The Raba Committee, an action group formed by Austrian and Hungarian environmentalists and politicians, held its first meeting in Szentgotthárd on Wednesday to coordinate the groups efforts aimed at putting an end to three Austrian leather factories polluting the river with chemicals.
István Őri, cabinet chief of Hungarys environment ministry and co-chairman of the committee said that the group is scheduled to formulate a plan of action by September, and until then will meet on a tri-weekly basis.
The difficulty of the situation stems from the fact that none of the three factories by themselves exceeds the established limits on chemical pollutants, though the aggregate output constitutes an environmental hazard in the river, Őri added.
Meanwhile, Greenpeace held a press conference in Graz to announce the test results on samples from the waste water produced by the Feldbach Boxmark leather factory, which is held responsible for the pollution, business daily Napi Gazdasag reported.
Results showed that pollution is well above the limit allowed by Austrian laws, Greenpeace said.
Meanwhile, Hungarian environmentalists have called a boycott on Austrian stores and products, Austrian daily Die Presse reported.