Environmental disaster at the Pidgirtsevo Landfill № 5, Ukraine
Ukraine
last update:
4 months agoProblems
Trash in Ukraine
Every year Ukrainians leave behind up to 12 million tons of solid waste. Waste recycling in Ukraine is almost non-existent. Currently, tens, hundreds of millions of tons of waste are accumulated, littering vast areas. Up to 1.5 million tons of household waste per year is an unattractive minus of the capital life. 250 thousand tons of them are incinerated at the obsolete plant "Energia" on the left bank, the only major recycling plant in the country.
Polygon №5
Another 530-540 thousand tons are sent to landfill No. 5 in Podgortsy. Landfill No. 5 in Podgortsy is the largest landfill in Ukraine. This landfill has been in operation for 34 years. It has an area of more than 65 hectares. And the height of the highest point of the landfill is almost 190 m, which creates a potential risk of waste collapse. The inhabitants of Podgortsy suffer the most from the neighborhood of the landfill. The constant stench all year round, the homeless and the Roma digging in the garbage - have practically become part of their lives. Moreover, the villagers are deprived of the opportunity to drink water from their wells. The waste has seeped deep into the soil and it has become poisonous, residents say. The air is constantly filled with the musty stench of rotten products and fermented waste - the dump is located 900 meters from the center of the village. There is nowhere to escape from the unpleasant smell in Podgortsy. The stench covers the whole village. Waste from Kyiv is an eternal problem for the inhabitants of Podgortsy village, which is 27 kilometers away from Kyiv. But there is also a great potential threat to Kyiv itself.
Landfill Reclamation
The landfill has grown so big that there has been increasing talk of closing it down in recent years. The mayor of Kyiv, Vitaly Klitschko, announced the launch of a landfill reclamation project. Recultivation is a complex work to restore land and water, the fertility of which has been significantly reduced as a result of human activity. However, he warned that solving the problem could take a long time. This is not surprising, because the capital has almost no alternative - there is nowhere to take urban waste. The incinerator plant "Energy" can recycle a maximum of 250 thousand tons per year. There are no other recycling facilities near the capital.
One more thing to be done
One of the few solutions to the problem could be a project to launch a new landfill with a capacity of over 1,000,000 tons of waste at the existing landfill facility, which is designed to dispose of 400,000 tons of waste with the prospect of further implementation on the site of the waste processing plant.
Gallery
6
Timelines
2022
May 09
As of the beginning of 2022, according to the reclamation project of site No. 5 of the landfill, the following has been completed: placement of solid household waste and adjustment of the slopes of site No. 5 to the design marks; covering the polygon map No. 5 with a layer of soil; covering the landfill map No. 5 with a layer of crushed stone (gas drainage); installation of drainage for leachate collection on the eastern part of site No. 1 of the landfill.
2021
July 27
SBU investigators see in the actions of employees of Kyivspetstrans PJSC regarding the disposal of waste at landfills No. 5 and No. 6 signs of a criminal offense under Article 441 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine "Ecocide" The security services of Ukraine arrived at the landfill of solid household waste (SWW) No. 5 to carry out investigative actions, creating conditions that prevent the landfill from functioning regularly regarding the disposal of waste. Thus, PJSC "Kyivspetstrans" declares risks regarding the sanitary-epidemic situation in Kyiv and the Kyiv region, which is critical, given the abnormal summer heat.
2020
February 12
Reclamation and preparation of the landfill for closure have begun at landfill No. 5 in Pidhirtsy. More than 450,000 tons of waste are transported to it per year. This landfill has been operating for 34 years.
2019
July 03
Landfill No. 5 in Kyiv is overcrowded, garbage accumulates here without any sorting or processing. A garbage collapse is brewing in Kyiv. The landfill continues to work actively. That is, in fact, the Kyiv authorities only declare their intentions, but nothing changes.
2018
October 01
The reconstruction of solid waste landfill No. 5 has begun. The total cost of the landfill reconstruction works amounts to more than 326 million hryvnias. The money will be allocated from the budget of the city of Kyiv. "Adamant Construction Company" LLC won the competition for the reconstruction of the landfill. The priority measures during the reconstruction are the installation of a retaining wall 270 meters long and the strengthening of dam No. 2, which will protect against leakage of leachate from the territory of the landfill. Completing these works will reduce the risk of emergency situations, stop burial on the first map of the landfill and start work on its reclamation.
2017
May 26
The chairman of the village council, Sergei Kravchenko, published a document by which the village council, by decision of the KSCA session, prohibits carrying out any work at the Landfill.
2016
October 27
Public activists from the village of Podgortsy and neighboring villages blocked the entrance of garbage trucks to the landfill for four days. The Kyiv City State Administration decided to gradually close the Landfill until the end of 2018 to guarantee “technogenic and environmental safety”. Since then, accident prevention work has been carried out at the Polygon - strengthening slopes and dams, which prevent the leakage of poisonous leachate into the surrounding villages and its entry into water bodies. Mountains of garbage began to pour soil.
1998
May 15
The toxic liquid got into the wells, and the water became dangerous for drinking and even for washing or watering gardens. There was a significant excess of harmful substances and heavy metals in the soil on which residents grew vegetables. As a result, the number of oncological diseases and hepatitis increased. Then, for the first time, attention was drawn to the fact that the landfill, which was supposed to be closed in 2003, had become dangerous, but nothing was done to correct the situation.
1986
August 10
After the explosion at the Chornobyl NPP, by order of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, a site with an area of 56.3 hectares was allocated for the storage of radioactive leaves from Kyiv. Later, a two-section solid waste landfill was also created, where thousands of tons of the city's garbage began to be transported there.