Iceland review - 2002, Side 7

POWER PLANT CONTROVERSY
The controversy over intentions to build power plants in Fljótsdalshérad, in the east of Iceland,
and in Thjórsárver, southeast of Hofsjökull glacier in the middle of the country, continues
The American aluminium giant, Alcoa, has shown interest in building a 295,000 tonne aluminium smelter in Reydarfjördur (east Iceland),
using hydroelectric power harnessed from the Jökulsá á Dal glacial river and other rivers in the vicinity of the Kárahnjúkar peaks (north-
east Iceland), an area which boasts the largest unspoilt natural environment in Europe. At the foot of the Kárahnjúkar peaks runs the
largest canyon in the country, Hafrahvammagljúfur, one of Iceland’s most impressive natural wonders. If the plans of the National Power
Company are carried out, a 200-m-high dam will be built in the canyon, forming an 80 sq m reservoir and leaving the canyon dry.
Businessmen, politicians, environmental protection groups, inhabitants of the area, and Icelanders in general have been debating the
issue of whether to harness the glacial rivers in the area or to just enjoy the unspoilt nature. The government, the National Power
Company, and Alcoa have signed an agreement which states that all parties intend to carry out their part of the bargain: the government
will grant permission, the power company will provide the power and Alcoa will provide the smelter.
The National Power Company has also put forth proposals to build a power plant in Thjórsárver (southwest Iceland), by harnessing the
Thjórsá river to meet the energy demands of aluminium smelters in the south of the country which plan to expand their production. The
proposal has met much resistance from the Icelandic Environmental Protection Association and other groups, who say that this natural
paradise and its wildlife sanctuary should not be destroyed.
SHORT CUTS
A REVIEW OF THE NATION´S
TOP STORIES AND RECENT EVENTS
Compiled by staff writer: ANDREA ÓSK JÓNSDÓTTIR.
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KEIKO LEAVES THE NEST
Keiko has left his trainers and joined a pod of whales
Keiko, the world-famous whale and star of Free Willy, has left his protected
home in the Westman Islands and is now swimming approximately 80 sea miles
north of the Faroe Islands. At the time of print, Keiko had not been in the
Westman Islands since 17 July. For the past two years, Keiko’s trainers have taken
him out during the summertime to join herds of whales swimming near the
Westman Islands. Keiko usually swims with a pod for a while and then turns back
to his trainers when the other whales desert him. According to Hallur Hallsson,
spokesman for Ocean Futures, Keiko has been progressing well this year. After
the Verslunarmannahelgi bank holiday festival in the Westman Islands, Keiko
and the other whales seem to have left the area around the islands. Satellites
now show that they are swimming near the Faroe Islands. Hallsson says that it is
still too early to assert that Keiko has completely left his human caretakers and
begun to find his own food, but researchers are now monitoring Keiko’s travels
very closely. The world is now waiting and hoping that Keiko will finally return
to his natural habitat—just like in the movie, Free Willy.
05 IR302 - Short Cuts bs 2.9.2002 13:20 Page 5