Haukur Már Helgason

Last week’s Thursday, the majority of Alþingi’s Industrial Affairs Committee (AIAC) announced its intention to to re-categorize eight sites as “utilizable” options for the construction of hydroelectric power plants. These have until now been categorized, either as for preservation, or as on “standby”. These are categories defined by the Master Plan for nature conservation and utilization of energy resources, as bound by law. The re-categorization would serve as the first legal step towards potential construction.

The proposal had neither been announced on the committee’s schedule, before its introduction, nor introduced in writing beforehand. The committee’s majority gave interested parties a week’s notice to submit comments on the proposal, which is admittedly faster than we managed to report on it.

Reasoning

When asked, by Vísir, why the proposal was made with such haste, without any prior process in the committee or an open, public debate, Jón Gunnarsson, chair of the committee on behalf of the Independence party, replied that “it is simply about time to express the majority’s intention to increase the number of options for utilization.”

The proposal is in accordance with statements made by the Minister of Industry, Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir, at Landsvirkjun’s autumn meeting earlier that week, as reported by Kjarninn. In her speech at the occasion the Minister said: “I will speak frankly. I think it is urgent that we move on to new options for energy development, in addition to our current electricity production, whether that is in hydropower, geothermal or wind power. I think there are valid resons to re-categorize more power plant options as utilizable.”

Opposition

As the proposal was introduced to Alþingi, members of the opposition rose against the plans.

Róbert Marshall, Alþingi member in opposition on behalf of Bright Future, has called the lack of process “deadly serious” and “a war declaration against the preservation of nature in the country”. Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, the Left-Greens’ former Financial Minister, concurred, calling the proposal the end of peace over the topic, as did the former Environmental Minister on behalf of the Left-Greens, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, who called the proposal “a determined declaration of war”. Katrín Júlíusdóttir, former Minister of Industry, on behalf of the Social-Democrats’ Coalition commented that the proposal was obviously not a “private jest” of the committee’s chair, but clearly orchestrated by the government as such.

Lilja Rafney Magnúsdóttir, the Left-Greens’ representative in AIAC, and the committee’s vice chair, condemned the proposal. According to her, Minister of the Environment, Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson, specifically requested fast proposals on these eight options. She says that she considered the data available on all options to be insufficient, except for the potential plant at Hvammur.

That same Thursday, the Icelandic Environment Association (Landvernd), released a statement, opposing the proposal. According to Landvernd’s statement, five of the eight options have were not processed in accordance with law. Landvernd says that the proposal “constitutes a serious breach of attempts to reach a consensus over the utilization of the country’s energy resources.” It furthermore claims that the AIAC’s majority thereby goes against the Master Plan’s intention and main goals.

Landsvernd’s board says that if Alþingi agrees on the proposal, any and all decisions deriving thereof will “constitute a legal offense and should be considered null and void”. Guðmundur Ingi Guðbrandsson, Landvernd’s manager, has since stated that if the plans will proceed, the high lands of Iceland will become a completely different sort of place.

The Iceland Nature Conservation Association (INCA) also opposes the plans. The association released a statement, pointing out that if current ministers or members of Alþingi oppose the Master Plan legislation, they must propose an amendment to the law, but, until then, adhere to law as it is.

The options

Mid-October, Environmental Minister Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson already proposed re-categorizing one of the eight areas, “the plant option in Hvammur”, as utilizable. This was in accordance with proposals made by AIAC last March. Leaders of the parties in opposition then objected to the decision-making process, saying that such proposals should be processed by Alþingi’s Environmental Committee before being put to vote. The Hvammar plant would produce 20 MW of power.

The other seven options to be re-catogorized are: the lagoon Hágöngulón (two options, totalling 135 MW); Skrokkalda, also related to Hágöngulón (45 MW); the river Hólmsá by Atley (65 MW); lake Hagavatn (20 MW), the waterfall Urriðafoss (140 MW); and Holt (57 MW).

The last two, as well as the plant at Hvammur, would all harvest the river Þjórsá, the country’s longest river. The eight options total at 555 MW.

Backstory: Kárahnjúkar

The latest power plant construction in Iceland took place at Kárahnjúkar. The 690 MW hydropower plant at Kárahnjúkar is the largest of its type in Europe. It fuels Alcoa’s aluminum smelter in Reyðarfjörður. The largest power plant in the country before Kárahnjúkar, was the Búrfell hydropower plant, on-line since 1969, at 270 MW. The Icelandic government and the national power company Landsvirkjun committed to the dam’s construction in 2002, which was concluded in 2008. The total cost of the construction was around USD 1.3 billion. The largest contractor was the Italian firm Impregilo. The construction was heavily contested, for its environmental and economic effects, for the treatment of the workers involved and for a lack of transparency and accountability during the prior decision- and policy-making process.

At least four workers were killed in accidents on site, and scores were injured. “I have worked on dam projects all over the world and no-one has even been killed on any of the schemes. To have this number of incidents on a site is not usual,” commented International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) vice president Dr Andy Hughes at the time.

During the construction, the country saw new kinds of protest actions, involving civil disobedience and direct action, led by the organization Saving Iceland. Andri Snær Magnason’s 2006 book Draumalandið – The Dream Land – contesting Iceland’s energy policies, and calling for a reinvigorated environmentalism, became a bestseller at the time. Ómar Ragnarsson, a beloved entertainer and TV journalist for decades, resigned from his work at State broadcaster RÚV to focus on documenting the environmental effects of the Kárahnjúkar plant and campaigning against further construction on that scale.

In the eyes of many, however, the greatest impact was the environmental damage done to a significant part of the country’s wilderness and fragile eco-system, as one thousand square kilometers of land were submerged by the dam. Along with Saving Iceland, INCA was at the forefront of the struggle against the plant’s construction.

Few would contest that the dam construction at Kárahnjúkar was the most dividing topic of debate in the country during the first decade of this century, until the 2008 economic crash. Alþingi’s Independent Investigative Committee, established to investigate the advent of the crash, was not alone in relating the expansive effect of construction on this unprecedented scale to the succeeding crisis.

[Correction: Apart from a 2 MW plant in Kaldakvísl, n]o new power plants have arisen since the construction at Kárahnjúkar. Which plays the bigger role, environmentalist campaigns, or the economic crash which ensued, may be debated. What remains at stake is not any single construction project, as such, but the pro-heavy industry policy, continuous through multiple governments through the last fifty years.

Earlier this November, before the latest turn of events, INCA pointed out that at least three of the options that Landsvirkjun already categorized as “utilizable” were considered for preservation according to the still current Master Plan. Due to this, the association protested the Landsvirkjun’s vice president Ragna Árnadóttir’s recent claims, that the company intended to reach a wide consensus on the use of energy resources.

Landvernd and Landsvirkjun

Landvernd, the Icelandic Environment Association, was founded in 1969. It is among the the country’s leading environmental NGOs, runs several educational programs, lobby groups and reviews parliamentary bills and motions. In the last two decades, its emphasis has moved from the conservation of soil and vegetation towards protecting Iceland’s wilderness and landscapes, not least in the country’s uninhabited central highlands. It has initiated civil disobedience actions, its website citing the Mayday Green Walk in 2013 as an example.

Landsvirkjun is the country’s largest electricity provider, operating seventeen power plants, on a scale from Hafið’s 2MW to Kárahnjúkar’s 690MW. The largest hydroelectric power plant serving the public, rather than industry alone, is the plant at Búrfell, at 270MW.

Original source: Grapevine

These news echo the many warnings made by the opponents of the cluster of five dams at Kárahnjúkar and nearby Eyjabakkar, who repeatedly stated that the project’s alleged profitability was nothing but an illusion, but were systematically silenced by Iceland’s authorities.

Now, as these facts finally become established in the media—this time straight from the horse’s mouth—similarly bad news has arrived regarding another big Icelandic energy company. Reykjavík Energy has failed to make a profit from their 2007 and 2008 investments, effectively making them lose money. At the same time, new research shows that the environmental impacts of the Kárahnjúkar dams are exactly as vast and serious as environmentalists and scientists feared.

And yet, more dams, geothermal power-plants and aluminium smelters are on the drawing table—presented as the only viable way out of the current economic crisis.

Dividend: Close to Zero

During the last half century, Landsvirkjun has paid its owner—the Icelandic nation—only 7,8 billion Icelandic Krónur (66 million USD at present value) as dividend, which according to Hörður Arnarson is way too low and in fact almost equivalent to zero. While it would be fair to expect around eleven percent dividend from the company’s own equity, it has been at an average of two percent since Landsvirkjun was founded. The income from the Kárahnjúkar plant has been about 6 percent of its book value, which again is too low, as according to normal standards the income should be 9 percent of the book value.

At present, Landvirkjun’s total earnings have been 73 million US dollars at most, whereas it should be closer to 180 million USD, considering the owner’s 1,6 billion USD equity. It was made clear by Arnarson that the price of energy purchased by large-scale energy consumers plays a major role herein—a price that obviously has been far below any rational logic and standards.

Same Old, Same Old

In 2003, British newspaper The Guardian published “Power Driven”, Susan De Muth’s exclusive report about the Kárahnjúkar power plant, which at that point was already under construction. Among many critiques made in the article, De Muth questioned Kárahnjúkar’s allegeded profitability. She wrote:

Thorsteinn Siglaugsson, a risk specialist, prepared a recent independent economic report on Karahnjukar for the Icelandic Nature Conservation Association. “Landsvirkjun’s figures do not comprise adequate cost and risk analysis,” he says, “nor realistic contingencies for overruns.” Had the state not guaranteed the loans for the project, Siglaugsson adds, it would never have attracted private finance. “Karahnjukar will never make a profit, and the Icelandic taxpayer may well end up subsidising Alcoa.”

Siglaugsson is just one of many who critically analysed the economics of the Kárahnjúkar project, concluding that its contribution to Iceland’s economy would be about none—or in fact negative. But just as many geologists who cautioned against the risks of locating the dams in a highly geologically seismic area were dismissed by Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, then Minister of Industry, as “politically motivated and not to be listened to”, so were the skeptical economists.

De Muth’s article caused a real stir in Iceland, manifest for instance in the fact that Landsvirkjun and Iceland’s Embassy in London contacted The Guardian in a complaint about “so much space […] used for promoting factual errors and misconceptions of the project and Icelandic society as a whole.” Friðrik Sophusson, Landsvirkjun’s director at that time—who in the article is quoted calling all of Kárahnjúkar’s opponents “romantics”—actually offered The Guardian to send another journalist over to Iceland in order to do “a proper report on issues in Iceland”, this time with his “assistance.” ALCOA also sent a barrage of objections to the Guardian. All the facts presented in the article were double checked by the Guardian’s legal team and confirmed to be accurate.

This volatile response from the authorities and corporates only strengthened the article’s points on the Icelandic tradition of suppressing criticism. This was confirmed in a letter to The Guardian by Icelandic environmentalist and commentator Lára Hanna Einarsdóttir, who suggested that “an Icelandic journalist would have lost [his or her] job if he or she had been so outspoken.”

The Coming Recession

And no wonder, as the article pinpointed serious flaws in the whole rhetoric surrounding the plans to heavily industrialize Iceland, plans that would be nothing without the construction of a series of mega hydro dams and geothermal power plants. Whereas these plans were presented as a path to an increased economical prosperity, De Muth quoted aforementioned economist Siglaugsson, who voiced his fear “that a boom during the construction period, with attendant high interest rates, will be followed by a recession.”

And as time told, this was indeed what happened. In an article published in the early days of Iceland’s current financial crisis, Jaap Krater, ecological economist and spokesperson of Saving Iceland, gave it a thorough explanation:

These mega-projects in a small economy have been compared to a ‘heroin addiction’. Short-term ‘shots’ lead to a long-term collapse. The choice is between a short-term infuse or long-term sustainable economic development. The ‘shot’ of Fjardaal [Alcoa’s aluminium smelter in Iceland, powered by the Kárahnjúkar power plant] overheated the Icelandic economy.

Recognizing the dangers of overheating the economy—a point also made clear in Charles Ferguson’s recent documentary, Inside Job—leaves us with two options. As Krater pointed out:

There has been a lot of critique on the proposed plans to develop Iceland’s unique energy resources. Those in favour of it have generally argued that it is good for the economy. Anyone who gives it a moment of thought can conclude that that is a myth. Supposed economic benefits from new power plants and industrial plants need to be assessed and discussed critically and realistically. Iceland is coming down from a high. Will it have another shot, or go cold turkey?

Another Shot, Please

This spring, Landsvirkjun stated that if the company was to start its operations from scratch the aluminium industry would be its prime costumer. This particular paradox—as the aluminium industry is already its biggest energy purchaser—was just one of Landsvirkjun’s many. Another one is their suggestion that Icelanders should “settle upon” plans to build 14 new power plants in the next 15 years. And the third one is the company’s plans to sell more energy to aluminium companies—costumers who, in Landsvirkjun’s own words, do not pay a fair amount for what they get.

But Arnarson has said that the future looks better, referring for instance to the fact that the price for Kárahnjúkar’s energy is directly connected to world-wide aluminium prices, which Arnarson says are getting higher. Herein is the fourth paradox, as linking energy prices with aluminium prices has so far been disastrous for Iceland’s economy—most recently acknowledged in an official report regarding the profitability of selling energy to heavy industry. According to the report, commissioned by the Ministry of Finance and published last Friday, December 2nd, the total profitability has been an average 5% from 1990 until today, which is far below the profitability of other industries in Iceland, and much lower than the profitability of similar industries in Iceland’s neighbouring countries. The year 1990 is crucial here, as since then, Landsvirkjun’s energy prices to heavy industry have been directly linked to global aluminium prices.

It is worth quoting Jaap Krater again here, where he explains the dangers of interlinking these two prices, and describes how increased aluminium supply will lower the price of aluminium and decrease revenue for Iceland:

One might think that a few hundred thousand tons of aluminium more or less will not impact the global market. The reality is that it is not the sum of production that determines the price but rather the friction between supply and demand. A small amount of difference can have a significant effect in terms of pricing.

High Costs, Low Production

On top of this, recent calculations revealed in newspaper Fréttablaðið, show that Kárahnjúkar is Landsvirkjun’s proportionally most expensive construction. When the production of each of the company’s power plants is compared with the production of Landsvirkjun’s property as a whole, as a proportion of their construction costs, it becomes clear that Kárahnjúkar—with its 2.3 billion USD initial cost—is the most economically unviable plant.

Another Energy Company in Crisis

At the same time that Icelanders face Landsvirkjun’s confession to it’s virtually zero profitability, a damning report on another big energy company, Reykjavík Energy (OR), has been made public. It was originally published at the beginning of this year but wasn’t supposed to enter the public sphere, which it indeed didn’t until in late November. Reykjavík Energy’s biggest shareholder is the city of Reykjavík, meaning the inhabitants of Reykjavík.

As already documented thoroughly, the company—which operates several geothermal power plants, including Hellisheiðarvirkjun, largely built to fuel Century Aluminum’s production—is in pretty deep water. But the newly leaked report proves that it has sunk even deeper than generally considered. The report is a literal condemnation of the company, its board and its highest ranking managers, who get a grade F for their job. A good part of Reykjavík Energy’s investments from 2007 and 2008 are now considered as lost money.

The report also reveals that when energy contracts between OR and Norðurál (Century Aluminum) were made, for the latter’s planned fantasy-of-a-smelter in Helguvík, Reykjavík Energy’s directors completely ignored the very visible economic collapse confronting them.

Recently it has been reported that Reykjavík Energy owes 200 billion Icelandic ISK in foreign currency, which is two thirds of all foreign debts owed by Icelandic companies, whose income is not in foreign currency.

What we see here are two of Iceland’s largest energy companies, both of them public property, both having spent hugely excessive amounts of money—or more precisely, collected gigantic debts—struggling to continue to build power plants in order to feed the highly energy intensive aluminium industry with dirt cheap and allegedly “green” energy. As a result, they have ended up without profit and in a deep pool of debt.

And who is to pay for their gambling risks? As Thorsteinn Siglaugsson stated in 2003: the Icelandic taxpayer.

“No Impacts” Become Huge Impacts

To make bad news even worse, the irreversibly destructive ecological impacts of the Kárahnjúkar dams have, in the last months, become more and more visible. To quote “Power Driven” once again (as simply one of a good number of warnings on the dams’ environmental impacts):

The hydro-project will also divert Jokulsa a Dal at the main dam, hurtling the river through tunnels into the slow-moving Jokulsa i Fljotsdal, which feeds Iceland’s longest lake, Lagarfljot. The calm, silver surface of this tourist attraction will become muddy, turbulent and unnavigable.

This was written in 2003. Today, this is what is happening: because of the river’s glacial turbidity Lagarfljót has changed colour, which according to Guðni Guðbergsson, ichthyologist at the Institute of Freshwater Fisheries (IFF), means that light doesn’t reach as deep into the water as before (see photos aside and below). Photosynthesis, which is the fundamental basis for organic production, decreases due to limited light, its domino effects being the constant reduction of food for the fish. IFF’s researches show that near Egilsstaðir, where visibility in Lagarfljót was 60 cm before the dams were built, it is now only 17 cm. They also show that there are not only less fish in the river, but that the fish are much smaller than before.

In addition to this, residents by Lagarfljót have faced serious land erosion due to the river’s increased water content and strength.

This effect was warned of in an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project by the Iceland National Planning Agency (INPA), purposely ignored and overruled by Siv Friðleifsdóttir, then Minister of Environment. Landsvirkjun had complained to the Ministry of the Environment, and the EIA ended up on Friðleifsdóttir’s table, who nevertheless issued a permit for the construction, stating that the dams would have no significant impact on Lagarfljót.

In response of the news on Lagarfljót’s current condition, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, Minister of the Environment, said during parliamentary discussion last September, that her Ministry’s over-all administration regarding the Kárahnjúkar decision-process will be examined in detail. She should demand a similar investigation into the decision making of the Ministry of Industry, whose Minister, Valgerður Sverissdóttir has, along with Landsvirkjun’s Friðrik Sophusson, openly admitted while joking on film with the US ambassador in Iceland, how they enjoyed “bending all the rules, just for Alcoa.”

All the Old Dogs

Despite all of this, Iceland’s energy companies, hand in hand with the aluminium industry, some of the biggest labour unions and industry-related associations—not to mention a majority of parliamentarians, including those of government-member social-democratic Samfylkingin—are still in heavy industry mode, campaigning for the construction of more dams, geothermal power plants and aluminium smelters. Ironically, but still deadly serious, smelter projects such as Century Alumium’s Helguvík, which is at a standstill, unable to guarantee both necessary energy and financing, continue to be presented as profitable solutions to the current crisis.

Met with little resistance in parliament, most of these plans are still considered to be on the drawing table, though most of them seem to be on hold when looked at closely. The latter is mostly thanks to grassroots activists, bloggers and commentators who have systematically reminded the public of the reality, while the bulk of journalists seem to be unable to stick to facts—being extraordinarily co-dependent with those in favour of further heavy-industrialization.

Under the banner of “solving the crisis”, “creating jobs”, and most recently “getting the wheels of work to spin again”, the heavy industry-favoured parties seem to simply refuse to listen to hard facts, even their very own. This attitude is probably best summed up in the recent words of Valgerður Sverrisdóttir, responsible as Minister of Industry, for the building of the dams at Kárahnjúkar, who in response to the news about the power plant’s close-to-zero profitability, said that she wouldn’t want to imagine how the current financial situation would be, if the dams hadn’t been built.

It is said that an old dog will not learn new tricks. And to be honest, ‘old dogs’ pretty accurately describes those making decisions on Iceland’s energy and industry affairs. In order to learn from mistakes and prevent even bigger catastrophes, it wouldn’t be unfair to ask for a new generation—would it?
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More photos of Lagarfljót’s turbid condition

These photos are from 2008, which suggests that the current condition is even worse.

After many years of preparations the Greenlandic government say the final decision on Alcoa’s proposed smelter will be taken at the spring 2012 of the parliament. It is more likely, as the global history of the industry and the evidence in Greenland tells us, that the decision has in fact already been made undemocratically behind closed doors, despite the decreasing support of the Greenlandic people. In fact Alcoa and the Greenland government are so keen on passing the project that they have just hired an eighth employee at their national company Greenland Development- formed to enable the industry to go ahead. Juaaka Lyberth’s explicit remit is to influence public opinion on the smelter through the media. Greenland Development paints a rosy picture of an aluminium future for Greenland, but will their promises of prosperity come true? A comparison to Alcoa’s Fjardaal project in East Iceland suggests that many will not.

Local employment?

“The aluminum project is a major project that will offer a large number of stable and lasting jobs.” says Minister for Industry and Mineral Resources, Ove Karl Berthelsen.[1]

Despite this claim Alcoa recently asked the Greenlandic government’s permission to use Chinese contractors to build the two hydro dams and smelter. Chinese workers would be paid half the salary of members of the Greenland Workers Union. They claim this will be necessary to make the project competitive and that the Greenlandic labour force will not be sufficient[2].

Greenland Development responded immediately to this unpopular news by sending out a press release explaining why competitiveness was so important. The release explained that since the financial crisis China has increasingly dominated the market for aluminium smelting due to their low cost of construction and production. Building a smelter in China costs $3000/ton of production capacity compared to $4500 – £5000/ton in Iceland or Saudi Arabia. Greenland is in direct competition with these prices and will have to provide very good terms for the company if they want the project to go forwards[3]. ‘Good terms’ means cheap labour and foreign workers over Greenlandic contracts.

The labour question has dominated debate on the smelter in Greenland recently. Bjarne Lyberth, Head of the organisation Against Aluminium Smelter in Greenland is concerned that other important issues are being sidelined:

“In my view the issue on cheap foreign labour is just one of many problems. There is a risk that this becomes perceived as the main hurdle to the project and other serious cultural, social, health, environmental and, economic impacts just become “minor issues” to deal with later.”

However, the promise of jobs is usually cited as the biggest rationale for building such huge industrial constructions, and it is a very tempting one in economically deprived rural areas where smelters are often built. When the decision on the Fjardaal aluminium smelter and associated Karahnjukar dams was pending, the Iceland government made similar claims. They promised the Confederation of Icelandic Labour that the ratio of Icelanders to foreign workers at the dam construction site would be about 8:20, amounting to 3000-5000 jobs for Icelanders[4]. In reality the construction company Impregilo only employed around 100 Icelandic workers out of 1100 employees at the site. Many of these workers were Chinese, Portuguese and other non EU nationalities. Impregilo claimed that Icelanders didn’t want the work as it was not as highly paid as they had hoped, and there was a high turnover. In contrast the Chinese workers were very stable despite tough conditions[5]. Increasing company profit by using temporary low paid foreign labour is known as ‘social dumping’.

The construction of the dams was plagued with controversy as it was revealed that foreign workers were being paid less than Icelanders and made to work in unsafe conditions without proper equipment[6]. 1700 work related injuries were reported during the dam’s construction, 120 resulting in long term or permanent inability to work. Four workers are known to have died from injuries on the site[7] [8]. There is evidence that when the Icelandic coalition of unions became vocal about the treatment of workers in the press they were silenced by bribes from Impregilo who promised to pay into the union’s pension funds. A few years later it was revealed that the payments had not been made and the union (ASI) raised rights of foreign labourers again. Shortly after the funds were finally paid and ASI’s complaints ceased.

National income from aluminium export?

Greenland Development‘s recent news release explains;

‘The project economy of each individual project is decisive. The competition is as such between countries that it among other issues hinges on the terms a host country will provide for a new project. Countries in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America are all trying to develop smelter projects. Only projects that are competitive on a global scale will have a chance to become real projects and be implemented[9].’

In reality, being ‘competitive on a global scale’ with countries such as China means selling energy and labour as cheaply as possible and providing tax breaks that make the project attractive to the company – minimising benefit to the host country. National unions of workers the Greenland Employers? Association and the Organisation of Greenlandic Employers have warned that the only income from the project in its first few years will be tax paid by its employees, and with much workforce coming from abroad on low wages this is likely to be very little[10]. The government has also said that company tax should not be counted on for the first fifteen years, suggesting that large tax breaks have been given[11].

In Iceland predictions that the smelters could be an economic drain and not a boost are increasingly being proven. Energy prices paid by the smelter operators were kept from the Icelandic public until very recently following a scandal when it was revealed that  Century Aluminium had been paying a fifth of domestic prices – the cheapest energy for aluminium production in Europe[12]. Prices for Alcoa’s Fjardaal smelter were accidentally revealed by then company Chairman Alain Belda when he claimed that Iceland was charging some of the lowest rates in the world, just $15 per MWh (megawatt hour)[13]. The deals they made link energy prices to the cost of aluminium so when the market drops the taxpayer can end up subsidising the companies rather than profiting from them.

In the run up to Iceland’s dramatic financial crash in 2008 the OECD concluded their country report by warning Iceland that ‘large scale public investments are inherently risky’ and strongly advised them not to approve further aluminium developments until it was clear whether they would get a long term profit from existing ones:

‘No major investments in energy-intensive projects, including those already in the planning phase, should proceed without prior evaluation within a transparent and comprehensive cost-benefit framework (including environmental impacts and inter-generational effects).[14]’

Two years earlier a report by Icelandic bank Glitnir warned that any benefit from large scale aluminium developments “is probably outweighed by the developments’ indirect impact on demand, inflation, interest rates and the ISK exchange rate”. Similarly economist Thorsteinn Siglaugsson claimed that “Kárahnjúkar will never make a profit, and the Icelandic taxpayer may well end up subsidising Alcoa”[15]. A 2009 report by Economist Indriði H. Þorláksson concluded that the industry would have negligible benefits on the Icelandic economy, possibly causing long term damage, and should not be considered a way out of the financial crisis[16].

Despite all of this evidence Greenland Development have dedicated another recent news article on their website to trying to disprove that Iceland’s crash had anything to do with the smelters. Though they admit that ‘high investment in construction also played a role which put pressure on the economy’, this was ‘hardly significant‘. Instead they claim that aluminium industry ‘has been crucial in earning foreign currency for Iceland during the crisis‘[17].

In another article Greenland Development’s website enthusiastically claims that the aluminium price is likely to rise in the coming years due to demand for ‘green’ cars and solar panels and economic growth in Asia[18]. Though this would somewhat increase Greenland’s chances of making a profit there is no guarantee of market stability, which has been very volatile in recent years. A critique of the concept of ‘green aluminium’ can be found here[19].

Already there seems to be some degree of caution in Greenland about taking too much of the burden of construction costs and loans which caused so many problems in Iceland. The Greenlandic government is considering bringing in a third party to ownership of the project instead of taking the whole of the 50% stake they were offered by Alcoa.

Public more sceptical now

Despite Greenland Development’s expensive propaganda war, public support for the Alcoa smelter has been steadily decreasing. People’s organisations Avataq and the newly formed Against Aluminium Smelter in Greenland have worked hard to discover the truth about the environmental and social impacts of the smelter and the ethical track record of the company abroad. As a result Greenland Development reported that their own October/November 2010 survey of public opinion revealed rapidly changing attitudes:

‘there is a very low degree of knowledge, as well as a less positive attitude towards the project than in previous years. Of the citizens that have expressed either a positive or negative attitude towards the aluminium project, there is thus now only a small majority (54 percent) who are positive.[20]’

The main reason for the ‘increased scepticism‘ towards the project was ‘concern about the possible environmental consequences‘ with 20% of those interviewed believing that the project ‘can have a markedly negative impact on nature and the environment‘ compared to only 7% the previous year[21]. This was identified to be mainly due to critical media coverage and Greenland Development’s ‘information manager’ was hired shortly afterwards to address this. Environmental protection group, Avataq, says Greenland Development has deliberately tried to distort public opinion about the aluminum industry. Their head Mikkel Myrup explains:

“Greenland Development has assumed a role as an aluminium industry propagandist, and do that rather primitively. But this wouldn’t be possible without strong support from the civil servants in the central administration and the smelter municipality administration. The civil servant’s pro industry influence on the cabinet members and the parliament is a massive democratic problem, because they suppress and/or ignore information that would equip the politicians with a wider, and more realistic knowledge base from which to make enlightened decisions.”

With three operating smelters Icelanders have had a good opportunity to assess the benefits of the industry which has been promoted as their economic saviour. A recent online poll by news outlet Visir revealed that only 13% of participants thought heavy industry was the most important area to focus on. Despite high level promotion of the industry’s benefits by certain sectors of the national leadership evidence shows that tourism and fishing are still the most important and growing industries for the Icelandic people[22].

When put into context with work related accidents in the rest of Iceland during that same eight year period, it becomes crystal clear that Kárahnjúkar was by far the single most dangerous workplace in the country. The 120 workers still disabled from work ammount to over 70% of all work related disabilities registered in the period, with eight times as many disabilities spawned from Kárahnjúkar than the rest of the country combined. The four who died as results of their accidents count 15% of all work related deaths in the country for those eight years, but they were 26 in all.

86% of those injured in Kárahnjúkar were employed by the construction company Impregilo, but they are known for being seriously lacking in worker security wherever they work around the globe. As an example of how safety issues were handled, Impregilo workers in Kárahnjúkar were forbidden from holding fire exercises, as it would waste valuable work-hours.

According to Kristinn Tómasson, senior physician at the Occupational Safety and Health Authority, the injury rate at Kárahnjúkar was exceptionally high and doesn’t stand comparison to any other projects in Iceland, the main reason being that safety issues were lacking in all regards and a proper risk assessment had never been fully completed.

After receiving an advice concerning the landfill, the Environment Administration Umhverfisstofnun) decided to stop it for a limited time, while it was researched if this amount of rubber could be buried. The conclusion was that Impregilo is allowed to bury the machinery.

To encourage recycling, it is illegal to bury car wheels, but it seems like when it comes to dealing with companies like Impregilo, the Icelandic state is either to weak or simply playing in the same team. The Administration’s spokesperson gave the dull comment that of course it is not suitable how much trash is buried in general, but that there is nothing in the laws that forbids the company to do this.

Árni Finnson, the head of Icelandic Nature Conservation Association says that this is one more example of how Icelandic laws are completely useless when it comes to cases like Impregilo.

Impregilo’s spokesperson in Iceland, Richard Graham, says that it would simply not be economically beneficial to transport the machinery to other places where Impregilo constructs or sell it. The same argument goes for the reason the machinery is not being recycled; it just does not serve the financial benefits of Impregilo.

Once again it proves whose benefits the so-called Environment Administration serves. Not the environment, but the economy of big international corporations.

This summer’s actions and events were successful. Saturday, July 19th, we stopped construction in Helguvík for a whole day. Norðurál/Century Aluminum has started construction for an aluminium smelter, without all the permits needed. Two days later we blocked the road to Century’s already existing smelter and Elkem’s iron blending factory in Grundartangi. Both times we pointed out the unique geothermal areas which have to be destroyed because of energy production, Century’s corrupted business deals in D.R. Congo, and in Jamaica where the company has it’s bauxite mines. Photos and press release from July 19th can be seen here and from July 21st here.

Sunday, July 20th, we went up to the Þjórsá River to meet farmers who are fighting against Landsvirkjun’s (national energy company) plans to build three dams in the river. We walked around the area, looked at beautiful waterfalls and got to know about the farmers’ fight. Here you can see photos from the visit.

On Tuesday, July 22nd, we organized a open meeting with the Icelandic anti-war movement, where Samarendra Das, an Indian activist, author and film-maker, talked about the aluminium industry’s links to arms production and cultural genocides in the third world. The meeting was well attended, as well as Saving Iceland’s conference which took place in the Reykjavík Akademia the day after, where Samarendra and Andri Snær Magnason, the author of The Dreamland, spoke about the global impact of aluminium production. Thursday July 24th, Samarendra has his third open meetings, this time in Keflavík. Photos from the meetings can be seen here.

Friday July 25th, we woke Friðrik Sóphusson, the director of Landsvirkjun, up and gave him an eviction letter, where we announced that he would have to leave his house in few hours, for the benefit of the Icelandic nation. Landsvirkjun has gone again and again to Þjórsá and knocked on farmers doors, even though the farmers have announced that they will not take any part in further discussion about the dam constructions. By promising better mobile connections, better roads and money, Landsvirkjun has managed to get the district councils on it’s side, but luckily the farmers are strong enough and refuse to discuss any further. Photos and press release can be found here.

Later that morning Saving Iceland showed up in Landsvirkjun’s headquarters and stopped work, e.g. by setting on a fire alarm, while a group of people occupied the entrance, danced and sang. A banner saying ‘Illvirkjun’ (bad dam) was hanged over the company’s real logo on the house. Landsvirkjun’s links with Alcoa was our main focus point, where we specially put focus on Alcoa’s human rights abuse in it’s factory in Honduras. Click here to read the press release from both of the actions and see photos.

Monday, July 28th we stopped all work on a drill in Hellisheiði. A group of people turned off the power of the drill while others locked themselves to machinery and climbed on to the drill house. As well as the destruction of unique geothermal areas on Hellisheiði, we pointed out Reykjavík Energy’s corrupted business deals in Yemen. Click here to see photos and read our press release.

Our last action took place Friday, the 1st of August, when we stopped traffic to Rio Tinto-Alcan’s aluminum smelter in Hafnarfjörður. Activists locked themselves to gates and therefor stopped trucks from getting in to the smelter area. We pointed out the corruption which is taking place in Hafnarfjörður and Rio Tinto-Alcan’s links with arms production and warfare. Photos and press release are here.

During the week of July 21st – 28th, several international solidarity actions took place in Swiss and Italy, in front of Icelandic embassies and the headquarters of Alcoa, Glencore and Imregilo. Info and photos from Italy are here, Alcoa here, Glencore here and Icelandic consulates in Swiss here.

Aside the camp we released the 2nd issue of our magazine, The Voices of the Wilderness, which can be read here. The magazine has is full of photos and articles, written by Saving Iceland activists, our friends from all around the world and Icelandic farmers.

Our focus on the international process and impacts of aluminium production was really effective; brought a lot of media attention and discussion into the society. Saving Iceland is the only Icelandic environmental group which focuses on the global context and that fact was pointed out be several different environmentalists and MP’s this summer. Different medias wrote and spoke about bauxite mining, it’s impact and aluminium company’s links with human right abuse. This is a real success, but there is still a lot of work to do and therefore we keep up the fight against the development of heavy industry in Iceland and around the globe, wars and arms production, human right abuses and cultural genocides in the third world.

Monday July 21st, a demonstration took place in front of the Icelandic embassy in Rome and the next day, two protests happened by the headquarters of Impregilo in Sesto San Giovanni near Milan and by the Icelandic Consulate in Milan.

The letter says:

“During the protests we denounced Impregilo’s devastation of on Hálslón and Kárahnjúkar, and spoke about the entire project and Impregilo’s history all around the world; it is all the same! Again and again the same destruction, the same violence and violations… just like in Iceland. We spoke about Alcoa too, Aloca Defense and about the behavior of the Icelandic government.

Impregilo workers were aggressive like we suspected but really unprepared and unable to answer critical question

Anyway, we are well motivated to put more pressure on these terrorists and of course we never give up. Some of us were in the camp last year and most of us really want to come to visit the country and help you with all our energy!”

These great people also made this website in Italian about the situation in Iceland.

More solidarity actions have and will be happening in other countries this week, and we will publish info and photos as soon as possible.

Solidarity Actions from recent years:

• Solidarity Demonstration in Swiss – March 26th 2008
  
• ELF Hits Rio Tinto Alcan in Essex in Solidarity with Saving Iceland
• Icelandic Consulate in Edinburgh targeted by Activists
• Make Over for Mott MacDonald in Cambridge
• Week of Iceland Actions in the Low Countries

One year has passed since the drilling of that tunnel began, a 13-kilometer side tunnel which connects Jökulsá á Fljótsdal glacial river with the main tunnel from Hálslón dam and Jökulsá á Dal glacial river, Fréttabladid reports.

According to spokesman of Kárahnjúkar dam Sigurdur Arnalds, the drill had penetrated the rock on exactly the right spot at 12 noon. Drilling director Li Er Bao and his crew then celebrated the completion of their project.

Arnalds estimates that water will flow through the tunnel in mid-summer. Kárahnjúkar dam provides electricity for the Alcoa aluminum smelter in Reydarfjördur, which began full operations for the first time yesterday.

According to Skarphedinsson the total cost of constructing the dams and the hydropower plant at Fljotsdalur has exceeded estimates by ISK 17.7 billion (USD 264 million, EUR 172 million) and is now expected to amount to ISK 133.3 billion (USD 2.0 billion, EUR 1.3 billion). MP for the Left-Greens Álfheidur Ingadóttir said until yesterday people had not been aware of by how much cost estimates were exceeded. Ingadóttir criticized the minister for not taking the cost of agreements with contractors into account. She argued that by including such agreements the original cost estimate is exceeded by an even higher amount, ISK 32.5 billion (USD 484 million, EUR 315 million).

The Kárahnjúkar project stands as a typical blueprint for international multi-billion-dollar megaprojects where promoters self-servingly misinform parliaments, the public and the media in order to get projects approved and built. The formula for approval is a cocktail of underestimated costs, overestimated revenues, undervalued environmental impacts and overvalued economic development effects. Landsvirkjun spokesman Thorsteinn Hilmarsson claimed that the cost increase was only natural and that due to geological fissures the tunnelling took much longer than expected. Conveniently he did not mention that several years before a number of highly regarded geophysicists submitted reports warning of the fissures and the unstable ground that the dams were to be situated on. As a result Landsvirkjun slandered these scientists and had official gagging orders placed on them. The government withheld the geological reports from parliament when voting on the dams took place.

The Kárahnjúkar hydropower station provides electricity (at a secret price) for the infamous Alcoa aluminium smelter in Reydarfjördur. Needless to say it is not ALCOA who will foot the bill for the Kárahnjúkar disasters but Iceland’s pristine nature and gullible Icelandic taxpayer.

See also:

• Icelandic government begs ALCOA not to rock the boat as Landsvirkjun do not deliver on time
• Conclusion of the Environmental Impact Assessment of the Kárahnjúkar Project – The Icelandic National Planning Agency
• Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Project – Estimate of Profitability – Prepared for the Iceland Nature Conservation Association by Thorsteinn Siglaugsson MBA

For those of you who don’t already know me, my name is Miriam Rose, and I am an activist and environmental scientist from the UK. I have been asked to speak today on my experience of the basic values of Icelandic society, based on an interview I did on Kastljos in October, after I was threatened with deportation from Iceland for my part in actions against the heavy industry policy of your government. The letter of requested deportation which I received explained that I may be expelled from Iceland for a minimum of three years as my behavior constitutes a ‘threat to the fundamental values of society’.

In the interview I noted how telling I thought this choice of words, and raised the question: What are the fundamental values of Icelandic society? It seems that free speech, equal rights and the right to protest are not amongst them, so what does this sentence say? To me it revealed a very simple truth about the nature of the decision. I had questioned the right of market and economic values to dominate society and nature, through the policy of heavy industrialisation. In this accusation it was made painfully clear that these are the ‘fundamental values’ of today’s Icelandic society even at the expense of human freedoms, and those who question such values are not welcome here. I will go on to explore this hypothesis tonight.

Iceland is a country with a proud history and belief in strong democracy and human rights. It is certainly perceived from the outside as a country with a representative and refined democratic system, and peaceful and humanist values. But what are these basic values we are so proud of maintaining in such a developed society? There are two essential building blocks of commonly percieved fundamental values of society- the fundamental human rights and the basic democratic values. I will go on to examine some of these values in detail, in relation to their applications in modern Icelandic society.

Developed democracies claim to value above all the basic human rights; free speech, equal rights, freedom of movement etc. Rights that were defined by hundreds of years of social struggle against repressive regimes, for equality and freedom, and are now enshrined into UN conventions and government constitutions to put our minds at rest.

So let us start with equal rights, perhaps the most fundamental of these values, assumed by all and part of our everyday rhetoric on the advantages of western democracy. But how are our equal rights monitored and enforced? Well, if we feel we have been treated unequally our first stop is the law courts, designed to check the application of such rights and deliver justice. It is well known that our ability to be represented in the courts requires and depends on money; good lawyers, payment of court fees, time off work etc. So this system is fundamentally flawed and unequal.

Secondly it is the duty of governments and companies to practice and ensure equal rights in their policies and actions. But will they really do this at the expense of enormous profit margins? Big corporations and state economies operate by using cheap labour and products from countries with dubious human rights to give their customers cheap ‘value-added’ goods. Value in this sense means only the size of the dent in the purse, not the rights of those whose slave labour creates it.

To confuse the matter of equal rights further, the use of human rights terminology must also be monitored, as its original purpose is misused and mistreated in the court room. The European Court of Human Rights has in several cases awarded corporations the human rights of individuals. The idea is that by acting against a corporation, you are acting against its shareholders and their fundamental human rights. (ie by blockading a MacDonalds truck you restrict the freedom of movement of its shareholders). Even these conventions now serve to protect the rights of big business and capital growth, and do not represent the voiceless majority as they were intended.

In Iceland there is considerable evidence of terrible mistreatment of foreign workers at Karahnjukar dams. Illegal workers brought by construction company Impregilo had almost no rights in Icelandic society, and reports of deaths at the work site are accused of being grossly underestimated. They received no justice or equality here. The Icelandic state ignored this ill-treatment in favour of the profits promised by powerful companies like ALCOA, (and perhaps also in fear of speaking against corporations with such highflying connections).

Personally I have experienced considerable inequality in my treatment here. This summer i was sent directly to prison after being notified of a fine for disobeying the police. In contrast to the norm I was given no time to pay the amount and no right to appeal in the courts, and was sent immediately to prison where I was kept in isolation for 8 days, as there was not space in the womens prison for me. While inside I was told by the prison guards that this was very unusual as most women are pardoned a few times before being imprisoned in Iceland, hence the small number of female prisoners. They were quite surprised that a woman convicted of her first and non-violent crime would be treated this way. It seems that this unfair treatment was intentionally harsh as a warning to other protesters that they were not wanted by the state.

Let us move on to free speech. Unlike the controlled media of dictatorships and communist regimes, we pride ourselves on the free and unbiased press of the Western world. But how impartial is it really? Icelandic media is controlled by a few private groups and a small state run element, which accepts private finance. What are their interests? Can company owned and sponsored media really criticise its own, or associated companies, or report fairly on their economic abuses? In whose interest was it that lies about the payment of Saving Iceland activists were published by RÚV and never revoked despite complaints made through all the official channels?

I will use the pertinent form of questioning taken by tribal rights activists in India, whom I have worked with and ask:
Free speech for whom? At what cost?

Thirdly, and in strong relation to my experience, what of freedom of assembly or the right to demonstrate? When our ability to express ourselves through the democratic system or the free media fails, this is an essential human right to test our democracy and the existence of our perceived fundamental human rights and values. On this subject i will read from an essay by booker prize winning Indian author Arundhati Roy:

“The only way to make democracy real is to begin a process of constant questioning, permanent provocation, and continuous public conversation between citizens and the State. That conversation is quite different from the conversation between political parties. (Representing the views of rival political parties is what the mass media thinks of as ‘balanced’ reporting.)

It is important to remember that our freedoms such as they are, were never given to us by any government, they have been wrested from them by us. If we do not use them, if we do not test them from time to time, they atrophy. If we do not guard them constantly, they will be taken away from us. If we do not demand more and more, we will be left with less and less.” (Roy, 2005)

In several instances the Icelandic State has shown its intolerance to the right of freedom of assembly, and to methods of civil disobedience as a form of protest. (Despite huge admiration for the use of these methods in defining our civil rights and freedoms). In 2002 any person suspected of being a member of the Falun Gong (a strictly pacifist human rights movement), were arrested or denied entry into Iceland at the request of a corrupt and internationally frowned upon government. (China.)

As a personal anecdote, I often use an example from my treatment here last summer. After being arrested and taken to Eskifjorður police station after a protest action, I found myself very thirsty while held in one of the small hot cells. When I knocked on the door to ask for a glass of water (my constitutional right) I was told, “You lost your rights when you broke the law!” and denied the water. This incident highlights to me the mentality of absolute lack of acceptance of the validity of this form of protest, and the lack of respect of human rights by those who�s job it is to protect them. (The police.)

We suffer from an obsession with the ‘sacred’ nature of the law, which denies us the right to challenge laws, ask who they are there to protect, and allow society to change and grow as it has historically by the use of these methods.

Having examined some of the main human rights let us now turn to the fundamental values and building blocks of democracy, the pride of Iceland�s history as the first truly democratic nation. Democracy is based on; participation (of people in the system), representation (of the people by politicians) and accountability (of decisions taken to the people). By examining these elements I will present the idea that real democracy has been replaced by an ‘illusion of democracy’, manufactured by PR experts and spin-doctors who now hold such an important place in the workings of our governments. In fact many western governments (including Iceland) rely on this illusion to maintain a fairly silent and disinterested population, who don’t question a so-called democratic system which benefits big business and capital growth at the expense of all else (the environment, civil liberties etc).The use of rhetoric has confused the ‘free-market’ with the freedom of the people, suggesting that an open economic environment means an open society, and disguising the loss of civil liberties and democracy that march hand in hand with such unchecked and unquestioned capital growth.

First let us examine participation. In this the democratic systems we use are fundamentally flawed. In the 2003 Icelandic elections 33.7% voted Independence party, 31% voted for the Alliance (social democrats), and 17% voted Progressive. In the following coalition, not only did just 34% vote for the winning party, but a party with only 17% support achieved huge shared power in government. This was the coalition who went on to repeatedly deny requests for an open vote on Kárahnjukarvirkjun.

Secondly we may examine representation and accountability. Once elected it seems that ministers have a clean bill to do what they (and their interest groups) want without any accountability to, or representation of the people who put them there. In 2003 Prime Minister David Oddsson and Foreign Secretary Halldor Ásgrimsson, allied Iceland to the war in Iraq without the consultation of the people or even the government. This decision was vastly against public opinion. It was not representative and against the parliamentary rules and the constitution, which state that such issues must go through the foreign affairs commitee (which it did not). The Penal Code states that anyone who challenges the fairness of the Icelandic state as defined in the constitution is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Were they tried on this crime? No. Representation and accountability failed here as in so many cases.

Again, when the legal system and democracy has failed to hold the government accountable, protest is the only avenue for justice. In 2006 fifteen thousand people marched in towns and cities around Iceland in protest of the drowning of Kárahnjukar, to no effect. It is no wonder that people feel powerless with these methods of protest, and turn to direct action and civil disobedience to challenge decisions made in their name.

Some would even say that corporations have more power than people and even politicians in Iceland. Since we have seen the connection between money and power, it is clear that enormous monopolies like ALCOA, Baugur group, RioTinto and the KolKrabbin hold much. And how are they held accountable? DECODE, the owner of almost all Icelandic human DNA are selling off their information to other companies at 60,000 Kr a piece, with no public permission. Meanwhile ALCOA receives energy for many times less than the Icelandic public, an amount so small that Landsvirkjun will not even disclose it.

Again we ask: Representation for whom? At what cost? Democracy for whom? At what cost?

Modern Western democracies (such as Iceland and the UK) rely on a silent and disillusioned population, allowing the passing of controversial policies without check, as we are fooled by the rhetoric of democracy and freedom. Unlike under a harsh dictatorship or tough communism, we are too wealthy and content to question the system that creates our wealth.

On the issue of authority and acceptance, I always find the famous psychological test by Stanley Milgram very interesting. In this experiment a member of the public is asked to participate in a contrived experiment in which they must read out a list of questions to a second participant (actually an actor) sitting in the next room. When the answerer gets the questions wrong, they must give them an electric shock, the dose of which will increase with each wrong answer until it reaches a red (very dangerous) zone on the machine. The participant can hear the screams of the answerer getting louder and more horrific with each dose. In most experiments the participant complied to a very worrying level of electric dosage and did not question the authority of the white-coated, clipboard holding scientist directing the test. Milgram concluded that the perceived authority of the scientist removed the personal values of the participant to some extent.

He went on to examine how compliance changed with variations to certain aspects of the experiment. He found that compliance dropped dramatically when: a) the scientist did not wear a labcoat or hold a clipboard, b) A third party actor playing another member of the public entered and questioned the validity of the experiment. When related to democracy and societal values, the first instance shows the importance of perceived legitimacy in authority figures, and the need for the PR man to ensure the image keeps the people silent and satisfied. The second element I find most interesting as it shows the huge destabilising force of the dissenting public voice to the illusion of democracy. It only takes one other voice of concern to unmask the powers that be and lead to rejection of the system and re-establishment of personal values. No wonder governments try so hard to quash protest against their contentious policies.

Finally, when asking Icelanders what they consider the basic values of their society, the issue of Independence came up time and time again. It seems that if liberty is the fundamental value of the USA, Independence is that of Iceland. Icelanders are respected worldwide for their rejection of a national army, of the EU, of the globalisation of fishing rights. There is a real, and admirable feeling of the need to be self sufficient as an island state here, even at the cost of expensive fat-cat friendships in Europe and beyond.

Despite this, there is great willingness of the Icelandic nation to accept neo-colonisation of the economy by very few Aluminium corporations, who rip off energy at a fraction of the public cost, burdening the taxpayer and creating economic reliance on so few foreign companies. (ALCOA admitted in a meeting in Brazil that they are paying less than half for Icelandic power, as they will pay for big dam electricity there.) Yet, when foreign activists join Icelanders in opposing this sellout they are shunned and told, ‘it is not your business’.

So it seems that the freemarket, the economy and Iceland’s role in corporate globalisation are the key values of today’s Icelandic society. So we ask once more: Globalisation for whom? At what cost?

Does globalisation mean international free movement of people?
No, not in the case of the Falun Gong, or saving iceland activists repeatedly threatened with deportation.

Does it mean equal respect for all human lives?
Not in the case of the secretive treatment of workers at Karahnjukarvirkjun.

Does it mean meaningful international treatise on climate change, racial discrimination or nuclear weapons?
No, again it doesn’t. Geir H. Harde is even currently trying to weedle his way out of Iceland’s already excessive Kyoto allowances.

And, if these are the values of Iceland, are they really the values of the Icelandic people? Or just those of the powerful few at the head of the decision making process? And if they are not the people’s values, how will the people object to them? How will they regain and redefine the real fundamental values of society? That is the question which faces Iceland and most states today. In a climate where the market God has become almost unquestioned as the basis of our life and values, we must decide whether it is really ok to take the blue pill and settle into the cushioned comfort of the illusion, or gulp the red pill, open our eyes, and set ourselves to unmasking the powers that we must once again wrest our values from.

References:

Roy, Arundhati, 2005. ‘An ordinary persons guide to empire’. Penguin Books, India.

Miriam Rose is also co-author of:

Aluminium Tyrants (The Ecologist)
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Relevant stories:

The Directorate of Immigration Refuse to Deport Miriam Rose
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London Protest Against Iceland’s Deportation of Environmental Activists
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Stop Iceland’s Persecution of Environmental Activists – London Demo 2 October
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Saving Iceland Activists Threatened with Deportation
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UK Greens Urge Icelandic Government to Stop Persecution of SI Activists
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UK Greens Back British Environmental Activist Imprisoned in Iceland
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‘Surprise, surprise!’
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Töfrafoss, now ‘unexpectedly’ underwater

Saving Iceland

What a surprise! After five years of listening to news of delays, accidents, deaths and so on at the Kárahnjúkar worksite, who would ever have imagined that there was something strange about Landsvirkjun’s portrayal of the whole affair?

In Morgunblaðið on the 28th of November Völundur Jóhannesson, tourist industry pioneer in the east of Iceland, spoke about Töfrafoss (the magic waterfall) dissappearing under Hálslón.

“The spokespeople of Landsvirkjun (LV) always claimed, both in writing and speech, that the waterfall in Kringilsá would go half way under water when the reservoir would be full,” says Völundur. “In Páll Ásgeir Ásgeirssons book, Hálendishandbókin, Páll says that the reservoir is just supposed to reach half the waterfall. Stefán Halldórsson at Brú also said that LV people had told him that the reservoir would flood half the waterfall. But less than a month ago I took a photograph which shows clearly that the waterfall is probably 7 or 8 meters below water-level and now the reservoir flows 800 meters inland from the waterfall. So there we have one beautiful waterfall sunken which wasn’t supposed to go under water according to official information. I told people this would happen but they wouldn’t believe me,”
says Völundur, obviously cross.

From www.natturan.is:

“If this is true the reservoir could be up to 10 meters higher than planned, which means that there would be 570 million tons of water more than expected.

According to info from the Landsvirkjun webpage the dam should now be 198 meters tall and the reservoir 2100 gigalitres. The question is therefore: How much higher than agreed upon in the environmental assessment has the reservoir risen? and how many percent bigger is the reservoir given that the waterfall has disappeared?

Geophysicist Ásta Þorleifsdóttir has asked how much more of the protected land at Kringilsarrani has been ruined than allowed and what the consequences of breaking nature preservation laws would be, if this is the case.

(End of quote)

Landsvirkjun’s credibility has gone down the drain for good. Why should anyone believe their figures of heights of reservoirs from now on? Cynical as it may sound, given their track record and that the Icelandic media is not really paying any attention, the author of this article seriously doubts the truth of every word in Landsvirkjun’s public releases.

Höskuldur

 http://natturan.is/frettir/1921/

Kringilsárrani (‘protected’ reindeer breeding area)

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.

This stipulation was based on the warnings of scientists that changing ground water levels would have serious consequences for the remaining vegetation.

Another great danger is that the chemicals which the tunnels have been insulated with are now leaking onto the ground surface, poisoning the Eastern Highlands.

We demand to know, as Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir of the Left-Green Party asked Fridleifsdottir in Parliament in 2004 and was only given evasive answers to; exactly what chemicals were used to cut and seal these tunnels which are now being leaked into the groundsurface?

Furthermore, fertilizer and diesel, the main ingredients of cheap explosives (highly toxic), have been spilled into the highlands ground water system throughout the building process. We have plenty of film footage evidence that shows that diesel and fertilizer have been used liberally as explosives at Kárahnjúkar.

This is the latest in a string of ecological catastrophes that were predicted before the construction of ALCOA’s Kárahnjúkar dams that have come true, revealing how much Iceland’s nature killers either had no idea of what they were doing or how much they thought they were beyond the laws of nature and science. Recently Grimur Bjornsson’s and the late Gudmundur Sigvaldason’s and others predictions that the Hálslón reservoir would create seismic activity has come true, threatening to destroy a third river, the Jökulsá a Fjöllum, and Europe’s most powerful waterfall, Dettifoss, amongst many other stunning natural wonders of the north.

How many more times are the heavy industrialists going to have to be proved wrong at the expense of this island’s wilderness and economy before their future projects are scrapped and they be made to face a tribunal for their corrupt historic destruction?

Let us not forget the ancient ‘Sayings of the High One’ in the Poetic Edda, “The honor and shame of mens deeds will be remembered forever.”

Hálslón, Kárahnjúkar, October 2006

A summer of International dissent and action against Heavy Industry – swarming around Iceland from the 6th of July 2007

Updated July 10th. The campaign to defend Europe’s vastest remaining wilderness continues. After the direct action camps in Iceland’s mountain highlands in the summers of 2005 and 2006 against the Kárahnjúkar dam and ALCOA’s Reydarfjordur aluminium smelter, the Saving Iceland campaign moves on to bring Iceland’s aluminium Heavy Industrialisation to a halt.

New plans for dams, power plants, aluminium smelters and other forms of heavy industry need to be stopped. The culprits include corporations such as ALCOA, ALCAN, Century Aluminum, Hydro, Rusal, Impregilo, Bechtel, Barclays, Mott McDonald, etc… Iceland, with it’s vast geothermal and megahydro possibilities, is a new frontier for cheap energy craving industrial moguls who see nothing worth saving in Iceland’s legendary wilderness.

This camp will bring together activists from all over the world, including activists from social movements in India, South America, Africa, Europe and North America. Stopping the industrialisation and ecological destruction of the last unspoilt country in the west would be a major victory for the green movement and a new incentive for a global movement against industrialisation and ecocide. Join us.

Camp phone for new arrivals: (+354) 857 0709
Press (fjölmiðlar): Phone (+354) 663 7653 or (+354) 843 0629

The Camp and Conference:

The camp will start on the 6 July in Olfus, about half an hour by car from Reykjavik. It will begin with a major conference on the Global Consequences of Heavy Industry between the 7-8 July. Academics, activists and other people affected by the aluminium industry, dams and environmental destruction will come together to discuss their experiences and think about how to build up stronger local and global resistance.

As a background to the conference and camp, Saving Iceland has published the magazine ‘Voice of the Wilderness’ (download pdf, about 2,8 MB). This includes the conference and camp program, an overview of trainings and workshops and articles on the issues in Iceland, and in other countries under threat from heavy industry. The Voice is also made available on paper in many public locations.

Immediately after the conference, a protest camp will be set up. It will be a space in which creative and direct opposition to heavy industry can be mounted. There will be workshops, discussions, films and concerts during this period. There will be a large amount of all kinds of training related to protests and actions (check out the Voice for an overview).

There will be a strong focus around direct action, as in previous camps. For example, at the past two camps there were a number of actions whereby protestors got into dam and smelter construction sites, sometimes chaining themselves to machinery, sometimes not. People of all experiences of this kind of protest are extreemely welcome.

There will also be public actions in Reykjavik. On Tuesday the 10th of July, you are invited to join a unique ceremony to excorcise the evil of heavy industry from Iceland led by the amazing Reverend Billy and Saviti D from the Church of Stop Shopping (check their website – highly recommended!).

On Saturday July 14th, the ‘Bastille-day’ of the French revolution, we will gather in Reykjavik’s Bastille, Öskjuhlíð, at the hot pool beside Perlan, for a streetparty, a Rave against Heavy Industry – party and protest!

Location:

There will be a meeting point in both Reykjavík and Egilsstadir from which you will be guided to the camp location. Email us to reserve a lift from these otherwise, you will need to make your own way to the camp.

Reykjavík: Kaffi Hljómalind – Laugavegur 21. The workers in Iceland’s only cooperative, organic, fairtrade, vegetarian/vegan, Zapatista bean using coffe house will have information for you about the camp when you arrive and there are also plenty copies of The Voice of the Wilderness. Laugavegur is Reykjaviks main shopping street, so any local will be able to point you in the correct direction.

Egilsstadir, Thursday’s 1pm: outside Egilsstadir’s Tourist Information Centre (next to the Shell garage). Please note, the workers in the tourist information centre won’t have information about the camp, so dont bother asking them. If you are sailing to Seyðisfjörður then you will need to travel west along its only outbound road, which leads to Egilsstadir. It is a 30 Minute drive. If you don’t have a car try to hitchike to Egilsstadir, or if this fails catch the bus there (leaving Seydisfjordur on Thursdays at 8:20am, 12:20pm and 16:20pm).
Please make sure to email us so we know how much transport to arrange from Egilsstadir.

Food:

Vegan meals will be provided throughout the camp by a new Icelandic mobile field kitchen, the Veggie Viking Brigade, supported by the famous-on-the continent Dutch kitchen Rampenplan. Food will again be free to long term campers or anyone who has come from overseas (or has become poor for other reasons…) Otherwise food will be served on a donation basis, and we also welcome donations in the form of (vegetarian) food.

If you are interested in joining the cooking crew and becoming a fully trained to cook for hundreds of people, please email us: resources [at] savingiceland.org or knock on the kitchen tent’s door.

Money:

Iceland is a famously expensive place to visit but at the camp you will not need to spend any money. Also, if you hitch-hike, use a tent and shop well at stores like Bónus you can live cheaply. When entering Iceland you legally must be able to prove that you have enough money to fund your stay, otherwise the border cops might not let you enter the country. For this you can either point to some cash on you or just show a credit/debit card. This shouldn’t be a problem, dont worry.

Travelling to Iceland:

Boat:

Smyril Line sails from Denmark (Hanstholm), Norway (Bergen) and Scotland (Lerwick/Scrabster) to Iceland (Seyðisfjörður, in the East of Iceland) from about €320 return in July (High Season.) If you stay until mid-August you can get a Mid Season return fare which is cheaper. If you remind Smyril Line that you are a “student” then you will get a good discount. You can usually easily change your ticket without any extra cost. Paying in Euros (€) is usually cheaper than Pounds (£). Smyril Line often quotes different prices in each of their departments so call around. Whilst sailing look out for whales and dolphins…
Smyril-line – Ferry from Scotland, Denmark and Norway to Seydisfjordur.

Plane:

International flights usually land in Iceland’s main airport, Keflavik. An airport transfer bus service (called the FlyBus) runs between the airport and Reykjavik bus terminal via various hotels (1100 Kr [1200Kr from 01 Jan 07], 45 minutes). A return is 300 Kr cheaper than 2 singles.

Iceland Express – Flights from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France, Spain, Netherlands, Germany and UK – This is usually the cheapest airline to Iceland.

IcelandAir

British Airways – Flights from the UK

SAS Scandinavian Airlines – Flights from Oslo

Travelling inside Iceland:

We will of course aim to coordinate any necessary camp related transport but there may be times when this is logistically impossible. Also, you may want to travel apart from the camp within Iceland. Like other Nordic countries you can legally pitch your tent on any patch of land that is not fenced off and is not in sight of someones house, for one night, apart from around Myvatn. Many villages have campsites you can pay to pitch at, and you can also stay at mountain huts and emergency shelters which are spread across the country (for info on these check a map). Check the weather report here or in the tourist information centre before you leave on a big journey

Commercial Transport:

Iceland’s long distance bus system is slow and extremely expensive, so you might want to consider other means of travelling.
Internal flights are cheaper than buses but they obviously produce huge amounts of planet killing fumes [Air Iceland – Internal flights]

Renting a car is also very expensive for extended periods of time.

Hitch-hiking:

It is generally safe to hitch-hike and this kind of travel has lead to lots of exciting road-trips. Iceland has only one highway, Route 1, and it circles the island. Whether you should head along the North or South Route 1 is a matter of raging opinion which will never be settled. Hitching from Egilstadir to Reykjavik will usually take anything between one and four days. Make sure you stock up on supplies before you set off on a long journey, as you will not pass many shops. Try to travel in pairs if possible and be prepared to be unlucky and not get a ride for possibly a day or two. Make sure you have a tent if you hitch-hike.

By Bike:

Many people cycle around Iceland. It is 800km from Seydisfjordur to Reykjavik along the south route of Route 1, and it is mostly flat with a few insane hills. You should judge for yourself how long this will take you but we estimate that it will take you about 10 days to cross the country. The north Route of Route 1 is longer and crosses through the mountaneous interior highlands of Iceland. There are not many opportunities to buy food along the way so make sure you are well stocked and equiped.

Icebike.net – Very Useful general information of cycling in Iceland

By Car:

Cars of all kinds are extreemly useful: 4x4s, mini buses and vans especially, though small cars that don’t use much fuel are too. The cheapest way to travel on the Smyril-Line Norona ship is to fill your car up with people. If you email us in advance, we may be able to subsidise your car fare and organise people to share your seats and cost.

You can circle the country in the summer in a usual road car without a problem. But, entering the central-highlands in something other than a 4×4 can be highly problematic. Most of the Central-Highlands roads are just mud tracks, meaning that they are extremely potholed and can have rivers running through them. We say this as a caution, but many people do take these sorts of vehicles through 4×4 tracks… The higher your vehicle is off the ground the better. Most mountain roads and roads in the interior of Iceland have a surface of loose gravel. The same applies to large sections of the national highway, but which also has long stretches of asphalt. The surface on the gravel roads is often loose, especially along the sides of the roads, so one should drive carefully and slow down whenever approaching an oncoming car. Always observe speed limits, they are there for very valid reasons. The mountain roads are also often very narrow, and are not made for speeding. The same goes for bridges, most are only wide enough for one car at a time. In addition to not having an asphalt surface, the mountain roads are often very windy. Journeys therefore often take longer than might be expected.
For information on road conditions, Tel.: +354-1777, daily 8:00-16:00. or clickhere

According to the law everyone must drive with their headlights on, even in daytime. The general speed limit is 50 km/h in urban areas, 80 km/h on gravel roads in rural areas, and 90 km/h on asphalt roads. Always slow greatly down before approaching a bridge. Even relatively smooth roads have nasty potholes on either side of bridges. Asphalt roads tend to change suddenly and even without warning into gravel roads. That can be very dangerous if you are not driving at a sensible speed and has often caused terrible accidents. Traffic sign posting in Iceland is to put it mildly, sloppy. Don’t trust maps just because they show drivable tracks. Mountain tracks can suddenly vanish or become unusable. Be extreemly cautious when crossing rivers. Small streams tend to swell into forcefull rivers in the afternoons, so are best crossed early in the morning. Always make sure another vehicle is present when crossing a river. Expect roaming herds of sheep and cows on roads when driving anywhere in the countryside, and if you knock a sheep over then you legally have to contact the relevant farmer immediately. Petrol stations are few and far between around Iceland and are non-existent in the highlands, so make sure you always fill up when possible,and have spare cans. STICK ONLY TO THE ROADS AS OFF-ROAD DRIVING in the summer IS VERY DESTRUCTIVE TO THE FRAGILE SUB-ARCTIC ICELANDIC VEGETATION, and is also illegal.

What to Bring:

Essentials:

* Waterproof clothing (Coat and trousers), it can rain horrendously.
* Good hiking shoes (trainers can be very dangerous in the highlands.)
* Thermal underwear (it can get very cold!)
* Other warm clothing (eg wool jumpers, gloves, etc.)
* Some summertime clothing – it’s not always cold!
* Double skinned tent (or find someone to share with.)
* At least a two season sleeping bag, three season highly recommended but not essential.

Useful but not-essential:

* Camera / video-camera. Especially digital equipment (these are invaluable at the camp). Lots of DV tapes are also very useful.
* Your own cutlery (knife/fork/spoon),
* Plate or bowl and a cup
* Camping cooking equipment (especially if you go travelling on your own)
* Torch
* Compass
* GPS
* Medical equipment
* If you are sensitive to light when trying to sleep then you should bring an eye mask because the sun will be in the sky until very late and early
* Cars of all kinds, 4x4s, mini buses and vans especially, though small cars that don’t use much fuel are also useful. These are incredibly useful for the camp functioning. The cheapest way to travel on the Smyril-Line Norona ship is to fill your car up with people. If you email us in advance, we may be able to subsidise your car fare and organise people to share your seats.
* Mobile phones, especially NMT phones that are more useful the highlands.

For actions:

(The police might try to confiscate these when you enter, think of a reason why you might need them that’s not connected to the camp)
* Climbing harness
* Climbing clips
* Bicycle locks
* Paints and brushes.
* Banner material (Bed sheets, etc.)

For the camp:

* Your driving licence, so you can drive a camp car.
* Food for the camp kitchen. In particular please bring special vegan products. This is a country whose biggest supermarket puts milk into its HUMOUS!!
* Is there an environmental/social struggle in your area? Why not bring some fliers?

Other

* You can legally bring in 2 liters of alcohol. Alcohol is famously expensive in Iceland.

Other links

Icelandic Diplomatic Missions

Icelandic Directorate of Immigration – VISAS etc.

Underestimating Mother Nature May Cost Your Life – Article in Grapevine about the dangers of traveling in the Icelandic highlands without the necessary precautions.

Icetourist

LonelyPlanet

The National Land Survey of Iceland

The Icelandic Meteorological office

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

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.

Apparently the government have begged ALCOA not to mention any penalty payments before the general elections on 12 May. Some weeks ago we had the questionable pleasure to listen to denials in the press that these penalties were ever written into the contract! Yet again, this shows the level of lying that ALCOA and the Icelandic government are ready to stoop to.

Obviously, it is in the interest of ALCOA that the corrupt government which gave them the wilderness of Kárahnjúkar for free, will stay in power.

Aluminium was tapped from the first pot in the new aluminum smelter last weekend. The production process began mid-April.

However, there was a low key ceremony 1 April where the Icelandic PM and other dignitaries cut the red ribbon in the factory (above). But clearly the aluminium lobby felt that making too much of the occasion might backfire PR wise in view of the embarrassing fact that the energy was not coming from Kárahnjúkar, not to speak of the defeat ALCAN experienced in the Hafnarfjordur referendum the night before!

According to mbl.is, 40 pots are expected to be put into operation during this first stage and the smelter will be running 336 pots, its full capacity amount, by the end of the year when the construction of the smelter has been completed.

The smelter in Reydarfjördur has the potential to produce 356,000 tons of aluminum per year. The smelter currently uses 100 megawatts of electricity from the national electricity system, but will need 590 megawatts from the dams in Kárahnjúkar once electricity production begins there… later this year… That is; when Landsvirkjun and Impregilo have scrambled through the last tunnels at what ever the economical and human cost.

Until then, the smelter will not be fully operational and the Icelandic taxpayer will have to foot the bill when ALCOA needs more energy to stay on production schedule (after the elections one can presume!)

For the time being ALCOA hold their breath…

But what about when it comes to the final billing from the “most litigious company in history”, Impregilo?

How much is it going to cost the Icelandic taxpayer when Impregilo have worked out all the delays caused by the deliberately highly inaccurate calculations from Landsvirkjun?

To quote our own SOS: “The Kárahnjúkar project stands as a typical blueprint for international multi-billion-dollar megaprojects where promoters self-servingly misinform parliaments, the public and the media in order to get projects approved and built. The formula for approval is a cocktail of underestimated costs, overestimated revenues, undervalued environmental impacts and overvalued economic development effects.”

If we were not talking about Western Europe’s banana republic, then Icelandic politicians and technocrats who are responsible for this disastrous mess, would be made to answer for their actions in court… But of course, as every one in Iceland knows, they have already rigged the courts with their own family members and party lackeys!

Iceland Review
03/29/2007 | 11:47

Turning point at Reydarfjördur

The first shipment of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) arrived in Reydarfjördur, in Iceland’s Eastfjords, yesterday. The new Alcoa Fjardarál smelter in Reydarfjördur is expected to begin operating around Easter.

The transport vessel Pine Arrow anchored at the pier in Reydarfjördur carrying 39,000 tons of aluminum oxide, the primary raw material used for producing aluminum, Fréttabladid reports.

Almost two tons of aluminum oxide are needed for producing one ton of aluminum, so about 20,000 tons of aluminum can be produced out of the aluminum oxide that arrived in Reydarfjördur yesterday.

According to the information officer of Alcoa Fjardarál Erna Indridadóttir, the smelter’s management plans to take its first aluminum pot into usage after one or two weeks.

Once all pots in the smelter are operating, about 20 transport vessels will arrive in Reydarfjördur every year.

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.

Apparently Icelandic workers usually refused to go back in until it was relatively safe, but foreign workers had no choice and somtimes had to be carried unconcious back out of the tunnels because of the poisonous air.

Health and safety are now trying to hide behind a ‘lack of legislation in Iceland for this sort of tunnel work’.

The reluctance of the Icelandic unions and health and safety authorities to protect foreign workers at Karahnjukar suggests that there is something seriously rotten in more than one place in Icelandic society.

It seems appropriate now that there be more coverage in Icelandic media about the payments which Impregilo offered in 2003 to deposit in Icelandic union funds!

Exactly which unions received these payments from Impregilo?

————————————————-

Iceland Review
04/23/2007

Forty workers at Kárahnjúkar dam in Iceland’s eastern highlands suffered from diarrhea and vomiting on Friday after having consumed food and drink from open containers inside the tunnels where they were working.

According to Helga Hreinsdóttir, the managing director of East Iceland’s Public Heath Authority, there is a lack of cleanliness in the tunnels, Fréttabladid reports.

Hreinsdóttir explained the workers cannot wash their hands before they eat and that they serve themselves onto paper plates from open containers.

Hreinsdóttir said she had requested improvements, including that the food be delivered to the workers in the tunnels in pre-packaged portions.

A Portuguese worker who returned home from Kárahnjúkar yesterday told Fréttabladid about his experience inside the tunnels.

He said the workers had been deep underground for 12 hours on Thursday without food and drink. He also said they had licked the tunnel’s walls for water.

When food and drink arrived the workers dipped their cups into an open container of apple juice, but could not wash their hands first, the Portuguese worker explained.

Thorvaldur P. Hjardar, assistant district director of East Iceland’s Work Supervision Authority, told Fréttabladid he would visit Kárahnjúkar dam today to investigate the working conditions.

Hjardar said there is no problem with the workers being underground for more than ten hours as long as they have proper eating and lavatory facilities and can wash their hands.

The protest camp came to an end this summer. The Kárahnjúkar dam doors shut and flooding the valley began on the 28th September. A historical number of Icelanders – around 15,000, took to the streets the day before to protest the flooding. The international campaign against the destruction of Iceland’s wilderness continues with a march in London on 27th October. The march will also be against the impending destruction of rain forest in Trinidad to make way for two more Alcoa aluminium smelters there. There will also be a campaign gathering in the Netherlands 3-5 November.

In advance of this summer’s protest camp people in Sheffield had been raising funds to support the campaign. The cafe collective at the Matilda Social Centre held a successful benefit food night and the gig space collective raised more funds over the course of their events.

The Kárahnjúkar dam plans, which are destroying the most stunning and unique environment imaginable, were initially rejected by Iceland’s National Planning Agency in 2001 on the grounds of “substantial, irreversible negative environmental impact”. However the government pushed ahead, and work is progressing on the $1bn mega-project, which is designed solely to power just one aluminium smelter, to be built by US multinational Alcoa. Not one kilowatt of the power will go into the national grid for domestic use. Other aluminium corporations are now lining up for the cheap energy supply promised by future hydro-electric dam projects planned all over the Icelandic highlands. Even the most hardened environmental activist could not fail to feel shock when actually seeing the sheer scale of the destruction at Kárahnjúkar.

Many activists travelled out to Iceland by ferry from the Shetland Isles, via the Faeroes to the east coast of Iceland, which was an incredible trip in itself. The protest camp started with a family camp below Iceland’s highest mountain Snaefell, at an official campsite from 21st-31st July. There was a protest walk around the affected area on the 22nd July which attracted about 150-200 people. The protest walk ended with everyone holding hands in a symbolic action forming a line opposite the construction site at the level where the water will rise to. Once the family camp ended the decision was made to move the location of the camp to to an unofficial site closer to the dam site to facilitate more actions.

After much bad luck with vehicles breaking down, around 60 people and tat were moved to the new site at Lindur, within easy walking distance from the dam site. The real fun and games with the police now started. The roads down to the site were blocked, resulting in an hour’s walk to get to the main road from the new camp. Vehicles linked with the protests were on the first day prevented from getting near the road blocks, because of an illegal exclusion zone that had been implemented, which allowed tourists or work vehicles through. Not to be thwarted in getting food to the protesters, those outside the camp based at a small logistic camp that had been set up, worked with supportive tourists to smuggle food into the camp. The police tactics became one of attempting to starve the activists out of Lindur. Despite this the camp carried out a number actions at the dam site, stopping work by locking on to site vehicles. By Icelandic standards, the policing was aggressive, with people being violently arrested and attacked with batons. Arrested activists were bused out of mountains into town, and held in the local police station garage. All were eventually released without charge. Those working on the legal, media and transport side of things were routinely hassled by the police, followed and photographed, both in the mountains and in town, which in itself caused great controversy amongst the public and media.

Icelandic media interest in the protests were high and widely communicated the on-going violation of civil liberties by the police, from the following and filming of activists, denying them a supply of food, the made up “police law” they were invoking. There were many TV and radio interviews with activists. The media also began to get their first taste of this new type of policing, with a cameraman from the state TV station being pushed down the steps of the police station by the police. Journalists expressed outrage to some activists about this unprecedented behaviour, and how the police were trying to deny them access to the the protest sites. It seemed that the Kárahnjúkar protests were becoming as much about civil liberty issues as it was about the dam building projects and stimulating direct action. A member of the public tearfully apologised to one activist, when he saw him being forced to show their passport to a police officer outside of the local supermarket in town.

The camp at Lindur was finally evicted by the police on Monday 7th August, while many of the activists were on an early morning action stopping work at the dam site. The camp was encircled by police and people were ordered to take down the tents and clear the site. The police helpfully provided transport to move the tat and people, which given the on-going transport problems, did end up working in the camps favour, as many people were having to leave Iceland in the next few days and would have otherwise have had to hitch out of the mountains! Some of those on the action that morning had taken all their kit with them, also benefited from the lifts into town provided by the police. However, some local people who were staying at the camp and experienced the eviction were visibly shocked about the whole event and the way they were treated by the police.

A significant number of activists had to leave Iceland on the 10th August. The police made one last attempt to harass people by taking them away at the ferry port for questioning, which in some instances surely made for bizarre entertainment for the tourists waiting to board the boat. But a happy sailing home was had by all. Some activists remained in Iceland with local activists and undertook a further action, climbing cranes at the Reydarfjördur aluminum smelter. This summer’s protest camp finally came to an end on the 20th August.

Those travelling to Iceland this summer to act in solidarity with local activists helped to bring many issues to the fore in Iceland, including the industrialisation policy of the government, the entire dam building programme, the ability of people to take action to physically stop the construction, civil liberties and media access. One newspaper columnist finally starting making the links between the past and present. Years ago a women fought tirelessly to prevent Gulfoss waterfall, now a major tourist attraction, being dammed as part of a hydroelectric power scheme. Over the years she has become a national heroine. The columnist concluded that people should also see these modern day activists as heroes, daring where others wouldn’t, to fight to save Iceland’s natural beauty.

Finally, the activists themselves report that:

“Summer solstice in 2005 marked the beginning of a highly inspirational and unique event in the history of Icelandic activism. The international protest camps this year (2006) at Snæfell, Lindur and Reyðarfjörður attracted people from 18 different nationalities. Best of all, this summer saw many more Icelanders join the protests. We find that the camps and the direct actions of the last two summers have had a profound effect on Icelandic society by giving people the courage to make their voices heard after years of a repressive political atmosphere.

One of many effects the protests have had on the Icelandic nation is that people are now actually daring to change their minds about the dams. The protests have managed to get the heavy industry issue and its consequences back into focus. As mentioned above, many people working in the financial sector have raised their voices against the Kárahnjúkar project, pointing out that the aluminium industry adds very little to the Icelandic economy. We have managed to create a fresh new focus and dialogue in Icelandic society about heavy industry. Every day we see new demands that this unimaginative neo-Stalinist emphasis on build-up of heavy industry must be stopped. More young Icelandic people have joined the fight. Hope has been rekindled.”

Action Reports on this summers protest camp in IndyMedia:

(1)  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/s…
(2)  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/s…
(3)  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/s…

Closing statement from the 2006 protest camp:  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/s…

The Icelandic media has reported that within the first few hours of the closing of the dam doors on the morning of 28 September 2006, like a noose being tightened, the water level rose 15 meters. The entire 200m+ flooding depth will not be completed until next summer. Some people turned up to watch the valley be drowned, notably reporter Ómar Ragnarsson who will board a boat on the rising reservoir and film the death of the many waterfalls, valleys, cliffs, and so forth.

Despite two summers of an international protest camp in the Icelandic Highlands which was attended by hundreds of people from all over the world; despite a 15,000 people marching in Reykjavik the day before today, together with 200 from Akureyri, 50 in Ísafjörður, 100 in Egilsstaðir, a turnout which is over five times the size of the previous largest demonstration in the 300,000 person Iceland; despite a disastrous environmental assessment report; despite calls from scientists and nature lovers inside outside and out; despite all the consequences on Iceland’s economy; despite this area now to be known as the Halslon reservoir being of huge cultural significance to Iceland; despite it being the second largest wilderness in Europe: heavy industry has got its way and stolen this wilderness merely for the sake of the production of aluminium.

The fight to save Kárahnjúkar may now be over, but the fight to defend Iceland from further assaults by the pro-heavy-industry patriarchs is just beginning. Alcoa, Landsvirkjun, the Icelandic government and any other corporation profiting from this murder will pay for the death of this great wilderness.

A historical amount of Icelanders today marched in four different cities against the damming of Kárahnjúkar. Following a call from retiring television reporter and nature enthusiast Ómar Ragnarsson to march on the day before the dam is scheduled to be flooded, up to 15,000 people in total walked the streets in the Reykjavik, Akureyri, Egilsstaðir and Ísafjörður. ”

 

The following is sited from the Reykjavik Grapevine, 27/9/2006.

Thousands of Icelanders marched in protest last night, in support of retiring television reporter and nature enthusiast Ómar Ragnarsson and his call to the Icelandic government to forego with the Kárahnjúkar dam. Thursday will reportedly see an epoch in the Kárahnjúkar damming process, when water will finally be released to flood the valley behind the already-built dam. In a public address, Ragnarsson called for Icelanders to mightily protest this, stating that when an unjust execution is about to go forth one should continue disputing it until the last day.

Protest walks took place on Laugavegur in Reykjavík, in Akureyri, Egilsstaðir and Ísafjörður. Police and organisers disagreed on exactly how many thousands marched down Laugavegur, although both agreed that the numbers were great. According to Reykjavík police estimates, around 7-8.000 people marched while organisers present decreed it to have contained up to 15.000. Local media reports up to 200 marching in Akureyri, around 100 in Egilsstaðir and 50 people protesting in Ísafjörður.

In conversation with the Grapevine right before the march last night, Ísafjörður organizer and scholar Ólína Þorvarðardóttir reflected public opinion to the latest developments in the dam spectacle. “It was foremost Ómar’s call that sparked our interest in marching here in Ísafjörður. He has been very diligent in calling attention to the impending harm to nature and the environment and people are finally starting to realise that it’s not too late to do something about it. This is why we will answer his call and march, expressing our sorrow over what is happening.”

When asked about the effects the Kárahnjúkar endeavour had on the people of Ísafjörður Ólína replied that the scope and effect of the projects is far greater than anyone envisioned. “In environmental and economical terms, the effects are alarming. Here in the Westfjords, we have experienced drawbacks due to the inflation caused by the dam, where greatly needed projects such as improving our dismal road system have been postponed to accommodate it. On another note, the country belongs to all of us; Easterners do not ‘possess’ the Eastern highlands any more than we possess the Westfjords peninsula. This is our heritage and we have an obligation to pass it on to future generations.”

By Hanna Björk

Saying that the Kárahnjúkar dam has been controversial is an understatement. This hydro-power 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 escalating.

The decision to provide Alcoa with hydroelectric power from the Kárahnjúkar dam was signed on March 15, 2003 without much resistance from the public. People in east Iceland celebrated and found new hope in the project. Unemployment and the lowering of real estate prices had been plaguing the inhabitants of the east regions of Iceland. They were beginning to despair for their future. They flocked to the capital, causing heavy depopulation through the rugged fjords they had once called home. For years politicians had been betting on the force of our nature, the waterfalls and rivers ability to provide electricity through dams as the key to a better future for these people. For a long time heavy industry was seen as the solution to the problems rural communities in the east were facing. Since the decision to go ahead with the dam, the controversy grows and debates take place at all levels of Icelandic society. The information is enormous and the different views and opinions are endless. It is easy to feel swamped by information overkill and the size of the issue the huge impact it will have on Icelandic nature, our society and our status as an independent nation. The biggest damage comes from filling the Hálslón lagoon that will reach through vast space of wilderness. At the end of this month the first water will flow into Hálslón and the lagoon is estimated to have reached its full size in fall 2007. In this vast space, delicate nature, waterfalls, glacial rivers, mountains, canyons, fields of black sand, rare flowers, pink-footed geese and reindeer will be lost. It seems that at the last minute (which is typically Icelandic of course) there has been an awakening in society. Suddenly Icelanders realize what exactly is being sacrificed for this project. In the early days those against the project were labelled as against people in the eastern regions. Most people in Iceland just didnt have an opinion on the matter at all. Also, most people had never even seen the area in question. Heavy pro-dam, one-sided propaganda appeared from politicians and the government, engineers and Landsvirkjun. The local communities in the east were ready to start economic growth. On the other side of the issue stood the environmentalists who had been for protecting the highlands and nature all along. Their voices have gradually been getting louder. As writers, musicians, artists, politicians, professors and professionals speak up the discourse in media more recently has been growing towards those for protecting the environment and Icelandic nature.

The Awakening

The young writer Andri Snær Magnason is perhaps the most influential in changing peoples attitudes and starting the awakening taking place at this moment. His book, Dreamland: A Self-help Book for a Scared Nation, became a bestseller overnight after its March 2006 publication and is now in its 14th printing. Last summer the family camps at Snæfell mountain held by organizations Friends of Iceland and Saving Iceland were extremely busy with visitors as well as the information site at the Kárahnjúkar dam. Journalist Ómar Ragnarsson has been busy offering sightseeing flights over the area. A large number of people have explored the area on foot on five-day treks with Augnablik, the travel organization operated by two guides, Ásta Arnardóttir and Ósk Vilhjálmsdóttir, who started exploring the area in 2002 and have since brought 800 people there. This summer, demand skyrocketed. Those who have been there and seen the land going underwater do not return untouched.

A Moment of Wonder

The awakening in the society has had its effect and people want to see what is being sacrificed, says Arnardóttir, a guide for 15 years and a yoga teacher who has protested the project. The issue is much more openly discussed and people are not as afraid to speak their opinion regardless of political stand. We mark a great awakening on environmentalism and protecting nature and people are forming their opinions more from the heart. A lot of those who explored the area on the Augnablik treks were already against the construction, others have been pro-dam but a great number had not formed an opinion. It has been very interesting bringing people to the area and providing them with the opportunity to see with their own eyes what is taking place. Many acknowledge that they had no idea the landscape was so magnificent and the construction was so huge. Its not possible to realize the magnitude of the environmental impact by reading through documents or looking at numbers, Arnardóttir explains, adding that many Icelanders are visiting the area for the first time.

The walking path is on a world scale, its an easy trek and the vistas are variable. In many ways being in the area is a unique experience. Especially at Kringilsárrani where the closeness to wilderness, flocks of reindeer and pink-footed geese creates adds to a unique experience. People, myself included, have found it difficult to explain what it is exactly that makes it so spectacular. Watching the glacier river Jökla and how she forms the canyon south of Kárahnjúkar and the series of waterfalls at Jökulsá á Fljótsdal is spectacular. The closeness to Vatnajökull, Europes largest glacier and mountains Kverkfjöll and Snæfell has a great impact. This area has so many special features that cannot be described in words. When I came to the area for the first time I was very touched and surprised, it is a very deep experience. There is not much to say about it. We can read about what is being sacrificed but it doesnt have the same effect as when you see how enormous the construction is. Arnardóttir is among those who believe it is not too late to back out of this deal. She wants to see the Kárahnjúkar hydropower project abolished. Like many others she has serious doubts about the economic growth politicians dreamed about and seriously questions profits from the dam. As Andri Snær mentioned in his book I think that a conscious decision to change our minds and put an end to the dam is much better for the people in this country and our future on all levels, not just because of our nature but also because of our independence from giant corporations such as Alcoa. I think it is also very important to abandon the governments heavy industry policy. Andri Snærs book put the whole issue into context and raised questions about what we are doing with our creative energy by offering our nature for low energy prices. It is a question of what kind of future we want for our country.

Mourning in the East

More and more locals in east Iceland are realizing the impact this enormous project is having on their communities. Seventy-five percent of the construction is already finished and many are still waiting for the gold to arrive as politicians promised. The jobs have mainly gone to foreigners brought in from Poland, Portugal and China to build the dam and smelter. If lack of employment was the problem then where did the need for foreign labour come from? Þórhallur Þorsteinsson, founder and former chairman of the organization Protect the East Highlands is one of those who has always protested the project. On Saturday September 17th he went into the construction area of the dam and drew the Icelandic flag to half-mast to bring attention to the fact that not everybody in East Iceland is pro-dam. In the beginning of the debate those who were against this hydroelectric project and aluminium smelter were met with fierce response. Many grew afraid to speak their minds and even feared their employers and loss of jobs if they would make their opinions public. Today we feel that there is a growing support on our side. We are pointing out the fact that there is disagreement among people in east Iceland although we are often led to believe that everyone at home is pro-dam. Þorsteinsson believes there is a change in attitude among locals and that people are realizing that the construction has gone so far without their lives profiting to any extend. We believed that a large part of the workers on the construction sites of the dam and the smelter would be Icelanders, however they have been brought in from other countries. Population migration to the east has not happened. Locals have also begun to worry what will happen when the construction is over. Some sort of stagnation is inevitable.

Þorsteinsson says that many pro-dam locals have not visited the area that will go under Hálslón and do not realize the size of the lagoon. It seems odd that local people are often those who care the least about the land sacrificed. The reason is a one-sided introduction from the governments side and a decade-long cry for heavy industry in Fjarðarbyggð. People were getting desperate as unemployment kept rising. Then politicians created some sort of hysteria when they introduced this project as the only solution to save them from unemployment and therefore anyone against it had to be silenced. District counsellors do not care about nature if they will get money in the bank accounts. They believed that profits and economic growth would benefit their regions. The truth is that not so many have benefited from it. Other companies in the east have gone bankrupt because of the expansion and people have lost their jobs elsewhere. Expectations were brought to the people but today there is serious doubt, Þorsteinsson explains and adds that hope is perhaps the only positive thing east Icelanders have gained from this project although it was perhaps short-sighted.

Economic growth?

We are struck by the lack of transparency in the power purchase agreements in Iceland, emblematic of an era in which companies appropriate resources with little accountability and growing disdain for the earths fragile balance, Glenn Switkes wrote in a letter to the editor of the New York Times in 2002. The price Alcoa is paying Landsvirkjun for electricity is confidential, explained by Sigurður Arnalds, Landsvirkjuns spokesperson, as a means of not revealing individual contracts to competitors. Recently Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde took a sightseeing flight with journalist Ómar Ragnarsson and went on TV news with an Alcoa Fjarðarál helmet on his head; Haarde stated that although he acknowledges that the land about to be flooded is beautiful, he is keeping his eye on the prize, which is the economic growth. However, the profitability of the project remains a controversy. The criticism being that we are sacrificing too much for too little. Economist Sigurður Jóhannesson in an article written in 2001 stated that the numbers Landsvirkjun put forth on profitability indicated that it was a bad investment. A bad investment without taking into account the opportunity cost. He expected harsh criticism not only on environmental grounds but also on economic grounds. At that time Landsvirkjun expected 14 percent profitability; in August 2006 Landsvirkjun published a profitability reassessment expecting 11.9 percent profitability now that 75 percent of the construction is completed. These numbers can change due to different factors and cannot be guaranteed. Jóhannesson also pointed out that fringe benefits given to the Kárahnjúkar hydropower project was threefold: the Alcoa Fjarðarál aluminium smelter does not pay taxes of 2.5 billion ISK, secondly the land was given free of charge but what is most important is that the owners of Landsvirkjun (National Power Company), which are the government of Iceland and city of Reykjavík, guarantee the loans. Which means Landsvirkjun pays lower interest. Other companies that will yield because of heavy industry and dam constructions will not enjoy such fringe benefits. Loans backed by the government means that Icelandic taxpayers are taking a risk due to the Kárahnjúkar hydropower project. For Landsvirkjun they see the profitability in cheap loans but for the owners, the government of Iceland and city of Reykjavík there is no financial gain, says Jóhannesson.

The Radical Approach

This is the biggest mistake Icelandic politicians have made for decades, says Sigríður Þorgeirsdóttir, professor of philosophy at the University of Iceland. I believe there is still more to be gain from not going ahead with this. The economic growth and profits anticipated will never transpire and we are risking three percent of Icelandic nature. The main sacrifice is the filling of the Hálslón lagoon. People who have been to the highlands are shocked to see what is being sacrificed. These are two glacial rivers that will be put into tunnels, these are the highlands lifelines. The impact on the environment is irredeemable, she says. Þorgeirsdóttir and filmmaker Þuríður Einarsdóttir published an article in Morgunblaðið last year claiming it would be more profitable to abandon the project. There are examples of projects of this magnitude being stopped elsewhere in the world. For example, in Austria in 1978 a nuclear power plant had been built but because of demonstrations the plant was never put into effect and still stands unused. Even if it will cost us 100 billion to stop the Kárahnjúkar dam, and we take a loan to pay that off, this number is not that big. We are one of the richest countries in the world. We can afford it and we will gain so much more. We could use the Kárahnjúkar dam as a museum as an example that would demonstrate that Icelanders were wise enough to stop, says Þorgeirsdóttir with emphasis.

Hope for the Future?

This is a project planned by Icelands government to dam glacial river flows in large tract of wilderness and produce hydroelectric power for Alcoa aluminium smelter, a smelter that will rest on Reyðarfjörður eastern fjord. In a region Icelanders were about to desert, or so the propaganda claimed. To sell hydroelectric power to heavy industry had been on the governments agenda since they issued the booklet titled Lowest Energy Prices in 1995. Under pressure to keep its rural areas populated, the government tried to attract aluminium smelters before Alcoa jumped on the deal. However, outraged environmentalists say the country is selling its wild birthright, damaging its eco-tourist image and risking its credit rating to benefit a billion dollar American conglomerate and to win a mere handful of jobs.
How it is possible that an issue of this magnitude with such grave environmental impact and an attack on our nature and independence as a nation went through parliament without much resistance from the public and without many questions asked is mind-boggling. Iceland is one of the most educated countries in the world with a living standard among the highest in the world. How could we be so blind while our politicians took the decision to sacrifice the most valuable thing we possess in this world, our nature? It is the battle of wildlife versus voltage. A battle being waged in many parts of the world where living river systems and the human and ecological communities they support are sacrificed to satisfy aluminium giants like Alcoa. If the Kárahnjúkar dam is a lost battle at least we can prevent further dams and smelters already in the pipeline and prevent Alcoa and Alcan from growing in Iceland. We Icelanders have the opportunity and can afford to take the economic plunge, protect our nature, protect our independence, stop the dams and not fear for the future.

The article appeared first on Reykjavikdotcom (now defunct)

Photo by Christopher Lund