The Førde Fjord (Førdefjorden), which may be reduced to a toxic waste dump.
The Norwegian government has authorized the dumping of 300 million tons of toxic waste in the fjord I grew up next to. This madness has been covered internationally by The Guardian, The Telegraph, The BBC and others. Luckily it turns out that the local 21 person strong village council can challenge the government’s controversial decision, and I have moved back home, after 15 years in Oslo, to give my vote to political parties that oppose this severe crime against nature.
My vote may help the political parties opposing the plans obtain a majority after the local elections in Norway in September. And, more importantly, I may inspire others to also move to Naustdal to vote, and to encourage current residents to also say no.
An own website has been set up, SaveOurFjord.org, to help explain the situation and to crowd fund towards a marketing campaign for the political parties opposing the fjord disposal.
The 300 millions tons include 112 kilos of mercury annually. That is almost ten times as much as the 12-15 kilos of mercury which are being emitted in all of Norway per year (divided on 100,000 kilometeres of coastline).
I find it incredible that Nordic Mining, a company with three employees and a bank overdraft of zero, has successfully managed to lobby local politicians and the government into accepting what will ultimately help destroy Norway’s reputation as a pristine, clean and spectacular paradise. Not to mention the effect it will have on Norway’s fish exports.
Naturvernforbundet, an environmental organization, has labelled the project “one of the worst pollution scandals in modern history”, and I find it beyond belief that the project has been given the green light by so-called environmental minister Tine Sundtoft. On the date of her ministry’s acceptance, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg was campaigning for Norwegian salmon in Vietnam, giving away free samples of healthy fish from the clean fjords of Norway. All featured on the 7 o’clock national news on Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.
Oh, the irony.
A lot of Norwegians are opposing the plans of dumping the huge amounts of toxic waste into the fjord. 1,500 people have even stated that they will indeed join civil disobedience protests. I will rather challenge them to follow my example and move to Naustdal before the election to stop the pollution of the fjord in a legal manner.
I think local democracy is a better way to stop this as soon as possible rather than resorting to civil disobedience as a desperate last attempt, and I have previously written about this in Norwegian too.
Several Norwegian newspapers has covered my stance, and I have set up a website to help spread the word: www.flyttforfjord.org (flytt for fjord means move for fjord).
#moveforfjord (#flyttforfjord) #voteno #Naustdal
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