Company claims air pollution at Kazokiškių landfill has stopped, but studies refute this

Lithuania’s Environmental Protection Department plans to refer the operator of Kazokiškių landfill to court over persistent air pollution, despite claims by Vilniaus apskrities atliekų tvarkymo centras (VAATC) that the issue has been resolved.

Residents near the landfill in Elektrėnai municipality have endured the stench of hydrogen sulfide for nearly 20 years. “I wake up at night and think: I’m choking,” one local said. “The smell is unbearable. Some days, you don’t even want to go outside.” Another added, “There were times when the stench was so bad, you couldn’t open the windows.”

Stasys Virganavičius, head of the Kazokiškių community, said living in the area has been “impossible” since 2024 due to the landfill’s emissions. A monitoring station installed in Kazokiškės recorded ammonia and hydrogen sulfide levels exceeding limits by 20 times or more.

The Environmental Protection Department ordered VAATC to halt the pollution. Acting director Eglė Paužuolienė confirmed the order was not complied with, prompting plans for legal action to enforce compliance.

VAATC insists it has fulfilled the requirements, citing laboratory tests that showed hydrogen sulfide levels in all six samples were within legal limits. However, the department’s own measurements contradict this. “Our tests prove the opposite—pollution has not stopped,” Paužuolienė stated.

Edvardas Baleišis, a council member of Elektrėnai municipality, noted that a recently installed air quality monitoring station in Kazokiškės was removed weeks ago for calibration. “VAATC says it will be recalibrated and reinstalled elsewhere, but without it, we have no data on pollution levels,” he said.

Paužuolienė acknowledged that pollution is not constant and depends on weather conditions. However, she noted that since February, air pollution in Kazokiškės has exceeded norms for 18% of the time.