Communication across the Black sea via Internet technology

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of International Affairs has been joined by an interagency task force to undertake a program in the Black Sea region called the "Black Sea Environmental Initiative." The objectives of the task force are to support the countries of the region to address significant Black Sea environmental issues, including oil spill response and prevention. Working with delegates from Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine, DOE and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) coordinated a workshop on a regional oil spill emergency response system for the Black Sea on September 14-17, 1999 in Odessa, Ukraine; DOE and the National Academy of Science, Ukraine cosponsored the workshop. The "Black Sea Environmental Information Center" Web site was unveiled at the Odessa workshop. Created by ORNL, the Web site (http://pims.ed.ornl.gov/blacksea) facilitates information flow and dialog between the countries of the region. The Web site is intended to provide a comprehensive source for information on: Oil spill cleanup, monitoring, and related commercial technologies Scientists' requests for research partner Various countries' laws, regulations, and standards relating to the environmental condition of the Black Sea Publication of scientific papers and on-line discussions of these issue Individuals and companies working on Black Sea environmental issues The Web site also provides a real time chat capability where meetings are organized. Several meetings among regional officials have been conducted and planning is underway for the first real-time training session, which will be held in the next few months. The Web site also is host to a growing database of historical pollution testing data from research institutes around the Black Sea.