Saving Iceland

We just received this letter from Saving Iceland Supporters in Switzerland:

On 23 July we returned to the European Headquarters of ALCOA in Geneva, Avenue G. Motta 31, to stage a protest for the international Action Week in solidarity with the Saving Iceland campaign. Our aim was to put pressure on Alcoa and show support for the activists at the summer action camp in Iceland.

Read More

Iceland Review – Sigurdur Sigurdarson, a veterinarian at Keldur in south Iceland, claims that fluorine pollution from aluminum smelter is causing teeth-damages in livestock and encourages sheep farmers who live near smelters to pay close attention to the symptoms. Read More

PROTESTS AGAINST LANDSVIRKJUN’S PLANNED DAMS IN ÞJÓRSÁ RIVER AND THE CONNECTION BETWEEN LANDSVIRKJUN AND ALCOA

REYKJAVÍK  – Today 30 activists from the international campaign Saving Iceland have invaded the Landsvirkjun (national power company) building (Háaleitisbraut 68) to disrupt work. Earlier this morning Saving Iceland activists dammed the house of Landsvirkjun director Friðrik Sophusson and nailed an eviction notice to his door.

“We oppose Landsvirkjun’s intentions to build the four Þjórsá and Tungnaá dams for Rio Tinto at Straumsvik (1,2), despite the referendum. They are also negotiating to dam Skjálfandafljót and Jökuslá á Fjöllum for ALCOA’s planned Bakki smelter (3,4). This is on top of the mess they are making of Þeistareykir (5) and the deep drilling into Mount Krafla, right next to the tourist attraction. LV are doing this for a company that is a self-admitted arms dealer (6) and has been in the news again and again for it’s gross abuse of human rights. (7) This company should not be welcomed by Landsvirkjun,” says Jaap Krater from Saving Iceland.

Read More

We just received a letter from our great friends in Italy who decided to join the fight against heavy industry. Their target was Impregilo which is ,,an old well-known leader in capitalist destruction of earth”. Impregilo is a Italian company who took part in the destruction of the Kárahnjúkar area in the east of Iceland, when a huge dam was built to power an Alcoa’s aluminium smelter in Reyðarfjörður.

Monday July 21st, a demonstration took place in front of the Icelandic embassy in Rome and the next day, two protests happened by the headquarters of Impregilo in Sesto San Giovanni near Milan and by the Icelandic Consulate in Milan. Read More

About 90 people attended the Saving Iceland conference with the Indian writer, scientist and aluminium expert Samarendra Das and ‘Dreamland’ author Andri Snær Magnusson, on the influence of the aluminium industry in the third world. It took place at Reykjavikurakademian. The concept of aluminium as a ‘green’ product will was examined. A video of the talks is currently being prepared and will be available shortly.
On the 21st, there was also a talk by Das in the Peace House and on the 24th Das will speak in Keflavik. Read More

GRUNDARTANGI – A short while ago 20 activists from Saving Iceland blockaded the single supply road to Century Aluminum’s smelter on Hvalfjordur and Elkem – Icelandic Alloys steel factory. They have chained themselves to each other using arm tubes to form a human blockade as well as using tripod for the first time in Icelandic history. “We protest the environmental and human health hazards Century’s bauxite mining and refining activities in Jamaica, their plans for a new smelter and refinery in West Congo. Both Century’s and Elkem’s expansion plans will also mean destruction of unique geothermal areas in Iceland and produce large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions,” says Miriam Rose of Saving Iceland (1).

UPDATE: The blockade went on for three hours. Nobody was arrested. Read More

HELGUVIK (ICELAND) – Early this morning activists from over 10 countries occupied the construction site where California-based Century Aluminum are constructing a new aluminium smelter, and chained themselves to machinery. The protest by the campaign Saving Iceland is aimed at damage to geothermal areas in southwest Iceland and Century’s environmental and human rights abuses in Jamaica and Africa.

As well as Century, other aluminium corporations ALCOA and Rio Tinto-Alcan want to construct new smelters. This would require exploitation of all the geothermal areas in the country, as well as damming all major glacial rivers (1).

Impact assessment: ’pollution will just blow away’
The construction of Century’s Helguvík plant depends on the expansion of geothermal power plants east of Reykjavik (Hellisheiði) and on the Reykjanes peninsula southwest of Reykjavik (2). Construction of the smelter began in June, without a valid environmental impact assessment. There is also no guarantee of sufficient energy (435 MW) for the smelter (3).
The environmental impact assessment for the Helguvik smelter was produced by the construction engineers HRV, who have designed smelters for ALCOA and Century (4). Read More

This article and BBC News feature details the opposition of the Dongria Kondh people in Orissa, Northeast India, to bauxite mining by mining giant Vedanta, which is having a severe impact on the ecosystems of this area. The mined bauxite or refined alumina are sold to aluminium corporations.

Read More

During our protest camp this summer, that starts 12th of July, a week of international solidarity actions will take place from July 21st to 27th.
People who can not come to the camp but want to support the resistance against heavy industry in Iceland, should take a look at Saving Iceland’s target brochure (which can be found here) and use their imagination. Read More

Court Delays Hydropower Projects in Þjórsá

If all heavy industry projects that are planned in Iceland will be executed, the sector will require the double amount of energy that is uses today. The heavy industry sector currently uses about 61 percent of all energy produced in Iceland. Landsvirkjun has stated that the planned Þjórsá and Tungnaá (Langisjór) dams and geothermal exploitation (þeistareykir, Krafla, Hengill and Reykjanes) will not be sufficient and more power projects are needed. Landsvirkjun is basically suggesting that the whole original energy masterplan would need to be reactivated, contrary to supposed government policy.

In the mean time, the court case between landowners by Þjórsá river in south Iceland versus the state, on the harnessing rights of the river, will delay the construction of three planned hydropower plants, because of so-called Titan Agreements (an old water agreement). Read More