessary, will hit recycling rates, and won't be able to adapt to the changing demands of the future."
The timing of the submission in the busy run-up to Christmas would appear to be a cynical move by Viridor to avoid public objection."If we don't want Cardiff to become the waste capital of Wales, residents urgently need to contact the planning department with their concerns."
Veolia is currently involved in building a light railway linking Israeli colonies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories with Jerusalem; human rights groups have protested about this for some time and some financial institutions have divested/considered divesting from Veolia as a result.
