Höfundur flutti erindið á umræðufundi um "grunngildi samfélagsins" sem haldinn var í Reykjavíkur Akademíunni 20. nóvember árið 2007.

Erindið á ensku.

Fyrir ykkur sem ekki þekkið mig: Ég heit Miriam Rose, og er aðgerðasinni og umhverfisfræðingur frá Bretlandi. Ég var beðin um að tjá mig hér um reynslu mína af grunngildum íslensks samfélags, byggt á viðtali sem ég var í við Kastljós í október, eftir að mér var hótað með brottvísun úr landi vegna aðildar minnar að aðgerðum gegn stóriðjustefnu ríkisstjórnar ykkar. Í bréfinu sem ég fékk, þar sem farið var fram að mér yrði vísað úr landi, stóð að ég ætti á hættu að vera brottræk gerð frá Íslandi í þrjú ár, enda væri hegðun mín „ógnun við grunngildi samfélagsins“.

photo by Tom Olliver

Saving Iceland
7 November 2007

Only two days after the glorious inauguration of the turbines at Kárahnjúkar dam, further structural problems are already emerging.

Icelandic paper Morgunbladid revealed today that severe leakages in the tunnels leading to the turbines are releasing 200 litres of water per second onto the ground surface, forming a swamp currently about a third of a hectare in size. When asked to comment on the situation, Kárahnjúkarvirkjun spokesperson Sigurdur Arnalds said the water loss was of no consequence.

Regardless of whether or not we should believe Arnalds, the revelation that tunnel water is reaching the ground water breaches one of Siv Fridleifsdottir's [ex-Minister of Environment who pushed through the project] fundamental stipulations (no. 14):
That Kárahnjúkarvirkjun should NOT interfere with ground water levels.

Sirkús
Ágúst 2005

Kannski er það viðeigandi að viðtalinu seinki um nokkrar mínútur vegna rassíu lögreglunnar í íverustað mótmælendanna. Þannig er það í það minnsta: Ólafur Páll Sigurðsson hringir og segir: okkur seinkar. Þau koma samt, Ólafur Páll og Birgitta Jónsdóttir eru komin niður á Laugaveg eftir kortér. Blaut eins og veðrið býður upp á: sannkallað hálendisveður. Kannski er það þannig að ef þú ferð ekki til Kárahnjúka þá koma Kárahnjúkar til þín.

Aluminium production in Reydarfjördur
begins... using energy from the national
domestic grid!

Saving Iceland
24 April 2007

As Saving Iceland and others pointed out a long time ago Landsvirkjun have proven not to be able to deliver energy to ALCOA on 1 April 2007, as specified in their contract with the multinational.
This is highly embarrassing for the Icelandic government and Landsvirkjun, especially as the general elections are coming and the contract they signed with ALCOA specifies that if the energy will not be available on time the Icelandic taxpayer will have to pay penalties to ALCOA.

UPDATE
24 April 2007

Around 180 subterranean workers have become ill from pollution at Karahnjukar and work in 14 km of the tunnels has been stopped by the Icelandic Health and Safety authorities.

High time that the Health and Safety finally did the work they are paid for!

Already in 2005 persistent reports started emerging from Icelandic workers that workers were being forced back into the tunnels by Impregilo way too soon after explosives had been used in them. This breaks all safety regulations.

Reykjavik.com
October 2006

Saying that the Kárahnjúkar dam has been controversial is an understatement. This hydropower project, planned by Iceland's government to dam glacial river flows and produce hydroelectric power for Alcoa's aluminum smelter in Reyðarfjörður, east Iceland caused a debate that started a few years back. It has only been escelating.

Saving Iceland
Reykjavík
17 August 2005

We who have been protesting against heavy industry and the devastating destruction of Iceland's natural environment at Kárahnjúkar in the Eastern highlands of Iceland and in other parts of the country in recent months would like to take the opportunity to make the following statement:

During our protests we have used methods which may not have a long tradition in Iceland but which do not constitute a breach of the law. We are a broad-based group of Icelanders and people of many other nationalities united by our respect for the natural environment and our intolerance of repression, the misuse of power and the violation of human rights.

21/9/2006

Impregilo have practically finished the construction of the central and biggest of the main Kárahnjúkar dams, and is set to begin the first of the dams three inundations "in the last week of September".

Iceland Review
08/18/2006

Leader of the opposition in Iceland’s parliament, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, has demanded a new risk assessment for the area on which the Kárahnjúkavirkjun dam in east Iceland is being built. The dam is being constructed to supply the Alcoa aluminum smelter being raised in Reydarfjördur, east Iceland, with power. This is reported in all the main media today.

Álfheidur Ingadóttir, who has a seat on the board of the National Power Company, told RÚV yesterday that geological research carried out prior to the start of the Kárahnjúkavirkjun dam project had been inadequate.

CorporateNews.org.uk
April 4th, 2005

Barclays Bank
Already fund the notorious Narmada dam project in India – and have played a 'key role' in financing the dam by arranging a $400 million loan to Landsvirkjun, the Icelandic power company that will run the dam.

Impregilo

Dodgy Italian construction conglomerate, in charge of building most of the dam . One of Impregilo's consultants has already been found guilty in 2003 of offering bribes to a Lesotho hydro-electric firm, and the company itself will face another hearing before the Lesotho courts in April 2005. Impregilo were also involved in building the Argentina's Yacyreta dam, which went almost $10 million over budget and was labeled byPresident Carlos Menem 'a monument to corruption' . Impregilo were also one of the firms planning to build the infamous Ilisu dam.

Oxford Autonomous Action
08.02.2006 13:23

This morning, activists visited the offices of Impregilo New Cross Ltd, part of the company which is building the controversial Karahnjukar Dam in Iceland.

From Julian Cope's Head Heritage.