Alina Oprea • 8 January, 2024 at 8:24 AM
The Minister of the Environment, Waters, and Forests, Mircea Fechet, says there are 31 hazardous and non-hazardous industrial waste dumps in Romania, for which the country is paying fines. The EU Court of Justice decided on December 14, 2023, to sanction Romania with a fine of €1.5 million and daily penalties of €600/day for the delay in closing non-compliant waste dumps. Romania still has 31 such warehouses to be closed and greened.
On August 10, 2023, the Government of Romania approved a new Action Plan for the closure of 31 non-compliant landfills: 1 municipal waste landfill, 20 hazardous industrial waste landfills, and 10 non-hazardous industrial waste landfills.
The Minister participated on Friday in Bacău, at the meeting of the Technical Analysis Commission (CAT) held at the headquarters of the Bacău Environmental Protection Agency, as well as in a working visit to the field, at the Sofert Bacău phosphogypsum hazardous industrial waste deposit.
"Today we are closer than ever to the moment that will mark the closing of a dark chapter in the history of Bacău and Romania. There are 31 hazardous and non-hazardous industrial waste depots in Romania, because of which we pay fines. The Sofert Bacău phosphogypsum hazardous industrial waste deposit extends over 16 hectares for which we pay €18,000 /day. I am glad that today I was able to participate in the meeting of the technical analysis committee within APM Bacău, where the environmental agreement for the greening project of this deposit is to be issued, which not only means that it will no longer pollute, but and the fact that the Romanian state will pay fewer penalties, fewer fines.
Every day that we recover means money saved, money with which we will be able to make other types of investments and I hope that Bacăul will become an example of good practice for the other 30 deposits to be greened", stated Minister Mircea Fechet in during the visit.
At the CAT meeting, convened according to Law no. 292/2018 for the development of the environmental impact assessment procedure for the project "Closing and rehabilitating the Sofert Bacau phosphogypsum hazardous industrial waste deposit, the beneficiary of the Environment Fund Administration", representatives of the local authorities participated, The Directorate of Public Health, the National Agency for Natural Protected Areas, the National Environmental Guard and the Siret Water Basin Administration.
The Environmental Fund Administration submitted, on November 16, 2023, the request to issue the environmental agreement for the project "Closing and rehabilitating the Sofert Bacau phosphogypsum hazardous industrial waste deposit, beneficiary the Environmental Fund Administration".
Romania must close the hazardous industrial waste deposit in Bacău County, to comply with the provisions of the European acquis and with the commitments assumed for the environmental sector. To invest to close the non-compliant industrial waste deposit, it was necessary, in advance, to transfer the related land to the ownership of the state and the administration of the Environment Fund Administration.
The estimated deadline for the closure of the deposit is the year 2027. The solution for the rehabilitation of the phosphogypsum deposit has as its main objective the reduction of the mobility of the existing contaminants on the site to protect the site to fit into the natural landscape, with the protection of environmental factors, water, air, soil, and basement. No activity will be carried out on the surface of this eco-friendly site in the future, the perimeter of the dump will be fenced off and put under observation for 30 years.