Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.04.2013, Page 8

A river in the east of Iceland called Lagar-
fljót has had its ecosystem collapse. The
river originates in the Vatnajökull glacier
and runs east through a long valley called
Fljótsdalur where it forms a lake called
Lögurinn. Then it runs past the town Eg-
ilsstaðir before entering the bay Héraðs-
flói. It is also known as the supposed
dwelling place of a Loch Ness Monster-
like snake dragon thing.

HOW HORRIBLE THAT AN
ECOLOGICAL... WAIT, SNAKE
DRAGON THING?
According to folklore the river is the home
of Lagarfljótsormurinn, whose name
means “The Lagarfljót Worm” (or Wyrm,
if you prefer bad fantasy novels to real-
ity). It is an old legend, first written down
in the 14th Century. A woman put a small
worm in a small casket containing some
gold, which was supposed to increase the
amount stored within.

I CAN FEEL AN ALLEGORY
COMING.
When she next checked inside, however,
the gold had not grown, but the worm had.
In a panic she threw the creature into the
nearby river where it kept growing, caus-
ing havoc by attacking people and live-
stock and spewing venom on the land.
BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE
RIVER RECENTLY?
As opposed to the myth of the Lagarfljót
Wyrm, the story of the ecological destruc-
tion of Lagarfljót is thoroughly modern.
In the year 2000 it was suggested that a
dam could be built near a mountain called
Kárahnjúkar to supply power to a wizard
school.

WOW! AWESOME! A REAL
WIZ... OH, YOU'RE JOKING.
Sorry, this is such a depressing story that
I keep trying to escape into fantasy. It was
actually to supply electricity to an alumin-
ium smelting plant in Reyðarfjörður, one
of the eastern fjords of Iceland. Construc-
tion on the Kárahnjúkar dam was fully
complete in 2009 and now four years later
the ecology of Lagarfljót has collapsed.
OH NO! IF ONLY THEY
COULD'VE KNOWN, THEN
THIS WOULD'VE BEEN
AVERTED.
The thing is, and this is where things start
getting really depressing, it was known all
along that this would happen. In 2001, a
year after the dam-building was proposed,
the Icelandic National Planning Agency,
the government institution tasked with
making environmental impact assess-
ments for major construction projects,
ruled that the damage done to the envi-
ronment would be too great to allow the
project. One of the reasons cited was the
deleterious effects of diverting water from
another river, Jökulsá á dal, into Lagar-
fljót.
WAIT, SO THIS IS A RIVER POL-
LUTED BY ANOTHER RIVER?
Pollution is perhaps not the right word, but
yes, that is what happened. This increased
the amount sediment in Lagarfljót, reduc-
ing visibility and thus the amount of sun-
light that reaches plants living in the water,
which causes fewer plants to grow, leading
to a collapse in the population of fish spe-
cies which subsist on said plants, and there-
fore also in bird species which eat the fish.
Also, I might add, this increase in sediment
has turned the once beautifully blue-green
water the colour of diluted diarrhoea.
BUT IF THE PLANNING AGEN-
CY RULED AGAINST THE DAM,
WHY DID IT HAPPEN
Because the political parties in power at
the time, the right wing Independence Par-
ty and the centre-right Progressive Party,
were in favour of building the dam. The
aim was to ensure the building of the alu-
minium smelting plant in Reyðarfjörður,
as there was a worry that the economy in
the Eastern Fjords was in danger of enter-
ing a death spiral and the hope was that
a big, new workplace could halt the trend.
Then Minister for the Environment Siv
Friðleifsdóttir from The Progressive Party
overturned the decision of the National
Planning Agency.

OH WOW, SHE MUST FEEL RE-
ALLY TERRIBLE ABOUT THAT
NOW.
No, not really. Here is what she has to say:
"We looked at the report and realised the
impact very clearly at the time. We decided
to allow the project to proceed on the basis
of conditions that would mitigate the im-
pact… We didn’t think the impact would
be so great that it would overshadow the
benefits of the project." When asked about
whether she still thinks today, given what
has happened, that it was the correct thing
to do, she says: "I believe this was the right
decision."
WELL, AT LEAST WE'VE STILL
GOT THE LEGEND OF THE
LAGARFLJÓT WYRM TO EN-
TERTAIN US.
Maybe not. The prevailing scientific ex-
planation for Lagarfljót Wyrm sightings is
that rotting plant matter produces methane
gas which gets released, making the water
roil and giving the appearance of a thrash-
ing beast. It seems logical that if there is
a lot less plant matter, less methane will
be produced, reducing sightings. We don’t
know how Siv Friðleifsdóttir feels about
slaying the Lagarfljót Wyrm.
So What's This Dying River
I Keep Hearing About?
March sure came in like a lion and
went out like a lamb, eh? In fact,
it’s almost difficult to remember
just how much the weather was
making the news just a few short
weeks ago considering how abso-
lutely gorgeous it’s been of late.
But March wasn’t all about snow-
storms and ash dust, a few other
things happened, too.
The month got
started with Beer
Day, marking the
proud date in Ice-
landic history when
beer was once
again legal for the
masses to consume. Judging by
the abundance of broken bottles,
smashed billboards, and puddles
of vomit around Reykjavík on
March 2, the masses sure did en-
joy it. Prohibition of beer officially
ended on March 1, 1989.
Asylum seekers deserved a beer on
March 1, as word got out that Reyk-
janesbær Mayor Árni Sigfússon
was severing the municipality’s
agreement to house newcomers
awaiting their cases to be pro-
cessed. The municipality originally
said that they would stop accepting
asylum seekers as of April 1, but
announced at the end of the month
that they’d be pushing that date
back to July 1 to give the govern-
ment more time to find alternative
housing. So time will tell where the
asylum seekers who once called
Fit Hostel home will be housed this
summer.
Speaking of peo-
ple being held
against their will,
Davíð Örn Bjar-
nason, a 28-year-
old Icelander
who resides in
Sweden, was arrested on March 8
when departing Antalya, Turkey,
where he was vacationing with
his partner. The pair had bought a
stone from the market and packed
it away to shuttle back to Sweden
and show off to all their friends
while boasting about what an
awesome time they had in Turkey.
Only the happy times were halted
when Turkish police decided that
the stone was an antique and Davíð
was, therefore, a smuggler. Ouch.
The ordeal progressed until the
14th when Davíð was finally freed
from prison, though he was held in
the country under a travel ban until
the 26th. He’ll stand trial in a few
weeks and could face some prison
time or a fine.
Not-even-horse-meat-gate raged
on as the Icelandic Food and Veteri-
nary Authority (MAST) continued
to test foods available in Icelan-
dic shops. Gæðakokkar, the same
company that somehow failed to
include any meat in its meat pies in
February, also failed to include any
beef in its meatballs which are la-
– Continues over –
NEWS IN BRIEF
MARCH
Iceland | FAQ
8The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 4 — 2013
Words by Kári Tulinius
Illustration by Lóa Hjálmtýsdóttir
Alþingi should really see a doctor about that fire-pee.