Management of Contaminated Sites and Land in Central and Eastern Europe

Moldova

Country Characterisation

Background

As an independent State, the Republic of Mo1dova was created resulting from the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Moldova is situated in the south-east part of the European continent. Moldova is bounded on the west by Romania, and on the north, east and south by the Ukraine. The Republic area is 33.8 thousand square km. The country population is approximately 4.35 million inhabitants with an average density of the population of about 129 people per square km.

The territory of the Republic of Moldova includes three natural zones: forests, forests steppe and steppe. It represents a component part of the Eastern European plain.

There is no specific definition for contaminated sites and land.

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For the implementation of Convention provisions was created the Government Commission. Where practically, it involves the representatives from the below mentioned supervision State institutions. The leading role is given to the Ministry for Environment Protection of Moldova.

	Republican Centre of Hygiene and Epidemiology observance of sanitarily normative.
	State Civil Defence Board public security, response to industrial accidents and natural disaster, licensing and inspections of transport of hazardous substances.
	Ministry of Affairs - supervision of respecting antifire normatives, removal of fire accidents.
	Ministry of Public Works and Exploitation of Housing Fund - supervision of quality of water supply, efficient use of wastewater treatment plants, and sanitary situations in the localities.
	AGEOM - geological and hydrological investigations.
	Moldhydrometeorological Service - supervision of the ambient media quality.
	Moldsilva - exploitation of forests fund.
	Concern ACVA - exploitation of water surface resources.
	The Ministry of Agriculture and provision rational agricultural land pesticide uses.
	Customs services - prohibition of illegal import of hazardous chemical substances and industrial wastes.
	Moldovastandard - supervision of established standards and technological security.
	Centre of Veterinary diagnostic - observance of respecting the sanitary normatives in the animal world.

Up to now there are no inventories on contaminated sites.

The main sources of soil and groundwater contamination are:

1.	Intensive use of pesticides. At the moment, Moldova is importing (based on issued licenses) 10 thousands of pesticides and mineral fertilisers. Illegally it is importing still 6 thousands of pesticides. Recently, however, the use of pesticides has decreased as illustrated below:
		1990:  14.5 thousand ton of active substances. 1994:  4.8 thousand ton of active substances. 1996:  3.168 thousand ton of active substances. 1997:  3.014 thousand ton of active substances.
	Per 1 ha of agricultural field, the pesticide use has developed respectively:
		1991: 5.6 kg of active substances. 1994: 2.1 kg of active substances. 1996: 1.69 kg of active substances. 1997: 2.03 kg of active substances.
	At the same time, an increase in the quantity of storage keeping of outdated and also of prohibited pesticides has occurred:
		1994: 1247.7 ton. 1996: 1150 ton. 1997: 2626.97 ton.
2.	Municipal wastes which has polluted 636 ha of arable fields.
3.	Waste from animal farms.
	Each year breeding farms produce about 8.5 mln. ton of waste. Actually it is not well estimated in full consideration the impact to soil resources.
4.	Petroleum products:
	Marculesti, Floresti District: Sources of pollution are at an airbase of the former Soviet Union. Blijnii Hutor: In the period of the former Soviet Union, sources of pollution were at a military airbase. Iargara, Leova District: Storage of oil products. Budesti, Chisinau Municipal area: Source of pollution at an oil filling station. Local inhabitants have lost the supply of clean drinking water.
5.	Waste from excavation and treatment of raw materials.
	Wastes from such kind of production are compiling 25-45% from extracted raw material. Actually, it has accumulated around 2.0 mln. ton of mineral wastes from which a large quantity is stored on agricultural areas. At the moment, 875,43 ha of former careers require recultivation.
6.	Erosions and land slides.
	Actually, 1.205 thousand ha of agricultural fields are in the threats of soil erosions, which are located in versatile area: Eroded soils: concern 800 thousand ha (30%). 50 thousand ha of soil are destroyed from landfills. On average, 20.3 ton of fertile soils are washed from slopes each year.
7.	Due to contamination, the quality of groundwater resources does not meet the standards for drinking water at about 52 % of the country territory.

Being a component part of the Soviet Union, Moldova was imposed some models of national economic branch development that bears an absolutely environmental damaging character. Very often, Moldova was used for experiment with all-fated consequences for the environment. Moldova was the country where the spreading megalomania implied the following activities: concentration of agricultural production, intensive chemisation and irrigation, livestock’s industrial development, etc. And it is clear that the development of mentioned directions was made without taking into account the natural potential of the territory and the impact of human activity upon environment.

Soils are the main natural wealth of the Republic of Moldova.

The soil covers of the country are formed by chernozems (80%), brown soils, forest grey soils (11.4%) and meadow soils (8.6%). During the 1960 – 1980, the state of soils with whole profiles has reduced in the agricultural surfaces in the north of Moldova from 70 to 65 %, in the centre from 65-70 to 50 %, in the south from 65-70 %. The surface of eroded soils has increased in the north from 30 % to 35 %, while in the south and centre from 30-35 to 35-50 %.

Soil erosion is one of the main factors that have affected soil fertility in the Republic of Moldova. The eroded areas constitute 1.205 thousand ha or 80 % of the arable land, while the area of moderately and strongly eroded soil is 780 thousand ha, the area increasing every year by 0.86 %. The eroded soil’s fertility is 40-60 % lower than that of the un-eroded ones. Along with fertility decrease, the degradation of cumuli soils from meadows takes place as a result of their calmatation with weakly humified material, with environmental pollution, leading to major economic and ecological damage.

The soil pollution with toxic compounds, production wastes, the soils settling and degradation through use of heavy agricultural technique, irrigation and draining, desertification, the soil deterioration during extraction, building works, etc., are sources of enormous ecological and social economic damage.

During 1978-1989, more than 4 mln. tons of mineral fertilisers and more than 0.4 mln. tons of pesticides were used. Expenditures in this regard were doubled. Their irrational utilisation caused environmental pollution and affected the health of population. The process of soil phosphorisation, fluoride pollution, micro elements’ disbalance and other negative processes caused similar damages.

According to the results of a special survey made in 1989, from 1/3 to 2/3 agricultural lands in Moldova (reports avoid being more precise in many cases) contain pesticides more than the Maximal Permissible Concentration (MPC) (137). The use of pesticides and fertilisers gradually decreased by 26% and 30% respectively from 1986 until 1989. In 1986, the average use of pesticides in Moldova was 15.4 kg/ha, and in 1990 it was 5.7 kg/ha. In 1989, pesticides were traced in 30.2% of soil and in 8.8 % of vegetation samples from Moldova, and in 11.7% and 6.9% respectively they exceeded the MPCs.

One of the most important factors that caused the environmental degradation in the republic was the process of livestock industrialisation.

Animal concentration led to a massive offal concentration, much larger than the bulk of animal production. For example, at the swine complexes with a capacity of 54 thousand heads, the annual meat production was, more than 6.3 thousand tons, whereas the bulk of offal constituted 464.3 thousand tons. The figures connected to cattle complexes were 4.9 thousand tons and 341 thousand tons respectively. Annually, offal production constituted over 40 mln. tons. By their capacity of impurification, this amount of complexes is tantamount to 20 mln. of urban population.

The animal complexes impact upon environment was enormous. Here we can mention the ammoniacal air pollution and soil contamination as a result or irrigation with used waters of these complexes. First of all we underline the negative effect upon water resources. 20 mln. m³ of utilised waters were accumulated and, as usual, practically unpurified (after decantation in accumulators), protruded into hydrographic systems. More negative was the impact upon groundwater: around each complex it contained over limited quantities of nitrates, bacteriological pollution was registered. Hundreds of hectares were alienated for solid offal depositing.

There are very few indicators, which may as genuinely be used to demonstrate the level of welfare of community, as the availability of a pure and clean environment for the people. The environment pollution, however, is not only a social welfare indicator. It is also one of the most important interdisciplinary problems endangering our health. These risks must be studied to include all health effects, both acute and chronic, immediate or delayed genetic injuries with due care to the probable synergism between several pollutants.

At present, more than 50 chemical compounds, which are divided in 10 classes, are known.

Pollution with chemicals in compliance with ecosocial stress is on cruel realities, which compose a main factor of risk to human health in Moldova. In conformity with scientific investigation data it is presupposed that the development of malign effects is a result of some somatic mutations, actions of one latent oncogenic virus or of some modification of mechanisms for control of hemeostazi, for example as hormonal disturbances immunology supervision etc.

One of significant influence on ecological indexes in Republic of Moldova it has the hiring of rural population in activities of agriculture chemisation.

The problem of industrial waste utilisation is still current; however the annual volume of their production has decreased in comparison with preceding years. The volume of the accumulated ones is growing all the time. The following amounts of waste have been accumulated: 13 million tons of combustion cinders at power plants and boiler stations, 5,2 million tons of mud at the residual domestic and industrial water purification plants, 11 million tons of building and demolition waste, 11 million tons of industrial waste, and 9 million tons of agricultural waste, including 7.9 million tons of animal waste. Among the industrial residuals, 915 tons of rubber residuals, 45 tons of leather, 45 tons of used metals, and 18.5 thousand toxic residuals (1994) have been registered.

Among toxic residuals with diverse compounds and origin the following should be listed:

1000 tons of hydroxides.

Heavy metals: 60 tons of used solvents, 1100 tons of forbidden and unusable pesticides, 150 thousand items of Berlin blue, 1000 tons of used luminescent tubes, oil products residuals.

Only in Chisinau, about 40 tons of lead residuals have accumulated, 200 tons of paints and enamels, 100 tons of used emulsions, 40 tons of ferrous cyanides, about 70 thousand used luminescent tubes.

The majority of the industrial units in the country do not observe the rules of residuals’ storage, including the storage of toxic waste. The lack of primary evidence and the lack of the staff responsibility have led to unauthorised storage of residuals, which provide for their spreading and environmental pollution. Some enterprises dump their residuals in domestic waste disposal places because they lack specially arranged facilities for residuals’ storage or neutralisation or destruction technologies for the special type of waste. There is no polygon for burying toxic residuals in the country; the producers have means to solve their problem on their own.

For the situation, amelioration amendments and modifications were proposed to the respective articles of the Code on Administrative Contravention concerning the responsibility of consumers for chemical substances and waste management. Simultaneously, additions were made to the Sanitary Rules on collection, transportation and burial of waste issued by the Ministry of Health. Development and approval is necessary for a Law on toxic substance’s utilisation, a Regulation on toxic waste regime; as well as the accounting of any types of waste, according to unified environmental hazards criteria (chemical composition, standards, technical conditions) or waste passports; the implementation of new technologies or existing technologies improvement with the purpose of waste volume minimisation, especially for toxic waste; the setting of some taxes for waste storage in the established 1imits, exceeded limits and for storage regulations violations. The waste reduction should be started from the source and the utilisation of waste should be encouraged.

The achievements of the Moldovian scientists in the 4 spheres of recuperation and utilisation of the residual water precipitates with heavy metal compounds have proved, that depending on the qualitative composition, the precipitate can be used as additive to building materials, roads cover, for solvents preparation and for the sediments’ recuperation in residual water purification systems; in other areas and technologies.

The problem of used luminescent tubes is under permanent control. In the nearest future a demercurisation plant will be installed with a capacity of 750 thousand tubes per year. Until then, the tubes will be collected and stored in consumer’s warehouses. When the plant will be put into exploitation, a favourable way should be secured for the tubes collection and transportation to the destination.

The wine industry does not have technologies for processing and neutralisation of wine clearing residuals. Enterprises have accumulated: 8 thousand tons of grapes leftovers, 43 tons of dregs, 15 thousand tons of terocyanide; 1000 tons of bentonite, 1000 tons of bentonite with ferrocyanides, 2 tons of tartar. A part of the residuals (dregs and grape leftovers) are utilised, while the rest are accumulated.

Some categories of waste, if they are partially dumped at domestic waste disposal facilities, are recuperated by such enterprises as glass factories, cardboard complex, and plastic processing plants ("Chisinau-plast" and "Uniplast"). The economic agents supply to the used metals enterprises iron, non-ferrous metals, oil products residuals, etc. The private firms have become more active in waste paper and metals export.

Considering the above, we believe that the urgent development of neutralisation and subsequent destruction measures for the non-recuperated toxic residuals is necessary through harmless methods for environment and population health.

The situation with reusable materials from the industrial residuals is somewhat more stable. Although part of them is still dumped, a large amount is utilised at such enterprises as the cardboard, glass factories, plastic processing complexes like "Chisinau-plast" and "Uniplast"; the economic agents supply in a centralised way the used iron, non-ferrous metals, and oil products residuals.

However, the 91 tons of tyres accumulated at enterprises and transport units have not found any application. Only a part of them is restored or used for other necessities. The types can be supplied for remelting, use as additives for asphalt production, and rubber powder fabrication. The waste of light (textile) industry can be used in different areas of national economy, building waste - for roads building and repair, and houses building.

Paper waste can be used as raw material for paper, cardboard, raw cardboard and bitumen based cardboard fabrication.

Oil products can be regenerated, refined and recuperated, and supplied for processing into other oil products usable for boilers.

The solution of forbidden and unusable pesticides utilisation is still to be found, they being stored in agricultural farms and commercial water houses. The non-observance of storage and accounting rules and the wearing out of packing materials leads to soil pollution with the substances. In Europe, destruction methods are used for such substances through incineration in special ovens. The possibility of destroying these preparations in the country of their export needs to be studied. Their further storage or burial can be hazardous for the environment and health of the population.

The quantity of solid domestic waste produced in the country in 1994 exceeds 1.6 million cubic meters, in Chisinau the figure being 862 thousand cu. m. About 500 thousand cu. m of liquid domestic waste has been registered. Using the average specific weight, the mass of the solid domestic residuals (SDR), produced in the country, is estimated at 800 thousand tons. In Chisinau - 300 thousand tons, or 400 kg for each inhabitant.

Although the SDR volume has considerably decreased in comparison with previous years, the problems connected with its collection and storage are still there.

Out of the 69 residual platforms of the urban localities, 61 % do not satisfy the requirements. Out of 1595 platforms of the rural localities, 73 % do not satisfy the requirements. 36 % of urban localities platforms are unauthorised, as well as 49 % of the rural ones. The total area of the platforms for SDR neutralisation and storage in the country is 1010 ha, and the area of the unauthorised ones is 445 ha.

Environmental pollution is enhanced also by residual storage in unauthorised places, gullies, holes, former quarries, and road edges. Only in Chisinau there are 7 unauthorised waste plots, situated in different parts of the city and having areas of 0.5-2 ha. SDR management is not performed, although there exists very efficient methods for the improvement of the situation.

In order to minimise the waste spreading and to ameliorate the human settlements hygiene, different actions are necessary (legislative, regulatory, organisational, educational, coercion, conviction, etc.) on the part of the authorities of local and central public organisations, non-governmental organisations, educational and cultural institutions in order to create a different attitude, different behaviour, and civic responsibility of the social environment for the way of life, consumption, production, and leisure.

A special role in the task could be played by the national and local programs for waste minimisation and utilisation. Simultaneously, the development of some technical-normative acts is needed, which would ensure a stricter control of the Pb contents in gasoline and S contents in diesel oil, as well as the respective procedures for inspection and control.

Moldova as developing country is still the loser in the race to industrialise, producing only 14 % of manufactured output. Each year in Moldova, around 1.1 min. tons of industrial wastes and approximately 1568.9 thousand tons of domestic wastes are generated.

At present, landfills are the most commonly practised waste disposal method in the majority of localities in Moldova. For domestic waste neutralisation, the Republic has around 43 dumps with a total surface area of 1077.6 ha and stocked volume of 30191.56 thousand m³.

The major disadvantages of landfill disposal of municipal waste with hazardous wastes have been following

	The potential risks for polluting water resources.
	The potential risks of contaminating the soil.
	The generation of landfill gas i.e. methane and carbon dioxide.
	Potential human exposure to volatile chemicals.
	Smell, vermin and fire.
	Destruction of natural/virgin sites.
	Long term and cost intensive clean-up remediation and monitoring (aftercare, close-up).

Reducing dependence on land disposal through waste generation prevention their minimisation by recycling and reusing represents the first choice in the hierarchy of hazardous waste management options.

Among the subjective factors of accidents we could name the following causes: the outdated technology, equipment and machinery at the moment of economic collapse, and lack of financial resources for reestablishment and modernisation of unit operations.

One of the largest accidents in the last 10 years was the rupture of a barrage of reservoirs happening in Ukrainian sites, but the water transported through Dniester River and the pollutants to Moldovian territory. It was necessary on huge effort for forecasting of the situation, and respective works have been made to stop further spreading of pollutants in other nearby zones with water catchment installations for drinking water purposes. As a result of this accident, at the bottom of a water reservoir nearby Novodnestrovsk (in the northern part of Moldova) was accumulated more than 1.4 mln. tons of salts with such ingredients like, sulphates and chloride of sodium and potassium with a concentration up to 37 g/l. At a length of one hundred km of the Dniester river basin, practically all flora and fauna perished and major negative performances have been given to the entire water system for long time.

In the majority of cases, the accidents, which have occurred in a region of Moldova Site, might be systemised if following way;

Accidents with extremal pollution of soil and water resources with pesticides and mineral fertilisers in the result of violation of the established rules or in the result of natural calamities like torrential rains with flooding of chemical storage, and solution preparing stations. Such cases occur each year. For example, as a result of hard raining during the summer of 1991, around 350 cu. m of pesticides were washed away by water in the village Vulcanesti polluting severely the soil and water resources. Similar events have been registered in other localities, several chemical storage, had flooded in Orhei District etc.

In the result of long exploitation of fuel stations and oil depositions almost in the entire country, the systems for storage and fuel transportation are in poor conditions thus becoming potential sources of extremal pollution.

Sources of hazard have been the following:

1. Deviations of the process parameters from the specified state (pressure, temperature, mass, flaw, and phases) state, and concentration.
2. Faults in the containment (vessels, storage, tanks, piping and joints (sells)).

For example, on August 1973 at a petroleum store in the village Iargara (district Leova) an accident happened after as a result of which about 628 tons of gasoline flowed out from the deterioration reservoirs (an official registered date) during which a great part of it penetrated the soil reaching the groundwater and severely polluting. In 1995 it was appreciated, that from the oil tank of diesel and furnace oil of an elevator which were placed 150-300 m South Eastern from the petroleum store and lower it on relief during many years was take place local leakage of mentioned oil products in the result of underground reservoirs’ corrosion.

All these lose of more heavily oil fractions (with unknown volume of leakage) also polluted very hard the soil and groundwater under commanding territory. All these accidents turned up to be a really ecological catastrophes for the local habitants, as for as it deprived them from the unique potable water source of individual and common wells. Especially, the situations become irreversible and it aggravated in 1996. After the intensive hard winter snow falls in the spring the slow melting allows the full absorption of the moisture in the soil. All this enhances the level of groundwater, which reached at last the polluted soil layers. As result, in all wells oil products appeared in such concentrations making unfitting the water not only for drinking, but also and for other domestic needs.

The common polluted with oil products’ plot has 12-15 hectares in area (or 30-40 acres), and it is situated in the southern part of the village Iargara on the right site of the stream Tighech in the lowest site of relief of the southern exposition with the surface inclination from 1-2 (0.018-0.035) at the elevator territory till 3-4 degrees (0.053-0.070) on the oil deposition territory. Between the elevator and oil deposition it is passed by two track railway roads. In conformity with the available data, the horizon of the groundwater belongs to the alluvial and delluvial stratum, which is covered with clay soil of the upper Sarmation-Macotis stage. The level of the underground water ranges from 5-7 m on the lower site to 11-12 m on the upper site of the territory. The level of the groundwater in conformity with the available data is oscillating from 2 to 4 m.

Referring to the principle of subsidiary, they claim the right to set national emissions limits values for industrial installations according to their own environmental and economic circumstances. Taking into account all above mentioned from my point of view the Directive must be therefore enforced substantial regulations for as of potential hazardous activities, rather than on procedural rules. Which will give us the opportunity in the future to reveal the hazardous activities borders zones.

There is no estimate on the number of contaminated sites.

Investigation Methods

No data available

No data available

Up till now, no facilities exist for treatment or proper depositing of contaminated soil.

No data available

Financing and Liability

No data available

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Scope of the Problem

So far no special strategy or national policy for contaminated land has been developed.

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Illustrative Cases

No data available

Information provided by Sergiu Galitchii at the Operative Informational System and Relations of State Ecological Inspection and Stefan Stasiev at the Division for Pollution Prevention and Improvement at the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Moldova. April 13, 1999.

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

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.