Soot conflict in Panevėžys: furniture company causes inconvenience to neighbors Business



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His 15 minutes Marius Česiūnas, the head of Iremas, said the situation repeats itself constantly.

“The smoke goes towards us, to the workshop, sometimes the windows of the administration building are open. Our security guards are on duty around the clock and say the boiler room is usually turned on in the morning, 4-5am. And during normal hours of the day, everything is in order, “said M. Česiūnas.

According to the head of the company, such conditions increase the risk to the health of company employees and even lead to further change. According to him, the authorities respond to the complaints, but the visits of his staff do not change the situation.

“We just realized that we had come to check and we didn’t find anything. While the photos we send show that on the ground, the snow is full of black soot. How many institutions do we turn to, we hit like a wall ”, said the man.

Company photo / Medrito fireplace

Company photo / Medrito fireplace

Iremo’s correspondence with state institutions on polluting neighbors began in 2018. October: The first complaint was then submitted to the Panevėžys Regional Department of Environmental Protection. At that time, the results of the Medrito boiler room smoke monitoring were requested. Later, the company noted that the boiler room was built less than a meter from Iremo’s site and looks visually cluttered.

The complaint also reached the State Inspectorate for Territorial Planning and Construction, which forwarded it to the Panevėžys City Council. Officials from the Panevėžys Fire and Rescue Board also carried out their investigation, but found that there were no violations of the General Fire Safety Rules. However, city municipality officials were informed of possible violations of the solid fuel boiler room.

2019 Representatives of the State Energy Regulatory Authority also visited the company in the summer of 2006, and requested the presentation of a boiler room installation, internal heating project and other documentation. In autumn of the same year, a request was made to correct the irregularities detected.

Company photo / Iremo yard

Company photo / Iremo yard

In February last year, another complaint from Iremo was sent to the Panevėžys section of the State Labor Inspectorate (VDI), which also instructed the company to make changes.

“Due to the quarantine, UAB Medritas was unable to comply with the requirement to carry out an occupational risk assessment on time, so it requested an extension. After the extension of the term, the occupational risk assessment was carried out in a timely manner and the specified requirements were met to eliminate deficiencies. SLI’s labor inspectors, who investigated the complaint at all times, monitored it remotely, which is recorded in the documents, ”it is written. 15 minutes In the reply sent by VDI.

Panevėžys Environmental Protection Inspectorate of the Environmental Protection Department of the Ministry of the Environment, which investigated the company’s contamination. 15 minutes He also stated that he had not found any irregularities.

“During the unscheduled inspection, it was not established that the company would burn prohibited fuels, nor was it established the incineration of waste. The company has a valid inventory of sources of ambient air pollution. All sources of contamination are inventoried. According to the inventory data, the capacity of the boilers used is too low for the company to require an Emission Permit and does not comply with the requirements that govern the pollution regulations of the combustion plants. The ambient air is not tested during the inspection, “replied the authority.

Medrito Chief: I understand the neighbors, but we can’t get along faster

His 15 minutes Gediminas Balodas, the head of Medritas, said he was aware of the situation and was trying to resolve it. According to him, the company’s management is still trying to cope with the legacy: Medritas changed ownership in 2019. November. Once a technically messy company is found, the goal is to gradually recover, but the processes will still take time.

“I know there were conflicts before we bought the company, but then everything was registered in the name of a natural person, no certificates were required. The boiler room of a natural person – you can do whatever you want. After receiving the complaints, we fixed the whole law, the chimneys are now certified ”, he explained.

Company photo / Iremo yard

Company photo / Iremo yard

The head of the company stressed that no institution had sanctioned Medrito. Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency visited the company a few weeks ago and found no violations.

“We do not violate the law. Yes, we burn solid fuel, but it is allowed in Lithuania. All the more so because the fuel we burn is waste from wood processing, broadly speaking, chips and sawdust. They are dry deciduous wood”, He said.

The company shoots both in winter and in summer because heat is needed to dry the firewood. However, G. Balodas added that more visible fuel particles can be released into the air; this happens when you have to burn sawdust. In such cases, soot is deposited in the area. According to the manager, this does not bother Medrito employees much, because there are few activities in the yard.

“There is no way that black smoke or cars are covered in soot. But if the wind is stronger, it passes through the area. When we can, we try to burn with firewood, but when it’s cold, we also have to burn with sawdust, we don’t have many options, “said the head of the company.

Balodas said he understood Iremo’s position as a neighbor, but added that his company was too small for sudden investments. According to him, the renovation of the boiler room would require about 100 thousand. euros.

“We will try to participate in the EU eco-innovation project and we will try to renovate that boiler room. We probably won’t be able to do that this year, but I think others will definitely win that project. Then there will be filters in the chimneys, which, I think, will fix the problem. problem in principle ”, expected the owner of the company.



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