The Mess NATO Left Behind.

• Author: MESLER, BILL
• Position: The environmental damages of the NATO-Yugoslavia Conflict, 1999 - Column

Unexploded cluster bombs and depleted uranium shells litter Yugoslavia's landscape

They are about the size of a paper-towel holder, bright yellow with orange lettering. A little white plastic umbrella is attached to one end, giving it a harmless, toy-like appearance. But these little items are far from innocuous. They are bomblets from cluster bombs--NATO's deadliest anti-personnel weapon--left behind by the U.S. Air Force. During a war that generated so much rhetoric about precision-guided smart bombs, the cluster bomb is the ultimate "dumb bomb." Many don't explode on impact. Like land mines, the unexploded bomblets that break off a cluster bomb can continue to kill for years, posing a particular danger to curious children. NATO planes dropped thousands of them over Kosovo, where they now dot the landscape.

Unexploded bomblets from cluster bombs are just one of the many hazards left behind by NATO's two-month air war against Yugoslavia. Signing a peace agreement may have ended the fighting, but cleaning up the dangerous debris could take years. The landscape is littered with remnants of anti-tank shells made of radioactive depleted uranium and other unexploded ordnance. Italian fisherman have even been pulling larger NATO bombs out of their nets in the Adriatic Sea, where NATO planes returning to bases in Aviano, Italy, dropped unused payloads.

NATO's decision to target chemical plants, oil refineries, and energy transformer stations could have long-term consequences for civilians in the region. Dangerous chemical and oil spills may already have contaminated the Danube, which flows through Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and Moldova. And a recent environmental study of the largely rural region of northern Greece that borders Yugoslavia has found dioxin levels as high as one would find in a heavily industrialized city.

Environmental groups are trying to assess the hazards and come up with a plan of action. On June 16, the United Nations Environment Program and the United Nations Committee on Human Settlement convened a special meeting of international environmental groups, including Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Green Cross. A special Balkans Task Force was established under the leadership of former Finnish environment minister Pekka Haavisto to address the region's environmental problems. "There were concerns expressed at the meeting about Serbia and Kosovo as well as the transboundary environmental impact," says Greenpeace spokesperson Stephanie Mills. "We want to take a look at some of the war's toxic effects, such as the bombing of chemical factories and transformer stations and the use of depleted uranium weapons." The problem, says Mills, is that there is little real information on the extent of the impact at this point. Exaggerated propaganda by Yugoslav authorities and total denial by NATO have made it difficult to accurately assess the dangers posed by bombed chemical and oil...