Environment minister tough on tannery pollution case

"Hungary has given Austria until May to eliminate the foam on the river Rába and unless progress is evident, tannery production, the pollution’s cause, will have to be suspended," Environment Minister Miklós Persányi told the Austrian ambassador summoned to his office in Budapest on Monday.

Persányi gave his ultimatum to Boxmark tannery in Jennersdorf, Austria to stop polluting the river Rába or Hungary will withdraw the permission it awarded the factory in 1997. The factory has to improve the water quality by May 1, 2007. In a letter sent to his Austrian counterpart, federal minister Jozef Pröll, Persányi said he "has had enough of promises and is ready to take tougher action to prevent contamination of the river. Parliament's environmental protection committee will take up the matter on Wednesday.

Although Austrian authorities initially denied it, laboratory analyses have proved that the leather factory is responsible for the recurring foaming. Tourist numbers by the river have dropped due to the tainted water.

In another development Persányi dismissed as unfounded the rumours that the two Free Democrat-run ministries, the environment and economy ministries, are to be merged.

The above story is just one of more than two dozen published today by Hungary Around the Clock, the most comprehensive source of daily English-language news about Hungary. For a free trial of HATC, click here. Hungarian news sources include Népszabadság; Magyar Hírlap; Világgazdaság; Napi Gazdaság; Magyar Nemzet; Népszava; Kossuth Rádió news and Hungarian television's nightly news broadcast.

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