Management of Contaminated Sites and Land in Central and Eastern Europe

Lithuania

Country Characterisation

Lithuania regained its independence in 1991. The withdrawing of the Soviet forces was completed in August 1993.

The military sites of the former Soviet army cover an area of approximately 677 km² corresponding to about 1% of the total area. In total have 275 sites been identified. Most of the military sites belong now to the municipalities. The national army uses a few, and some have been privatised and sold to private companies.

The centralised water supply system in Lithuania depends almost entirely on groundwater abstraction. In rural settlements traditional wells are still widely used. Maximum effort is devoted to the preservation of the water quality of aquifers for the sustainable utilisation of the groundwater resources.

There is no specific definition for contaminated sites and land.

The "polluter pays principle" is emphasised in the environmental strategies implemented in the environmental legislation.

In 1991 an environmental law was issued.

In 1994 a joint programme of the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Defence was launched with the objective to improve the state of the environment at the abandoned military sites. The responsible parties for this programme are the national army and the Ministry of the Environment and its 8 regional units. Long term goals of the programme were:

	To remove 2000 spots of heavy contamination between the year 1995 and 2000.
	To prevent future contamination.
	To carry out detailed investigations and set up clean-up plans for the most contaminated sites.

A national decree requires the clean-up of the 10 most heavily polluted sites.

Concerning groundwater and abstraction of groundwater for drinking water purposes, attention is being paid to the EU Drinking Water Directive during the transposition of EU directives into national legislation.

Up to 1997, Lithuania used the former Soviet standards (GOST) for contaminated soil and groundwater. However, new draft drinking water standards and standards for contaminated soil and groundwater have been elaborated and now need to be adopted by the Government. The new draft standards are harmonised with the EU standards. Also, the new values are streamlined with the Dutch values in relation to land use and sensitive environments.

The Ministry of the Environment and its 8 regional units are the responsible authorities for investigations and clean-up activities at contaminated sites. Furthermore, the National Army in co-operation with the above-mentioned is responsible for investigations and clean-up activities at military sites.

In the period of May 1992 to September 1993 a pilot project with the objective to register sites with chemical waste was carried out. The Danish EPA and the Lithuanian EPA funded the project. The applied registration system of chemical waste sites is a modification of the Danish registration system. Major registration features were:

	Sites where industrial waste is most likely deposited.
	Areas of industrial plants using or producing various kind of chemicals.
	Pesticides, fertiliser, and oil products.

In total, 636 sites were registered of which 291 sites were classified as sites with chemical wastes. Of the identified 636 sites

	82% were identified as landfills.
	14% industrial sites.
	4% sites with sludge from waste water plants.

The identified sites were prioritised according to the following:

	The degree of hazard of the disposed material.
	The ground water vulnerability (priority 1).
	The land use sensitivity (priority2).
	The surface water vulnerability (equal to land use / priority 2).

For the identified waste sites (82%), the land use has been identified to be a minor problem. Most of the waste sites are situated in areas of low population density, and few land use conflicts. Many groundwater aquifers have been identified as contaminated downstream of larger sites. Many sites are surrounded by surface waters i.e. drainage channels, river streams etc. In some cases, river pollution due to waste sites has been identified (i.e. Dane River, Kalotes landfill, North of Klaipeda). The number of identified industrial sites appears to be unrealistically low. However, due to the planned economy fewer but larger industrial sites can be expected compared to the Western European countries.

Sources of Soil and Groundwater Contamination

In some areas, the quality of the shallow groundwater or well water is contaminated due to various point sources including livestock farms, fertiliser storage sites, landfills, fuel storage sites, and leaching from intensively cultivated land (mineral fertilisers and manure). E.g. in some areas shallow groundwater can no longer be used as source of drinking water due to high levels of contamination with oil products.

Concerning military sites, contamination with mineral oil products and missile fuels has been identified as the most problematic sources of contamination.

Number of Registered Contaminated Sites / Contaminated Land Areas

By the beginning of 1996, 787 municipal landfills had been registered. Furthermore, there are several known, but not legally proven, industrial landfills e.g. with deposits of heavy metals containing waste, residues from fur and leather industry etc.

Also, about 900 fertilisers and pesticides storage sites are suspected. Furthermore, several military sites left after withdrawal of the former Soviet army are registered.

All military sites have been pre-assessed. In total, 2743 contaminated areas have been identified at the military sites and assigned to the categories listed in the table below.

All military sites have been pre-assessed, including on-site visits, and limited soil surface sampling at areas with a high probability of contamination. The pre-assessment included a questionnaire with the following main topics:

	Existence of chemicals and wastes at the investigated sites and their quantities and toxicity.
	Possible contamination and possible impacts to the environment.
	Local condition of the environment; i.e. possible pathways of contamination spreading and major goods to be protected.

Based on the results of the pre-assessment, 20 military sites have been selected for detailed investigations. The methodologies applied did not follow any standard procedures but followed sites-specific rules. A limited number of soil and groundwater samples were taken at these sites.

Furthermore, a simplified risk assessment was carried out for these sites based on the results of the questionnaire and the detailed investigations. The results have been considered in relation to human health, ground water, surface water, soil, flora, fauna, and landscape. As a result, 10 priority sites have been identified with an urgent need for clean-up measures.

The largest facility for the cleaning of soil and water contaminated with oil products was constructed near Klaipeda in 1995. The capacity of the facility is 20000 m³ of polluted soil per year. Soil washing and biological methods are used for the cleaning of soil and water, using special bacteria. This object is under the responsibility of the Ecological Centre "Soil Cleaning Technologies".

The companies "Biocentras" and "Šulinys" are working in the field of ex-situ soil bio-remediation as well.

The Baltic Consulting Group and the hydrogeological company "Grota" perform in-situ soil and groundwater remediation using methods like free phase oil / groundwater pumping and soil flushing.

Most of the military sites now belong to the municipalities. Only a few sites are currently used by the National Army, and a few sites have been privatised and sold to private investors.

Some funding from the European Union's PHARE programme has been made available.

To some extent, clean-up activities are funded by the national environment funds.

The private owners have funded clean-up activities at sites that have been privatised.

The site owner is responsible for the clean-up.

Total costs for remediation of contaminated sites have previously been estimated to about 1,1 billion USD. This covers remediation of sites contaminated with oil products, bacteriological/organic waste, chemical substances, rockets fuel components, waste/garbage, and explosives.

By the pre-assessment of all former Soviet military sites a cost calculation concerning the repair of the environmental damage at these sites has been made. The estimated restoration costs amounted to approximately 733 million USD.

The cost calculations are based on a damage inventory and standard costs for specific clean-up activities.

Remediation of contaminated land is not the first priority environmental problem if compared with wastewater treatment and waste management.

The airbase of Siauli is one of the major cases in Lithuania. The site has multiple contamination patterns:

	About 1213 ha are contaminated by hydrocarbons.
	Approximately 2,5 million m³ soil are estimated to be contaminated.
	Groundwater pollution due to kerosene has been identified. About 20,000 tonnes of kerosene are estimated to exist as free phase contamination floating on the groundwater.
	Contamination of nearby surface waters has also been identified.
	A smaller area of about 200 m² is contaminated with heavy metals and radionuclides.
	Approximately 30 ha are contaminated due to inadequate disposal of various wastes and chemicals.

Information provided by Iveta Leviskaite at the Science and Environmental Research Co-ordination Division, Joint Research Centre, Ministry of Environment in Lithuania. March 29, 1999.

Baltic Environmental Forum (1998). Baltic State of the Environment Report Based on Environmental Indicators. Baltic Environmental Forum, Riga, Latvia.

Knudsen, J. (1997). Inventory of Polluted Sites in Lithuania. Proceedings from the ATV meeting at November 13th 1997 "Contaminated Soils in a European Perspective", pp 55-66. Copenhagen, Denmark.

POPIN (Population Information Network) (1999). The Demography of Countries with Economies in Transition. At gopher://gopher.undp.org/00/ungophers/popin/wdtrends.

Schaefer, K.W., F. Bieren, et al. (1997). Internationale Erfahrungen der Herangehensweise an die Erfassung, Erkundung Bewertung und Sanierung Militärischer Altlasten. Umweltbundesamt (Federal Environment Agency), volume 1 and 2, Berlin, Germany.

UN/ECE Statistical Division (1998). Trends in Europe and North America. 1998 Statistical Yearbook of the UN/ECE. At http://www.unece.org/stats/trend/trend_h.htm. Based on figures from 1994 – 1997.