Management of Contaminated Sites and Land in Central and Eastern Europe

Belarus

Country Characterisation

Belarus’ terrain is chiefly plain. It rises 160 metres on an average above the sea level. Over one-third of the territory is forest-covered. The biggest rivers, with more than 500 km in length, are the Dnieper, the Neman, the Zapadnaya Dvina and the Western Boog, whereas all in all there are about 20,000 big and small rivers in Belarus. A big number of lakes (more than 11000 covering the territory of almost 2,000 km²) is a characte-ristic feature of the country: most of the lakes are scattered in the north and southern provinces. There are places where 10 percent of the surface is under lakes - Ushachi and Braslav districts of Vitebsk region.

The ecosystems of Belarus are of great environmental significance to Eastern and Western Europe. The Belarussian lake district is part of the larger Baltic lake area, stretching from Germany, through Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Latvia, to Russia. Large areas in Poland and Belarus form a common forest belt encompassing Knyszynska Pushcha, the Belarussian and Polish parts of Belovezhskaya Pushcha, as well as Ruzhanskaya and Nalibikskaya Pushchas in Belarus. The Belarussian Polessye district is part of a strip of European marshlands and forest that extends from Poland to Ukraine. Under the international agreement "The Green Lungs of Europe", signed in 1993, the entire territory of Belarus, along with Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the Eastern part of Poland, and the Western part of Russia, requires special efforts directed towards preserving natural ecosystems and implementing friendly modes of economic activities.

Administratively, Belarus is divided into six provinces - the Brest, Vitebsk, Gomel, Grodno, Mogilev and Minsk oblasts, and 118 districts. There are 102 towns, 111 town-type settlements and over 24000 large and small villages in the country.

According to the 1996 census, the country's population was about 10,3 million people, out of whom 7,1 million lived in town and 3,2 in the country. The annual rate of population growth was 0.6% from 1975 to 1985. In the years following it decreased to 0.35%.

Despite efforts to strengthen environmental protection in nearly all spheres of economic activities, and the enactment of numerous laws regulating environmental pollution, the state of environment in the big cities and industrial centres is still a cause for concern. And in 1986 almost one quarter (23%) of Belarus’ territory was contaminated by radioactive fall-out from the Chernobyl NPP accident.

Two regional capitals head the list of cities with substantial environmental problems, Gomel and Mogilev, situated in the Chernobyl affected territory and containing environmentally hazardous industries. The level of overall pollution on the 1/3 of the territory of Minsk, the capital of Belarus, is described as extremely unfavourable. Inspections of soil in the urban areas have revealed that the main pollutants are lead, zinc and copper.

Obviously, every city, industrial plant, agricultural or military activities influence natural complexes: contaminate air, soil, subsurface, and groundwater. The main concern are: bacteriological pollution due to improper sanitary practices, nitrate contamination due to the draining of lands, inappropriate application of fertilisers and livestock manure practices, pollution from storage and application of pesticides, and contamination at toxic waste sites.

The Chernobyl NPP accident had suddenly transformed the living conditions of more than 2 million people into hostile surroundings. 3668 towns and villages were polluted with caesium-137 over 37 kBq/m². The highest rates of caesium-137 contamination, except for the area of resettlement, were registered in the villages Shepetilovichi of Checherski district 2272 kBq/ m², Vylevo of Dobrush district 2220 kBq/ m² (Gomel oblast) and village of Chudyany of Cherikov district (Mogilev oblast) 5402 kBq/ m².

As a result of the Chernobyl disaster, the area of arable land contaminated with radioactive caesium-137 with the density over 37 kBq/ m² amounts to 1.6 million hectares, out of which 260 000 hectares have been taken out of agricultural use, 1 685 000 hectares of forests are radioactively polluted. A considerable amount of radionuclides accumulated in upper layer of soil, creating unfavourable conditions for farming and forestry activities for decades to come.

Another environmental problem is the re-cultivating of more than 4.6 million hectares of land left after the withdrawal of former Soviet military troops, which were:

	The troop training areas.
	Garrisons.
	Explosive firing test-sites.
	Airbases.
	Maintaining facilities.
	Missiles bases.
	The accompanying social infrastructure, i.e. housing, public utilities, depots, storage and other facilities.

The most frequent and problematic types of contamination are jet fuel, petroleum, diesel oil, used lubricated oil, TCE and other chemicals. The former depots and storage facilities for petrol and mineral oil products caused the worst environmental damage.

Legal and Administrative Basis

Definition of Contaminated Sites and Land

The Radioactively contaminated territory of Belarus is divided into specially defined zones depending upon soil contamination and average annual, effective radiation dose.

Legislation

All environmental legislation is based upon the Constitution of Belarus, namely articles 34, 46, and 55. The concept of state policy of the Republic of Belarus in the field of environmental protection was adopted by the Supreme Soviet on September 6, 1995. The basic Law "On Protection of the Environment" of November 1992 states that contaminated sites need to be assessed and remediated.

A special Law "On legal treatment of the territories contaminated as a result of the Chernobyl NPP catastrophe" was put into force.

Concerning military sites, the following regulatory documents were adopted: "The Procedures of Conducting Sanitary, Hygienic and Radio-ecological Monitoring of the Former Military Sites and Adjoining Territories" (January 1994) and "The Programme and Methods of Ecological Monitoring of Released Military Sites and Adjoining Territory". According to the Programme, the ecological inspection and detailed studies are to be performed for received data to be the basis for the sites’ remediation and rehabilitation.

Implementation of Limit Values

Standards of the former Soviet Union define values for soil in terms of "maximum allowable concentrations", which are usually more conservative than the A-values of the Dutch list.

Groundwater values are usually derived from drinking water standards.

Examples for "Maximum Admissible Concentrations of Contaminants in Soil" (Belarus) are:

	Cadmium   1 mg/kg.
	Zinc   70 mg/kg.
	Lead   30 mg/kg.
	Copper   45 mg/kg.
	Nickel   57 mg/kg.
	Mercury   2,1 mg/kg.
	Benzapyrene   0,02 mg/kg.
	Sulphates   160 mg/kg.
	Nitrate   130 mg/kg.
	Soluble fluorine   10 mg/kg.

Responsible Public Authorities

Ministry of Nature Resources and Environmental Protection, Main tasks:

	Development and carrying out of the state policy in the field of environmental protection and rational utilisation of natural resources.
	Complex management of nature protection in the country, co-ordination of the activities of all republican institutions.
	Conducting of state control in the field of environmental protection and nature resources utilisation.
	Information provision of the population on the concerned issues, etc.

Into the structure of the Ministry are included 6 oblast and Minsk city committees and 123 inspections of nature resources and environmental protection, as well as scientific and research institutions, science and technical centres (including ECOMIR), and others.

State Committee on Land Resources, Geodesy and Cartography, Main tasks:

	Inventory of land.
	Conducting of state land cadastre.
	Control of use and protection of land.

Ministry of Health, Main tasks:

Conduct sanitary control, quality of drinking water and food as well as sanitary state of urban territories, etc.

Ministry for Emergencies, Main tasks:

	Co-ordinates all the activities on the radioactively contaminated territories, as well as in other damaged areas as a result of natural and man-made disasters.
	Possess some former military sites, conducts environmental monitoring and rehabilitation of them for converting them into civil use.

Ministry of Forestry, Main tasks:

Conduct state control, use and reproduction of forests, etc.

State Committee of Hydrometeorology, Main tasks:

Monitor the condition of air, surface waters, land, radioactively contaminated territories, etc.

Scientific and Research Institutes of the National Academy of Science, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ministry for Emergencies, Ministry of Health

There is a National System of Environmental Monitoring for conducting the precise monitoring of the state of air, soil and ground water. The Ministry of Nature Resources and Environmental Protection conducts the co-ordination of all activities. The chief executor of all the tasks is the State Committee of Hydrometeorology.

The database on the state of lands and water resources is created with special attention to radioactive and chemical contamination. There is a special cadastre of ground waters (annually up-dated).

Annual National Reports of the different responsible authorities are published. There are maps of radioactively contaminated territories and territories polluted with the heavy metals.

The main sources of contamination are the Chernobyl NPP fall-out of radionuclides, agricultural activities due to the use of chemicals, and military activities.

Concerning the former Soviet military sites, the contamination profiles identified were mostly:

	Mineral oil products, especially fuels.
	Heavy metals.
	Explosives.
	Toxic chemicals.
	Various wastes, among which hazardous wastes, radioactive wastes, and building material.
	Radioactive contamination.
	Blinds.

As a result of the Chernobyl NPP accident, the caesium-137 contamination amounted to 23% of the territory of Belarus (46.45 thousand km²). The strontium-90 contamination is of a more local nature, and it was revealed on the area of 21 000 km² (that is 10% of the country's territory). Soils contaminated with plutonium-238, 239, 240 cover about 4 000 km² that is almost 2% of Belarus’ territory.

The total area of released military sites is 4.6 million ha.

Identification of Potentially Contaminated Sites and Areas

Belarus has no systematic pre-assessment of potentially contaminated sites and areas. The first pre-assessments and site assessments were carried out according to the US Threat Reduction Programme of 1992. Major objectives of the programme were to support Belarus in the disarmament of missile bases and to set-up environmental programmes of the following features:

	Assessment of the environment.
	Set-up of remediation plans.
	Training of staff.

In 1995 the Ministry of Resources and the Environment and the Ministry of Defence issued a guidance document concerning the assessment of the environment at military sites. The document is in principal based on the experience of the US and of Germany concerning the assessment of military sites of the former GDR. The following time frames are usually expected:

	Up to 3 months for the pre-assessment.
	Up to 6 months for the detailed investigation and risk assessment.

The pre-assessment includes the following key steps:

	Investigation and assessment of historical information from archives.
	Evaluation of aerial photos.
	On-site visits.
	Geo-referencing (mapping) of contaminated areas.
	First assessment of geological and hydro-geological data.
	First collection of samples from contaminated areas including chemical and radioactivity analysis of soil, soil air, plants, surface waters, and groundwater.

Special emphasis is put on on-site analysis with mobile equipment and remote sensing; i.e. infra-red spectrometry and ultrahigh frequency analysis to assess soil humidity for the assessment of groundwater levels, hydrocarbons contamination, and underground fuel storage tanks.

Investigation of Contaminated Sites and Areas

Preliminary site investigations include:

	The assessment of hygienic conditions.
	The sampling of soil, soil air, water and plants.
	Chemical and radioactivity analysis.
	Toxicity assessment of identified contaminants.
	Mapping of contaminated areas.

For the Chernobyl contaminated territories the following investigation methods were applied:

	Preliminary assessment.
	Measurements at sites.
	Sampling.
	Analysis of samples at the laboratories.
	Received data analysis.
	Mapping of contaminated sites.

In some specific military sites, identified hot spot areas have been investigated in more detail. These investigations were based on joint decisions of the Ministry of Resources and the Environment and the Ministry of Defence and included:

	The definition of the extent of contamination.
	The selection of appropriate remediation technologies.
	Recommendation for the future land use.
	Cost estimates.

Facilities for Contaminated Soil

Handling and Treatment of Excavated Contaminated Soil

See below.

Measures Used by Remediation of Soil and Groundwater Contamination

The radio-ecological situation after the Chernobyl NPP accident demands the large-scale decontamination works to be fulfilled with the primary goal to reduce the external exposure dose of the population. The major works were done in 1986 - 1989.

At that time outside the 30-km zone of NPP about 500 settlements were decontaminated (60% of them were under decontamination 2 - 3 times). Those activities included removal of contaminated soil and re-filling with clean soil; dismantling of objects not subjected to clean-up; asphalting of streets, roads and sidewalks; and replacement of roofs; disposal of accruing wastes. 13.3 million m³ of soil was cut off and buried, and 2.8 million m³ of clean soil was brought in.

The removed contaminated soil and parts of demolished buildings were stored at temporary disposal sites for wastes resulting from decontamination. After the Chernobyl disaster 69 disposal sites for decontamination waste were set up in Gomel region.

From 1989, decontamination activities were narrowed down. At present, decontamination activities are limited. In the first instance there are such socially important objects under decontamination as children’s pre-school institutions, schools, medical and rehabilitation institutions as well as local spots of abnormally high contamination in settlements.

To dispose of the waste resulting from decontamination of open areas and demolition of constructions, there is 3 operating Decontamination Waste Disposal Sites (DWDS) in the Gomel region and 4 sites in the Mogilev region. The first line of DWDS near the village of Koshara (Stolin district, Brest region) was put into operation by the end of 1995. Prior to that in the Brest region, the waste was stored on temporary grounds.

One of the tasks is the safety maintenance of DWDSs, in particular, to prevent radionuclides from getting into ground waters. Therefore, to ensure the control over DWDSs there is a monitoring network deployed. The aim is to monitor the migration into the ‘soil-surface waters’ system. There is a system of control holes at 11 characteristic DWDSs drilled in Bragin, Khoiniki, Vetka and Chechersk districts. The results obtained show no increase in radionuclides’ content in ground waters, which is confirmed by the IAEA experts’ conclusion.

Decontamination of soil of the former military sites, polluted mainly with jet fuel, petroleum, diesel oil, used lubricated oil and other chemicals (with concentration 28 - 60000 mg/kg), includes removal of contaminated soil, its storage and replacement by clean soil.

For the military sites of Belarus, the Ministry of Defence is supposed to cover necessary remedial measures. However, the Ministry of Defence has no specific budget for such measures.

With regard to former Soviet military sites, Russia is supposed to cover the necessary remediation activities. The first activities at the former Soviet missile bases Postavy and Ruzhany have been financed by the Ministry of Resources and the Environment with the objective to calculate the costs of the environmental damage in order to obtain compensation from Russia.

In accordance with the laws, the special taxes and other payments are envisaged for the use of nature resources, including emission of pollutants and wastes into environmental surroundings. Compensations for any damage to the environment are envisaged too.

The amount of taxes, penalties and compensations depends upon the character and scale of damage caused.

The state budget for the Programme on overcoming the Chernobyl catastrophe is the largest among other shares of it.

The scrapping of weapons in order to comply with the disarmament agreements is estimated to amount to 12 billion USD.

Investigations at all military sites are estimated to need a budget of approximately 12 - 20 billion USD.

The Chernobyl contamination is priority number one.

Illustrative Cases

The Chernobyl Catastrophe

The Chernobyl tragedy is the greatest radiation catastrophe that has ever occurred on the earth. The contamination caused by the radioactive releases from the wrecked reactor is spread throughout large areas of Belarus territory. The maximum levels were found within the 30-km zone (the "alienation zone"). Here, the levels exceed the pre-accident levels by more than 20000 times. Beyond this zone there are also areas with high levels of contamination e.g. levels exceeding the pre-accident levels by more than 1500-3500 times. At the same time, significant variations of the contamination levels (x1000) were revealed in relative small areas. The high gradients make it difficult to assess the contamination situation in specific residential areas. In the rest of the Belarus territory, the levels are also higher than the pre-accident levels.

According to the law on social status of territories affected by radioactive contamination as a result of the Chernobyl NPP catastrophe the territory of the Republic of Belarus is divided into zones according to the level of radioactive contamination and the following average annual effective human dose.

The use of forest, mineral and other resources has been reduced considerably. About 132 mineral and raw materials deposits including industrial sources of building materials (chalk, sand, clay etc.) are located in the contaminated areas. Several of these have been taken out of use. Also, a large oil and gas deposit site has been withdrawn from the plans of geological investigation. 2640 km² of agricultural land have been taken out of use, including closure of farms and food processing plants.

The scale of the catastrophe demanded urgent countermeasures. At the initial stage of the post- accident period, 24700 people were evacuated. Up to now, more than 135000 people have been relocated from the contaminated areas. Afterwards, it has been decided to abandon a mass relocation of people, and instead to carry out rehabilitation measures that can provide for renewal and development of the economic potential of the contaminated territory and the social activity to restore to normal living conditions.

Following this, regional programmes for rehabilitation of the most affected regions have been developed. The programmes are characterised by a complex approach to rehabilitation of industrial and social objects in each region taking into account radiation-hygienic, socio-economic, demographic and psychological aspects. All the programmes aim on rehabilitation of the environment and decreasing the dose rates on the population. The programmes are related to territories inhabited by more than 1,6 million people.

Rehabilitation measures are planned to be conducted both in public and private sectors taking into consideration the flows of radionuclides e.g. by foodstuff. Special attention is paid to the production of milk, as consumption of radioactively contaminated milk form up to 80% of the average individual internal exposure. The 1998 programme aims at reduction of the content of radionuclides in agricultural products and increase in the productivity of natural tillage. A range of specific activities has been planned within the framework of this programme such as liming of acid soils, application of additional phosphorus-potassium fertilisers, and laying out pastures.

Provision of relayed pastures and hayfields in the affected areas is one of the most effective measures to reduce the transfer of some radionuclides to milk. Also, application of combined fodder with ferrocyanides is planned, as this will allow for significant reductions of the content of radionuclides in ruminant milk and meat.

From 1986 to 1989, engineering and civil defence troops decontaminated settlements in contaminated areas on a large scale. Just outside the 30-km zone, about 500 settlements were decontaminated. The work included removal of contaminated soil and refilling by clean soil, dismantling of contaminated installations, asphalting of streets, roads and sidewalks, replacement of roofs, and disposal of waste. 7.3 million m³ soil were excavated and buried, and 1.6 million m³ of clean soil were brought in. The needs greatly exceeded the opportunities, and full-scale decontamination of settlements, agricultural and industrial installation to foster normal living conditions turned out to be unrealistic. Since 1989, the decontamination work has been cut down and resettlement has been a major protective measure.

Military sites

A military site close to the city Zaslonova in the region of Vitebsk was the first investigated military site. The site is among the largest with a total surface of approximately 5 km². The site was used as missile base and also had a medical station. Major contamination is due to hydrocarbons, furthermore lead, benzopyrene, sulphate, and soluble fluorides.

Later on the strategic missile bases of Postavy and Ruzhany were investigated. Hot spots of contamination were mainly identified near the following facilities:

	Parking facilities for cars and tanks.
	Stocks and filling stations for fuels and lubricants.
	Sewage treatment plants.
	Shooting and test ranges.

Major contamination profiles identified were: Hydrocarbons, heavy metals, industrial and domestic waste, metal scrap, organic solvents, paints and varnishes, building material, missile fuels, and explosives and ammunition.

Research and Development projects include:

	Treatment of heavy metals contaminated wastewater with means of magnetic sorption materials.
	Synthesis of fertilisers from missile fuels.
	Removal of radionuclides in soil by use of microorganisms and highly concentrated saline solutions.

Information provided by Valentina Dogonova at the Ministry for Emergencies, Belarus. April 8, 1999.

Information provided by Igor Rolevich at the Ministry for Emergencies, Belarus. June 14-15, 1999.

The Report "Belarus and Chernobyl: the Second Decade". At http://is.mchs.org.by/pub/bcpsd_e.html.

The project "Pilot Study on the Environmental Aspects of the Reuse of Former Military Lands". At http://www.nato.int/ccms.

Ad Hoc International Working Group on Contaminated Land (1998). Ad Hoc CEE Forum on Contaminated Land. Report of the Warsaw Meeting, September 18, 1998. Report from the Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape.

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.