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POPs management in Belarus |
Elimination of Obsolete Pesticide Landfills in the Republic of BelarusIn fulfillment of the provisions of the Stockholm Convention of Persistent Organic Pollutants, and to identify effective measures to address the POPs problem, the Republic of Belarus has developed and adopted the following strategic program documents:
One of the key areas of implementation of the above acts is the elimination of landfills of organochlorine obsolete pesticides (hazardous chemical wastes mostly containing POPs and characterized by high toxicity and having a hazardous impact on human health and the environment) in the country. As prescribed by the Stockholm Convention, organochlorine pesticides are not produced and are banned for use in Belarus. However, there are still some stocks of unused pesticides and soils contaminated by pesticides in the country. According to the available inventory data, more than 3,700 tons of obsolete pesticides were buries in the Republic of Belarus in seven landfill in the Brest Oblast (at the village of Gershony), Vitebsk Oblast (Verkhnedvinsk, Postavy and Gorodok Landfills), Gomel Oblast (Petrikov Landfill), Grodno Oblast (Slonim Landfill) and Mogilev Oblast (Dribin Landfill). Locations of obsolete pesticide landfills
In fulfillment of Clause 12 of the agenda of the National Implementation Plan of the Republic of Belarus under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants for 2007-2010 and for the period until 2028, the Gershony Obsolete Pesticide Landfill was eliminated in 2007 in the Brest Oblast; it had been located in a caponier of a former military fort in the vicinity of the village of Gershony of the Brest District. The extracted pesticides (total weight: 380 tons) were removed for environmentally sound storage and destruction to the Gomel Oblast Toxic Industrial Waste Processing and Disposal Facility. The Ministry of Emergencies degassed the caponier rooms and cleaned the area adjacent to the landfill. In 2008, the Belarusian MoE began operations on elimination of the Petrikov Obsolete Pesticide Landfill situated at the Luchitsy Forestry of the Petrikov District, Gomel Oblast. 487 tons of obsolete pesticides were removed from the Petrikov District to the Gomel Oblast Toxic Industrial Waste Processing and Disposal Facility in 2008-2012. According to experts, the landfill still holds approximately 800-900 tons of wastes. Work at the Petrikov Obsolete Pesticide Landfill will continue until it is completely eliminated. In 2011-2012, in fulfillment of Clause 12 of the agenda of the National Implementation Plan of the Republic of Belarus under the Stockholm Convention of Persistent Organic Pollutants for 2011-2015, the MNREP and MoE completely eliminated the Slonim Obsolete Pesticide Landfill situated in the Slonim District of the Grodno Oblast. The operations were co-financed with a grant allocated to the Republic of Belarus by the Global Environmental Fund and with funds of national budget. Obsolete pesticides and soil contaminated with hazardous waste, which have been extracted from the landfill, will be exported to Germany and destroyed there in an environmentally sound manner by the end of 2013. By now, 2 obsolete pesticide landfill (out of the 7 landfills existing in the country) have been completely eliminated, and one more is at the stage of elimination. The National Implementation Plan of the Republic of Belarus under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants for 2011-2015 provides for elimination of the Gorodok Obsolete Pesticide Landfill in 2013-2014. It is planned to eliminate the remaining landfills of obsolete pesticides in the Republic of Belarus by the year 2028.
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Realization of Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants in the Republic of Belarus |
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