POPs Inventory Data

Obsolete pesticides landfills

In the years 70-80s a considerable amount of obsolete or banned pesticides, including POPs pesticides was stockpiles on the territory of Belarus. Almost half of the total amount of obsolete pesticides (almost 3811.2 tons) is located in six landfills, three of them are situated in the Vitebsk region (Verkhnedvinsk, Postavy, and Gorodok landfills), one of them – the Gomel region (Pertikov landfill), one of them – in the Grodno region (Slonim) and one – in the Mogilev region (Dribin landfill). In 2007 in the framework of implementation of the National Plan of the Republic of Belarus for the Implementation of its Obligations under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants for 2007-2010 and until 2028, approved by Decree of the president of the Republic of Belarus of 12 June 2007 No. 271, the Brest obsolete pesticides landfill was removed. The extracted obsolete pesticides (among which there were no POPs pesticides) were repackaged and taken to environmentally safe temporary storage to Communal Unitary Enterprise “Facility for processing and burial of hazardous industrial waste of the Gomel region”.

Verkhnedvinsk obsolete pesticides landfill

The Verkhnedvinsk obsolete pesticides landfill is situated in the northwestern part of the Verkhnedvinsk district 8 km to the north-west of the state border of the Republic of Belarus with the Latvian Republic. It is 18 km to the south from the town of Verkhnedvinsk, and 12 km to the north-east from the town of Osveya.

Characteristics of the landfill site. The obsolete pesticides landfill is situated on the right bank of the river Turja, 500 m from its bed, 3.5 km from the point of confluence of the rivers Turja and Sarjanka, and 17.5 km from the place where the river Sarjanka flows into the river Zapadnaya Dvina. The landfill site is situated between two short streams, which 190 m to the south-west merge into a nameless right confluent of the river Turja. Geo-morphologically the site is linked to the Polotsk lowlands. Absolute marks of the surface are 150-151 m. In the area of the landfill due to the added soil they go up to 152 m.

50 m to the north-east from the landfill there is a small oval bog, 60 m wide, from which the eastern stream flows. The bog was formed as a result of swamping of a glacial lake. Near the landfill on one of the streams there is a beaver’s dam, which supplies the pond with water all year round. The bog as well as the streams gets dry in low-water seasons.

The landfill is situated in the thick mixed forest (fir, alder, aspen). The height of the trees reaches 20 m, the distance between them is 1-2 m. On the territory of the landfill itself the forest was cut down in the period of the construction.
The landfill site comprises four trenches 1 m deep, of the total capacity of about 600 m3. As a result of compaction and shrinkage of the pesticides the surface of the landfill became undulating and some hollows have formed where rain water is collected.

The quantity and nomenclature of the buried pesticides. In the trenches there are 454.4 tons of 47 various types of pesticides, among them there are POPs pesticides.

Gorodok obsolete pesticides landfill

The landfill was constructed in October 1973 in pursuance of Order of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee of 4 September 1973 No. 431 P. The landfill was constructed in remote and uninhabited area of the forest in the eastern part of the Gorodok district. The distance to the district center, the town of Gorodok, which is situated to the west of the landfill site, is 36 km. The distance between the landfill and the state border with the Russian Federation is 10 km.

It is possible to reach the landfill by earth road, which begins at the refined earth road from the village of Khmelnik of the Gorodok district to the village of Ostrovskiye. Thus, entrance is possible both from the direction of Vitebsk and from the direction of Gorodok. In the period of spring floods and rainy seasons the forest road needs refinement.
 
Characteristics of the landfill site.

The territory where the landfill site is situated is covered with mixed forest. Fir, aspen and birch prevail. The height of the trees is 16-19 m, the width is up to 0.15-0.20 m, and the distance between the trees is up to 3-4 m.

Quantity and nomenclature of the buried pesticides. The pesticides are put into 4 trenches 2 m deep and of the total area of 10x2 m2. The maximum volume of pesticides judging by the size of the trenches in case of their complete occupancy is 40 m3, which contradicts the weight of 411.4 tons indicated in the ecological passport of the site. The pesticides of toxicity class 1 are placed in the concrete bunker of total capacity of 50 m3. The walls of the bunker are 30 cm wide, the bottom is monolithic.
 
The data about the content of the buried pesticides have not remained. According to the ecological passport of the site compiled by the former Gorodok district union “Selkhozkhimia” in 1990 (17 years after the end of construction), only total weight and toxicity class of the buried chemicals are known. The total weight of the buried chemicals is estimated at 411.4 tons, including ranged in accordance with toxicity classes: toxicity class 1 – 43.628 tons, toxicity class 3 – 130.146 tons, toxicity class 4 – 237.295 tons.

It is clear that the pesticides of low toxicity classes prevail – 58 percent of the total. The share of the pesticides of high toxicity class is 10 percent.

The nomenclature of the buried pesticides can be partially identified based on the results of their identification in ecosystems of the environment in the process of former research of the laboratory of Vitebsk Station of Seed growing, Quarantine and Crop Protection and RUE “Central Research Institute of Complex Use of Water Resources” (RUE CRICUWR). In the process of analyses of Control laboratory such pesticides as DDE, γ-HCCH, diazinon, and siamzine-triazine group (simazine and prometrine) were revealed.

Similar to the other obsolete pesticides landfills taking into consideration the prevalence of one and the same nomenclature of preparations in kolkhozes and sovkhozes, we can assume that half of the buried pesticides in the Gorodok landfill are chlororganic pesticides. The rest are phosphorous-organic, simazine-triazine and non-organic compounds in almost equal parts.

Postavy obsolete pesticides landfill

The Postavy landfill built in 1971 is situated in the southern part of the Postavy district of the Vitebsk region. For its construction a remote and uninhabited part of forest within the tract Mankovskaya Dacha as selected (Figure 6). The distance to the district center – the town of Postavy – is 7 km to the north. It is 3.5 km from the landfill to the administrative border of the district separating the Vitebsk and Minsk regions.
  
The biggest river in the area of the landfill is the Myadelka. It flows from lake Myadel near the village of Lopos of the Myadel district 8 km to the south from the landfill and into the river Birveta – the right confluent of the Disna river. To the west of the landfill there is a system of circulating lakes, which merges with the river Myadelka to the north of Postavy. The system includes lakes Dolzha, Glodovo, Zadevskoye and others.

Characteristics of the landfill site. At the landfill site a layer of fine-grained and coarse-grained sands 18 m wide was revealed by the observation wells. These sands are underlain by loamy sands of Wurm moraine, the revealed capacity of which is 12 m. At the depth of 10.5 m ground waters flow underlain by Wurm moraine.

The territory of the landfill situated between Lake Dolzha and the valley of the river Myadelka is covered with forest (mostly pine and birch). The height of the trees is up to 24 m, the width – up to 0.27 m, and the distance between the trees – up to 4 m.

Quantity and nomenclature of the buried pesticides. The data about the buried pesticides have not remained. In accordance with the ecological passport, issued by the Postavy district union “Selkhozkhimia” in 1990 (19 years after the end of the construction), only the total weight and toxicity class of the chemicals are known. The total weight of the buried chemicals is 99 tons, including the following toxicity classes: toxicity class 2 – 16.3 tons, toxicity class 3 – 33.0 tons, toxicity class 4 – 49.7 tons.

Similar to the other landfills we can assume that the chemical content of the buried pesticides is almost the same. In the course of isolated studies there have been identified DDT, DDE, isomers α, β, γ and δ of HCCH. These pesticides are classified as chlororganic. It is possible that such kinds as phosphorous-organic, simazine-triazine, non-organic and acid-derived substances are also buried in the landfill.

The Petrikov landfill of the obsolete pesticides is located in the northern part of the Petrikov district of the Gomel region 42 km to north-north-east from the town of Petrikov. The landfill is managed by the Oktyabrskiy inspectorate of natural resources and environmental protection. The landfill (0.6 ha)  is located on the territory of the Koschevichy forestry area. Between 1974 and 1988 the Gomel Amalgamation «Selkhoskhimiya» buried 1423.3 tons of obsolete pesticides.
 
The Petrikov landfill is the largest one in Belarus. Landfilling was carried out in 4 stages: in 1974, 1980, 1986 and 1988. In 1974 521 tons were buried in 7 trenches made of reinforced-concrete slabs and covered with polyethylene film and clay cap of 1 meter thick. 17 types of pesticides, mostly chlororganic pesticides, were buried. 297 and 253.7 tons were buried in 1980 and 1986. 351.6 tons of insecticides containing (up to 50 tons) unknown pesticides and mixtures were buried in 1988. In 1980, 1986 and 1988 pesticides were buried in trenches with impervious paving out of reinforced-concrete slabs, polyethylene film and clay cap of 1 meter thick.

The Slonim district of the Grodno region (the Albertinskoye forestry area, «Petushiny Gai», Square 112) also accommodates one of the largest obsolete pesticides landfills. They were buried in 1974. Most of pesticides are chlororganic. According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the landfill contains 882 tons of chemicals including 447.2 tons of DDT (74.3 per cent of the identified chemicals) and 1.8 tons of HCCH.  The obsolete pesticides landfill was built in 1974 by Slonim branch of «Selkhozkhimiya». The design documents are not available. There is no information whether engineering surveys (topographic survey and engineering-geological survey) were conducted; there are no acceptance certificates on concealed works. Therefore, it is impossible to make a reliable assessment of the degree of protection of pesticides from atmospheric precipitates, which are a crucial factor for their solubility and migration into subsurface hydrosphere.

The Dribin obsolete pesticides landfill is located in the eastern part of the Dribin district, 11 km to south-east from the residential settlement of Dribin.  On the map the landfill has a rectangular form stretching north-north-west. Its length is 140 – 150 meters, the width of the northern and southern borders is 35 and 67 meters respectively. The area is 2.6 ha. The adjacent territory within a radius of 2 - 5 km is covered by mixed forest (birch, asp, and fir). Now the surface of the landfill is covered by vegetation. There is an impassable dirt road Temny Les – Kamenka approximately 350 m away from the landfill.
 
Construction of the landfill involved three stages:  1974, 1983 and 1988. A separate trench sized 12x60 meters and 4 meters deep was set up at each stage. Impervious paving made of clay 0.8 – 1.0 meters thick was placed  at the bottom and walls with subsequent ramming and was then covered up with about 40 cm layer of quicklime. The bottom and walls of the trench set up in 1988 were covered with polyethylene film. After insecticides had been piled, the trenches were covered up with local soil with ramping. Insecticides in the trench set up in 1974 were covered up with 1 meter  layer of clay. According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the estimated weight of the buried pesticides is 541 tons. However, the findings of the research conducted by the Central Scientific and Research Institute of Water Resources Management suggest that only 353.737 tons have been identified including 98.74 tons of DDT.

Inventory of obsolete pesticides including POPs pesticides stockpiled in storehouses

All in all in about 6,600 tons of obsolete pesticides are currently stored in the storehouses and landfills of the Republic of Belarus, among them 718 tons are identified as DDT. About 2733 tons of unidentified mixtures of obsolete pesticides and 25 tons of unidentified liquids are stored in the landfills and in the storehouses and are classified as potential POPs.

Pesticides classified as POPs, unidentified mixtures and unidentified liquids are stored mainly at the storehouses of the agricultural enterprises of «Belagroservice», «Selkhozkhimiya», state inspectorate on crop protection, collective and  state-run farms, hothouses and agricultural cooperatives. DDT is stored at the storehouses of the Brest, the Vitebsk and the Grodno regions; unidentified liquids – at the storehouses of the Vitebsk, the Minsk and the Mogilev regions and unidentified mixtures – at the storehouses in all regions of the country except the Gomel region. There are no stockpiles of the obsolete pesticides classified as POPs, unidentified mixtures and unidentified liquids on the territory of the Gomel  region because between 1999 and 2004 they were collected and transported by the regional station for crop protection to the Communal Unitary Enterprise (CUE) “Facility for processing and burial of hazardous industrial wastes of the Gomel region”.

The analysis of the information provided upon request and the data collected during selected visual examination of the storehouses with the stockpiles of obsolete pesticides has demonstrated that the current condition of the storehouses is, in general, satisfactory: 92 per cent of the examined buildings are made of brick with concrete floors. All of the buildings have durable doors with locks. There is an administrative staff member responsible for the supervision of the storehouse; in many cases storehouses are guarded by a special guard service.

Nevertheless, the storage conditions for obsolete pesticides do not always correspond to the modern environmental norms – non-repackaged and repackaged pesticides may be stored together, spills of pesticides are not always cleaned on the spot. At present repackaging of pesticides kept in the storehouses is almost completed.

Inventory of PCB-containing equipment, materials, and wastes

The PCB-containing capacitors identified in Belarus were mostly produced at the Serpukhov and Ust-Kamenogorsk capacitor plants – major capacitor producers in the USSR. Apart from that considerable amount of PCB-containing capacitors identified in Belarus are of German, Polish or Czech origin.
  
Most of the identified PCB-containing transformers were produced at the Chirchik transformer plant and Uralelectrotyazhmash, which used to be the only producers of PCB-containing transformers in the USSR.

As of 1 January 2006 in the Republic of Belarus the following PCB-containing equipment, materials and waste were inventoried:

•    380 power transformers, filled with Sovtol-10 or foreign similar filler;
•    46943 power PCB-containing capacitors;
•    29 containers with dielectric liquids on the basis of PCB;
•    About 40 thousand small-size capacitors.

The total amount of the identified PCB is estimated at 1,563.8 tons (net weight), 99.5 percent is PCB-containing electrical equipment. 55 percent of the total amount of PCB is found in transformers and 44 percent – in capacitors.

For the first time among the countries of the former USSR small-size capacitors were inventoried. Although the total weight of small-size capacitors is comparatively insignificant but their identification is very important for the following reasons: a great number of owners, possibility of disposal of such capacitors at the municipal waste and industrial waste landfills, as well as possibility of unsanctioned stockpiling and consequently their wide spread on the territory of the country and PCB contamination of the environment.

All in all 762 enterprises owning PCB-containing equipment or waste were identified. These enterprises belong to 27 ministries and concerns.

The biggest amounts of PCB are consolidated at the enterprises of the Minisytr of industry and Concern “Belneftekhim”, where the total amount of PCB is estimated at 530 and 390 tons correspondingly. On the whole, the share of these organizations is 59 percent of the total amount of PCB in the country. Considerable amount of PCB was identified at the enterprises of the Ministry of Energy (140 tons) and Concern “Belbiopharm” (100 tons).

The inventory of unintentional releases of POPs

The inventory of unintentional releases of POPs covered the emission levels of PCDD/PCDF, HCB and PCB on the territory of Belarus. 2004 was taken as a base year.

Releases of dioxins and furans to air, water, waste and products were estimated. According to the obtained data the total annual releases of dioxins and furans in 2004 made 141.9 g TEQ, including releases to air – 36.6 g TEQ, to water – 0.46 g TEQ, to soil – 1.36 g TEQ, to products – 0.05 g TEQ, and residues – 103.3 g TEQ (See Table 1).

Table 1 – Releases of PCDD/PCDF on the territory of Belarus (estimates for 2004)