Mayor says Kazokiškės landfill breached air limits 10 times

Elektrėnai Mayor Gediminas Ratkevičius said air pollution limits at the Kazokiškės landfill were exceeded 10 times in July, with concentrations reaching up to four times the permitted level, LRT reported.

Speaking at the Seimas Audit Committee on Wednesday, Ratkevičius said pollution and exceedances of hydrogen sulfide limits were continuing in the municipality. He cited official public information provided by the Vilnius Regional Waste Management Centre.

“The exceedances are not as high as they were at the beginning of the year, when they reached up to 24 times the limit. Now they are up to four times the limit, but the exceedances continue,” Ratkevičius said.

He added that the municipality wanted to prevent untreated or unsuitable waste from being brought to the regional landfill, saying such waste had caused the environmental pollution crisis.

Artūras Skardžius, a member of the Dawn party, raised questions about soil pollution around Kazokiškės, including the landfill’s base, the amount of leachate produced and the potential impact of rainwater. He said groundwater could be severely contaminated and was used by many people.

Ratkevičius said an emergency situation remained in force in the municipality because of environmental pollution originating from the landfill.

He said the Environmental Protection Department had ordered the Vilnius Regional Waste Management Centre to bring the situation under control and eliminate the pollution exceedances by specified deadlines, later extended to June 10. However, he said the situation had not been fully resolved.

The Elektrėnai municipality has asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to assess the legality of a decision to transport mixed municipal waste from the Vilnius region to the Kazokiškės landfill, as well as its possible consequences.