Pagiriai residents demand action over Homanit pollution

Residents of Pagiriai have complained about noise and pollution from German-owned wood fibreboard manufacturer Homanit Lietuva, prompting Environment Minister Ieva Andriulaitytė to promise more frequent inspections, LRT reported.

Vytautas Vyskupaitis, head of the Medeina community in Pagiriai, told BNS after a meeting with the minister and representatives of other institutions on Thursday that residents faced difficult living conditions and had considered holding another protest.

“Residents are suffering from constant noise and pungent smells, while the institutions responsible for environmental protection are responding slowly. Even when the company is fined, the penalties are merely symbolic,” Vyskupaitis said.

He said the community had presented possible solutions and its demands at the meeting. Representatives of the oversight institutions had acknowledged that the factory should not have been built in its current location, he said.

“That does not mean the company has the right to operate while harming us. Let it operate, but we ask it to respect our quality of life and health,” Vyskupaitis said.

The community is seeking written responses with specific deadlines by August 20. It has not ruled out further protests or blocking access to the factory.

Its demands include restoring the water extraction site protection standards that were in force until 2024 and removing legal provisions that allow protection zones to be reduced in the interests of industry. The community also wants a strict ban on reducing the Pagiriai water extraction site or its protection zones.

It is also calling for Homanit Lietuva to comply strictly with noise limits and install a real-time monitoring system measuring pollution and noise levels. The community further wants the prosecution service and the community itself to be recognised as having legal standing to challenge the decision concerning the protection zones.

Minister promises stricter oversight

Andriulaitytė said she understood the community’s concerns and invited all sides to seek solutions to the problems caused by the factory’s operations.

She said instructions would be issued to institutions under the Environment Ministry to carry out inspections more frequently and respond more quickly.

“We can promise stricter oversight by institutions under the Environment Ministry, including the Environmental Protection Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, so that inspections at this high-risk and sensitive facility are conducted thoroughly and all violations are recorded,” the minister said in a statement.

She added that the ministry would also contact the Health Ministry and the National Public Health Centre and ask them to act in the same way.

According to the minister, the meeting was intended to bring residents and institutions together to discuss the issue, but Homanit Lietuva’s management did not attend.

A representative of Homanit Lietuva told BNS that the company could not comment because its director was currently on holiday.