Citizens of Graz jump into the River Mur
(Graz, July 9, 2017) Dozens of dedicated citizens of Graz gathered at the right side of the river where our Murcamp 3.0 is located, for a collective jump into the river to draw attention across Europe to the threatening natural disaster unleashed by the construction of the Mur power plant Graz, and the gigantic sewage/rainwater storage pipe which is up to 10 meters deep.
Both projects cost an arm and a leg (up to 200 million EUR) and will increase the debts of the city of Graz to 1.6 billion or 5,600 Euro per resident of Graz from toddlers to the elderly.
Beneficiaries of this project are the construction industry and the companies involved in the erection of an uneconomical power plant whereas citizens will lose a unique recreational area by the riverside and a piece of nature in the heart of the city with about 8,000 trees to be cut in the 2nd stage of this project although they help reducing fine dust, a problem which has been suffocating Graz for years already.
On July 3rd, 2017, our second camp was cleared by police and security forces which, as it seems, was done without a legal basis. Given that expropriation is still going on in certain areas (Langedelwehr Graz) this European event is an opportunity to call attention to a looming natural disaster and to a disregard of democracy throughout Europe.
We are glad to be the first in Austria to take part in this event and sent our BIG JUMP picture to the European coordination center of this event, pointing out the current situation and threat of destruction of nature and a river.
A delegation of our activists also joined our Slovenian fellow campaigners at the Weitersfeld Jump as an act of international solidarity at the Austrian-Slovenian border.
Together, the call for the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) will be heard louder!
For more information on the Big Jumps, please visit:
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http://www.rettetdiemur.at (German)
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http://www.murcamp.at (German)
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http://ww.murxkraftwerk.at (German/ENglish)
Background Information:
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Introduction to the new EU Water Framework Directive
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/info/intro_en.htm -
Open letter to the police department on the evacuation of the Murcamp (German)
http://www.murxkraftwerk.at/briefverkehr/anfrage_steirische_landespolizeidirektion_raeumung_murcamp.html
Photo: Franz Keppel