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13 3. Cross-Border Risks in the Baltic Sea Region Whereas the countries of Southern Europe are more hazard-prone and affected by meteorological and geological disasters, such as floods and earthquakes, the Baltic Sea Region faces fewer natural disasters but more demanding weather conditions and a lower population density. This forces the BSR countries to rely more on information technologies and communications in civil protection. The Nordic Countries in general belong to a low risk area where serious meteorological and geological hazards do not occur except for minor-scale forest fires, floods and storms. These minor-scale accidents usually cause damage to property and very seldom to people. 10 Also the threat of terrorism has been acknowledged for instance by the Finnish authorities, although the country has not been directly involved in any terrorist incident. Additional challenge for the rescue services arises from the migration flow of citizens from the countryside to the cities, as the volunteer fire brigades constitute a large part of the national rescue force. 11 Also Sweden is not frequently burdened by severe natural disasters. Flooding, heavy snowfall etc. have resulted neither in high death tolls nor in extraordinary economic losses. Interestingly, Sweden has based its emergency management and civil protection policy on an "all-hazards approach", which means that each municipality must be capable of managing a spectrum of risks and crises, including natural disasters. In the beginning of 2004 a new law was accepted, which states that all Swedish municipalities are obliged to provide protection from all types of accidents (2003:778). There is no distinction between natural and man-made risks. 12 Besides the cross-border risks related to oil spills at sea, Norway and also partly Denmark mostly face risks that result from the oil drilling activities in the North Sea. In Norway, there are significant oil drilling activities at Haltenbanken and Trenabanken. Exploration drilling occasionally takes place also in the Barents Sea, south of Bear Island. Whereas the Nordic Countries are mostly threatened by natural calamities and the increasing potential of oils spills, the Baltic Countries are exposed to natural and Natech disasters as a result of the deteriorating infrastructure built in the Soviet times. Natech disasters are technological disasters generated by natural disasters. For instance, in Lithuania the Ignalina nuclear power plant is one of the most risky objects that requires most of the attention of the civil protection system. The risk management plans include long-term protective zones to cover Lithuania, Latvia and Belarus. Lithuania is permanently trying to harmonize procedures of preparedness to nuclear accidents with neighbouring countries as much as possible. Nevertheless, it should be noticed that procedures (notification, population protection, decision making etc.) with Latvia have been harmonised to a higher level than with Belarus. Other kinds of possible threats in Lithuania are potential accidents at dangerous chemical plants. On the 17 th of August 2004, the Government of Lithuania approved the Provisions on Major Industrial Accidents Prevention and Consequences Liquidation. These provisions were prepared according to the SEVESO II Directive as well as to the Lithuanian Civil Protection Law. According to these provisions, all potentially dangerous objects (economic entities) are obliged to perform safety analysis, emergency plans, etc. Nevertheless, vulnerability analysis is not obligatory and as a rule is not being carried out. In 2002, the Commission for the Extreme Situations Prevention and Elimination of the Republic of Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Province of the Russian Federation was established. The activities of this Commission cover information exchange on environmental emergencies and floods in the basin of the river Nemunas, water protection from industry, mutual assistance, and coordination of activities. There is also a common project of Belarus, Lithuania and the Kaliningrad district. The main purpose of this project is information exchange in a manner that allows timely response to emergencies. In the meantime, the Transboundary Warning and Information on Emergencies in the Basin of River Nemunas Plan (IWAN) is under preparation. The plan foresees the establishment of international information points in Belarus, Lithuania and the Kaliningrad district. The contact point in 10 ISDR Country Report, Finland, August 23, 2004. Finnish Ministry of the Interior, 3 11 ISDR Country Report, Finland, August 23, 2004. Finnish Ministry of the Interior, 3 12 ISDR Country Report, Sweden, June 17, 2004, Swedish Rescue Services Agency, 1
14 Lithuania is the Environmental Protection Agency under the Ministry of the Environment. Interestingly, whereas Lithuania has listed its cross-border risks, Latvian authorities do not regard that there are potential "sources for cross-border risks" on their territory. On the contrary, Latvia is seen to be threatened by cross-border risk sources from other countries, namely, Lithuania (Ignalina AES, Butinge oil product terminal) and Belarus (Novopolock chemical and oil processing enterprises). In case of cross-border risks Poland seems to be somewhere between the Nordic and Baltic Countries. On one hand, the country is characterized by a heavy flow of annual natural disasters, such as floods and forest fires. On the other hand, there is a clear potential for threat caused by technological disasters, such as oil spills caused by the transportation of dangerous goods by road and rail. Industrial accidents, such as refinery fires, explosions in industry and environmental pollution caused by the improper use of technological installations, also play an essential role in risk mapping. The reason for this is basically the same than in the Baltic Countries: a deteriorating infrastructure inherited from the 20 th century. 3.1. Natural Disasters Droughts are caused by a natural reduction in precipitation over an extended period of time. Droughts can occur in any climate conditions and during all seasons. Dust storms are usually caused by winds blowing over dry, loosely consolidated sediments not anchored by vegetation. Dust storms are more likely and more severe during droughts; they can further erode soils whose fertility has already been diminished by drought. 13 Extreme cold is defined as temperatures that remain cold enough to cause deaths, injuries and damage to property and crops. Extremely cold temperatures and severe winter storms cause socio-economic losses through damaged infrastructure, lost economic output (crop losses, interrupted production cycle etc.), victims, and vulnerabilities. 14 Floods can occur at any time of the year but they are most common in springtime when snowmelt combines with rain. Floods pose severe problems for the national fire and rescue services regardless of their magnitude and location. They are also typical cross-border risks, which need multinational efforts to be prevented and tackled. For instance, the water supply system was seriously affected by the flooding in Germany in 2002. Extreme rainfalls caused the flooding and continued for several days. The issue that the military was working with mitigating the flooding was discussed. Both Technische Hilfwerke and Bundeswehr participated, but they were under civil command and followed orders from the established crisis teams. Their skills and technology were of great importance to the work. 15 Forest fires and wildfires are uncontrolled burning of grasslands, brush, or woodlands. Lightning is the prime source of fires not ignited by people. Forest and wildfires are among the main risks related to cross-border risks in the Baltic Sea Region. 3.2. Technological Disasters Risks and disasters, whether natural or man-made, often have border-crossing effects. For instance chemical processes, storage installations and the transportation of dangerous goods are all real risk factors in the BSR countries. These risks are heavily dependent on the state of the infrastructure and the geographical character of the country. According to the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC) there is clear evidence that natural disasters can trigger technological disasters (the domino effect), and that these concomitant events (or Natechs) may pose tremendous risks to countries and communities that are unprepared for them. In Europe there are many vulnerable installations close to rivers, or located in earthquake prone areas that are potential risk zones for Natechs. For instance the floods in Poland in 2002 proved the devastating effects of Natech disasters. 16 The influence of natural and extreme nat- 13 Mileti, Dennis; Disasters by Design, A Reassessment of Natural Hazards in the United States, National Academy of Sciences, 1999, 69 14 Mileti, Dennis; Disasters by Design, A Reassessment of Natural Hazards in the United States, National Academy of Sciences, 1999, 71 15 Tränckner, Jens; Oil spill risks, Seminar Memorandum on Lessons learned from disasters, near accidents and exercises, 9.9.2004, 6. 16 The Nedies project has been launched by the UN ISDR and the JRC to optimise prevention strategies, the level of preparedness, the existing mechanism of response to face Natech risks in fostering a wider discussion regarding Natech disaster risk management and exchange of experiences in order to deal holistically with multi-hazard scenarios, which have transboundary dimensions.
Page 2 and 3: CROSS-BORDER RISKS IN THE BALTIC SE
Page 4 and 5: Contents Eurobaltic Foreword 1. Int
Page 6: FOREWORD The aim of the Eurobaltic
Page 9 and 10: 8 ty of identifying ships and oil s
Page 11 and 12: 10 Table 1: Some essential regional
Page 13: 12 sea. Once the Dengertneth plan
Page 17 and 18: 16 4.1.1. Oil Pollution from the "B
Page 19 and 20: 18 4.5. Latvia The National Oil Spi
Page 21 and 22: 20 Galadusys in 2000 was the fir
Page 23 and 24: 22 The skills are regularly trained
Page 25 and 26: 24 shows that during emergency situ

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