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Remediation of tailings in Reps and Rreshen |
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 Reps and Rreshen, Albania - In line with donor approval from July 2009, the Albanian Hot Spot Project, in frame of the WBEP, started with activities for remediation of the tailings in Reps and Rreshen.
Two neglected tailings in northern Albania were identified and evaluated (in UNEP report from 2008) as a priority sites requiring emergency works to be conducted, i) Reps - four abandoned tailings facilities continuously pollute the local river; subject of the remediation works will be the tailing 3; ii) Rreshen - due to a failure of the water diversion structures at the tailing the stability of the tailings dam is unstable and needs urgent repair.
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Starting clean up works at Balez |
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Balez, Albania – Central Chemical Storehouse at BalezIn line with donor approval from July 2009, the Albanian Hot Spot Project in frame of the WBEP started with activities for clean-up of Balez chemical storehouse. In 2008 a national hotspots identification program implemented by UNDP and funded by the Netherlands Government identified the chemical storage site of Balez and a number of other related chemical storage sites of concern. The Ministry of Industry and Energetics (now the Ministry of Economy, Transport and Energy), therefore arranged for the identification and repackaging of dangerous materials in premises under their jurisdiction, and their transport to a central storage site in the village of Balez, close to the city of Elbasan. Today, the Balez chemical storage house contains approximately 140 tonnes of mixed chemical wastes collected from a number of other temporary stockpiles.
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The hot spot in Bajza is cleaned up |
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Bajza, Albania - Cleaning up works at the railway station in Bajza finished on 11th September, 2009.
Bajza is the last railway station in Albania before the frontier with Montenegro, so its acts as a customs control point. There is no passenger traffic, but two freight trains pass through daily with approximately 10,000 t of freight being handled each month. The station is located at the shore of trans-boundary Shkoder (Skadar) Lake – the largest lake on the Balkan Peninsula that both Albania and Montenegro have officially designated as a cross-border protected area of Shkoder/Skader Lake together with Buna/Bojana River. During the early 1990s hazardous chemical waste (old pesticides) was exported to Albania by train. Most of the hazardous waste could be shipped back, but part of the load was discharged at the platforms and was stored at Bajza station.
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Preliminary Environmental Assessment and Risk Assessment at Bajza hotspot |
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Based on the Preliminary site investigation in Bajza hotspot performed by the German company Montec results that all organic compounds identified in the soil material along the railway tracks are not pesticides. They can not be quantified and according to the actual knowledge they may not pose any hazard to the environment or to man which demand any remediation or mitigation measure. Based on the analyses performed on water results the quantitative analysis of chlororganics did not reveal any pesticide concentration above the limit of quantification of 0.0025 μg/L. For further information please read the final report attached below in PDF version.
undp_bajza_pea_081130
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Cleaning up Bajza |
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Bajza is the last railway station in Albania before the frontier with Montenegro, and it acts as a customs control point. The station is located at the shore of trans-boundary Shkoder/Skadar Lake - the largest lake on the Balkan Peninsula. Both Albania and Montenegro have officially designated it as the cross-border protected area of Shkoder/Skader Lake together with Buna/Bojana River. In addition, with the designation of the Albanian part of the Shkoder (Skader) Lake and Buna (Bojana) River as a Ramsar site the entire lake is now included in the Ramsar list. During 1991-1992, the German company Schmidt-Cretan as a donation to Albania, exported and temporarily stored in Bajza 480 tons of hazardous chemicals including toxaphene and phenyl mercury acetate, both of which had been banned in the EU since 1983. Unloading was stopped when it was noted that the pesticides were out of date. Complaints were made, and the German authorities agreed to take the load back, which they did. However, in the interim local Albanians had emptied some of the drums in order to use them for household purposes. Some drums were emptied directly on the ground, and the contents dispersed towards Shkodra Lake, reportedly killing cattle. A substantial number of dead fish in the lake was also reported in 1993, although there are no proven records that this can be linked with incidents that took place at Bajza railway station. The expected project outcomes are the full cleaning and rehabilitation of Bajza hot spot from expired pesticides and industrial chemicals
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Albania