- President George Bush is to bring leaders of the world's
richest to Sea Island next month to showcase his "environmental stewardship".
-
- But the island - the most beautiful of the sub-tropical
Golden Isles off the Georgia coast - is in one of the most polluted areas
of the American South. Glynn County, which contains Sea Island - the site
of next month's G8 summit - is home to 16 hazardous waste plants.
-
- A nearby polluting paper mill is being closed down while
the leaders of the world's richest countries, including Tony Blair, are
in the neighbourhood.
-
- The locals describe the island as "somewhere between
Venice and heaven".
-
- The 18th-century colonists from England thought it was
the Garden of Eden, and it certainly must have seemed like paradise to
the President's parents, George Snr and Barbara Bush, when they honey-mooned
here 50 years ago.
-
- Bush family sentiment is thought to be one of the reasons
President Bush is bringing the world's leaders here for the summit on 8
June. The salt marshes and lazy creeks are also host to a proliferation
of vegetation and wildlife, making the area possibly the most environmentally
important on America's East Coast.
-
- There are more than 200 species of birds here, including
the yellow-bellied sapsucker, the boat-tailed grackle and the northern
cardinal. Deer and wild turkeys inhabit interior forests of pine, magnolia
and ancient moss veiled oaks. Egrets, pelicans and herons skim the surf.
On moonlit summer nights, endangered loggerhead turtles creep on to the
beaches to lay thousands of eggs.
-
- The summit's website says that the President wants to
"showcase the complementary benefits of environmental stewardship
and a strong economy".
-
- But critics will point out this is another case where
the environmental facts belie the President's words. For there is an unhappy
parallel with Venice, in that ecological danger lurks over the horizon.
-
- Of the 16 hazardous waste sites within 10 miles of the
island, four are so contaminated they have been designated for government
treatment programmes. They include a tidal creek and landfill dump full
of a banned pesticide; a former chemical factory that dumped toxic mercury
in local creeks; and a defunct wood preservatives factory.
-
- Before the clean-up began, shrimpers used to dock their
boats in one of the creeks so the pollution would kill the barnacles on
their hulls.
-
- The most visible sign of pollution is the Hercules factory,
emblemised by its two tall stainless steel chimneys gorging large clouds
of vapour over the causeway leading to Sea Island. Its smell - a cocktail
of glue and stewed cabbage - hangs like a pall.
-
- The factory makes a variety of things, including paper
and resin products, but the G8 leaders won't smell it, since it will be
closed down during their stay for "holidays".
-
- The locals are resigned to it. Emerson Gay, a retired
policeman, says: "Some folks say the smell is the smell of money,
which is why it's lasted so long. At least the stuff they're burning in
it now is not as nasty as it was."
-
- But the summit - and George Bush's boasts - are unlikely
to make things much better. Virtually none of the millions spent on the
G8 will find its way into environmental projects. On the road approach
to Sea Island last week they were busy stuffing in mature palm trees and
erecting quaint lighting. But there isn't much else.
-
- Gone are the dreams of a large pot of money to clean
up the environment. "I'd say stuff hasn't gone much faster than the
path we were already on," says the Glynn County Commissioner, Cap
Fendig. "No monies have hit here. Most of our stuff was for the police
department."
-
- The only substantial benefit has come from the telephone
company Bell South, which has just completed a $7m (£4m) upgrade
for fear of embarrassing world leaders phoning home with their previous
creaking system.
-
- Indeed many are concerned about serious further damage
to the coast when so many security men and personnel are crammed into such
an ecologically sensitive area. So far, the only major concession is that
those guarding the beach in front of where the world leaders will stay
have been told not to trample on turtle nests.
-
- "I have no concept of why in the world we do this
event whatsoever," said Judy Jennings, a Savannah-based environmental
campaigner. "I see no reason why we invite thousands of people to
trample over the beach so eight men can get together and talk. It's an
atrocious use of our environmental assets."
-
- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
- http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=521752
|