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“The air quality of Klaipeda residents depends on where they live. If they live near port companies, unfortunately they suffer. Our goal was to determine the impact of Klasco. We found that the chemical composition of the cargo corresponds to what is deposited in surfaces, on window sills. Those complaints are justified, we have been able to verify this with this method. Of course, the particles are large, they do not enter the body or the respiratory tract, but it is environmental pollution “, says Nadezhda Lazareva, a researcher at the University of Klaipeda.
The study was conducted by a woman together with a colleague, dr. Paulius Rapaliu. Representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency also participated in the study.
According to the researchers, two studies were carried out in a few months: one in Klaipeda, with ten accumulator locations in which solid particles settled, the other study is planned to study ten sites around the Klasco territory with a receding beam .
The first study allowed scientists to analyze particulate matter, sedimentation, and elemental composition. According to P. Rapalis, three places stood out from the whole city in this study: Rimkų Street, where a large number of solid particles settled, as well as Gulbių Street, located in the north of Klaipėda, near Klasco and the Ring Baltic, where the traffic is quite heavy.
Data from the second study showed that iron dust loaded in Klasco, which traveled in a radius of 650 meters, reached the study’s accumulators.
“In this case, we take load and soil samples in those areas. It can be said that there is no other source that generates this amount of iron. This can be confirmed by a previous study, as no such amount of iron has been found anywhere else, ”Rapalis said.
This time, the researchers chose innovative tools used for research in the US, Switzerland, and other countries.
15min reader’s photo / People living in the center of Klaipėda, in the Vitė neighborhood, suffer from pollution.
The particulate matter was observed using passive accumulators in which the particles settle naturally and accumulate over time. Special plate-shaped accumulators were hung at each of the ten locations for six weeks, after which their mass and composition were measured.
The results were transmitted to both the company and the ministry.
The results of the investigation were delivered to Klasco a month ago. This has until tomorrow to give an answer to the Environment Agency. The data was also transmitted to the Ministry of the Environment.
Rimgaudas Špokas, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, who participated in the press conference on Thursday, recalled that the new amendments to the law will come into force from 2022. They stipulate that pollution will not be allowed to leave the company’s territory.
“It was our duty and desire, our ambition, to prove that contamination exists. As new measures, new pollution indicators, now, together with colleagues from the Ministry of the Environment, other subordinate institutions, we will try to legalize, regulate what standards. We are preparing to implement the provisions of the new laws. We see that we are on the right track. I think it is possible that all the other companies that have these problems will not have to wait, ask for those studies and prepare, because that contamination will be very limited. Absolute zeros are not possible in nature, but companies will also strive for balance. I think it will not be allowed to paint the window sills red, “said R. Špokas.
The tools are there
According to the manager, after the Klasco contamination problem appeared, ways were sought to investigate and substantiate the data as fact.
“We managed to find a method with the University of Klaipeda and P. Rapalis. I saw it in one of the Slovenian ports. In fact, we have on the table the fact that 100-200 meters from the loading site is about 50 percent. the dust forms the product. In other words, if the product did not dust in that area, 50 percent. The dust outside would be reduced by certain distances, “said R. Špokas.
According to the environmentalist, the measures are – closed systems that prevent the spread of dust, but the question is whether it is worth having that load and investing in closed systems and security measures.
“We have a chain, we have seen the need for irrigation, but the irrigation has not worked at all, there is another problem: polluted wastewater, etc.” We cannot collect this at the expense of the population or the destruction of the environment, I would say. The cargo is toxic and non-toxic. If you are not prepared for such jobs, let’s not do them “, R. Špokas did not wrap his words in cotton.
Klasco denied contamination
The Klaipeda port company, Klasco, has repeatedly denied the contamination and, in late May, announced that in order to reduce the impact of activities on the environment and save it, it has drawn up an even more comprehensive plan of environmental measures. Its objective is to manage all possible risks of contamination as a matter of urgency and to take all possible environmental measures to avoid the release of pollutants into the environment, both now and in the future. Klasco has announced that it will allocate 3 million euros for the implementation of the new environmental action plan. euros. Since 2018 the company has already invested more than one million euros in environmental measures and handling equipment, the company said.
In July, when members of the Seimas visited the company, the head of Klasco Vytautas Štumbergas assured that the company is doing everything possible, it is open, and last year around a hundred inspections were carried out in it.
“We are not a surgical department, but we are not polluters,” he said, referring to the company’s pollution control measures. The manager says there were errors in the storage of the coke, which began to form dust, and the company apologized to the public, but since 2018, it has taken environmental measures: water cannons, covered the mountains with a colorless spray film , bought cleaning machines, specialized road equipment. irrigation, built an air pollution station, the data of which is available to the public.
The construction of the dust wall, according to the manager, was not allowed, but assured that the company won the legal process and it will be done. The specialty dust barrier was designed by a joint venture between the United States and Canada. There is no such level of specialists in this field in Lithuania. The wall is said to trap even very fine dust.
Company representatives circulated a letter late Thursday stating that the findings presented by the university are currently being evaluated.
According to the information available to the company, Klasco’s operations comply with the environmental standards established by the state, except for specific cases, which were not in the company’s operations this year. This is also recognized by the KU researchers, who claim that the research conclusions obtained do not violate the environmental standards applied in the Republic of Lithuania. Klasco does everything possible to minimize the impact of the company’s activities on the environment. It has developed a series of action plans, which include a series of organizational and investment measures. After evaluating the research methodology of the KU researchers and their conclusions, we will adjust the measures applied by the company to reduce the environmental impact ”, the answer is positive.
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