Pollution of the Dniester is moving downstream - ecological danger regime introduced
According to the National Crisis Management Center, the concentrations of detected harmful substances vary from hour to hour and from one section of the river to another. Since the detection of the pollutant leakage, the competent authorities have activated mechanisms for continuous monitoring of the situation. Antipollution barriers and absorbent materials have been installed at critical points, water samples are continuously taken and the results of the analyses are evaluated in real time.
“It is important to emphasize that the Dniester River is flowing water, and pollutants do not stay in one fixed point, but are carried by the current. Therefore, concentrations vary at different times and in different parts of the river. Currently, there are clear indications that the wave of pollution continues to move downstream, and in the Naslavca (Soroka) zone, exceedances of permissible norms for petroleum products and aromatic hydrocarbons are recorded. Even if in some points the values temporarily return to the permissible limits, the substance continues to arrive in waves, which makes it difficult to accurately predict the development of the situation,” said Sergiu Diaconu, director of the Center.
In this context, the authorities seek to prevent the realization of risks, given the vital importance of the Dniester River for citizens’ water supply.
Therefore, it was decided to move to a more intensive regime of situation management and to introduce an environmental danger regime for 15 days in the administrative-territorial units located in the Dniester River basin. Among them are the districts of Drochia, Soroca, the municipalities of Balti, Singerei, Floresti, Soldanesti, Telenesti, Rezina, Calarasi, Orhei, Dubasari, the municipalities of Chisinau, Criuleni, Anenii Noi, Tighina, the administrative-territorial units on the left bank of the Dniester, as well as partially: Briceni, Edinet, Ocnita, Donduseni, Riscani, Glodeni, Falesti, Ungheni, Nisporeni, Straseni, Hincesti, Ialoveni, Cimislia, Causeni and Stefan-Voda.
Why such a regime is needed
“The environmental danger regime does not mean that the situation has become critical, but only that the authorities introduce in advance a legal mechanism to prevent it from getting worse,” Diaconu specified.
This regime provides the authorities with several important tools:
First, it allows them to strengthen technical measures, including the installation of additional anti-pollution barriers and pollutant capture systems at strategic points on the river.
Secondly, it makes it possible to temporarily restrict water abstraction and use in sectors where analyses show excessive levels to prevent contamination of water supply systems.
Third, the environmental hazard regime allows for the rapid mobilization of additional resources, including the use of assets from State reserves, the use of additional intervention units and the integration of international teams that have arrived in support of the Republic of Moldova through the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism.
In addition, the decision creates a framework for the operational management of all institutions involved, under the strategic guidance of the National Crisis Management Center and the sectoral coordination of the Ministry of Environment.
“The priority of our work remains clear: the safety of people, the protection of the environment and the prompt, responsible management of the situation,” Prime Minister Alexandru Munteanu said at an emergency cabinet meeting convened on Sunday, March 15.
The largest cities have also convened emergency commissions
It is worth mentioning that also today, the capital’s general mayor, Ion Ceban, held a meeting of the Chisinau municipality’s Emergency Situations Commission.
“We provide water to about 1 million citizens, i.e. about half of the country’s population. Therefore, it is important for us to know the real situation – not from TV, not from official letters and not when IRB representatives are sent to us. At present, our specialists take daily water samples from the Dniester at different points: Naslavcea, Kuresnita, up to the dam and behind it, as well as in the districts of Vadul-lui-Voda and Dubasari. In two places, protective dams have been built up to the water intake zone,” Ceban said.
The Balti municipality also convened a municipal commission for emergency situations. According to Mayor Alexandru Petkov, the situation is especially critical for Balti, as the Soroca water pipeline is the only source of drinking water for the city. In Balti, artesian wells will be restored, alternative water sources will be used to supply the city and socially important objects, as well as water delivery by water carriers until the wells are fully put into operation.
