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BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (September 13, 1999) - NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia has left the country with environmental "hotspots," a United Nations team of experts concluded Monday.
There were no ecological catastrophes as a result of the bombing, but urgent action is needed to deal with pollution at certain locations, said the team's chief, Pekka Haavisto.
The team announced some of its findings Monday after completing its third and final investigative mission on the effects of the alliance's airstrikes here.
"The towns of Pancevo and Kragujevac are two hotspots of particular concern," Haavisto told reporters.
Both towns were repeatedly pounded by NATO. Pancevo's petrochemical plant and oil refinery were leveled in the process, as were the industrial complex and factories in Kragujevac, in central Serbia.
Also urgently in need of cleaning is a one-mile stretch of a heavily polluted canal that feeds into the Danube River, Haavisto said. Water and sediment there have become heavily polluted with mercury, dioxin and petrochemical waste.
"If the Danube level significantly rises in the fall, the waters will flow with all these pollutants into the river," Haavisto said.
Haavisto's team is comprised of independent scientists from across Europe working under U.N. auspices. Its first two trips in July dealt with industrial sites targeted by the bombings and the impact on the Danube. The third trip looked at other damage in Serbia, Montenegro and Pristina, Kosovo's provincial capital.
The experts also looked into rumors that NATO had used bombs containing uranium, a radioactive agent. Samples from the targeted locations are now undergoing laboratory analysis.
The team did not disclose estimates on the environmental damage's economic impact. But Haavisto said any cleanup actions would be extremely costly.
The team's preliminary findings will be submitted to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in early October.