Threats to water resources from hexachlorobenzene waste at Kalush City (Ukraine)--a review of the risks and the remediation options.
The production of chlorinated solvents such as tetrachloroethylene and tetrachloromethane has resulted in large stockpiles of unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including high content of hexachlorobenzene (HCB waste). HCB waste of 15,000 t arising from the production of chlorinated solvents at the Kalush factory in Ukraine was landfilled. In 2008, it was discovered that HCB and other pollutants were escaping from the landfill into local environment including the Sapogi-Limnytsia Rivers, tributaries of the Dniester River. This showed that the HCB waste was not appropriately contained and represented a threat to the Dniester River basin. A Presidential Decree of Ukraine was therefore issued requiring remediation of the site and excavation of the waste. Between 2010 and 2013, approximately 29,445 t of HCB waste and associated contaminated soil was excavated and exported to various EU countries for incineration. This excavation revealed that these wastes can corrode through their drums within a few decades with release of pollutants. Other sites at which chlorinated solvents were produced should therefore be assessed for possible similar pollution. Despite the remediation efforts and the excavation of the landfill, the Kalush area remains a POP-contaminated site requiring further assessment. A part of the waste was exported to Poland and is stored close to the Baltic Sea and is treated in an incinerator with small capacity over a time frame of years. This case and recent similar cases reveal that the control of POP waste for destruction even in EU countries needs to be improved.
State Institution Institute of Environmental Geochemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv 142, 03680, Ukraine. Lysychenko@ukr.net.
Georgii
G
Lysychenko
POPs Environmental Consulting, 73527, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany. roland.weber10@web.de.
Roland
R
Weber
State Institution Institute of Environmental Geochemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv 142, 03680, Ukraine.
Valeria
V
Kovach
State Institution Institute of Environmental Geochemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv 142, 03680, Ukraine.
Modest
M
Gertsiuk
Public Interest Consultants, Eaton Crescent, Uplands, Swansea, Wales, SA1 4QR, UK.
Alan
A
Watson
State Institution Institute of Environmental Geochemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv 142, 03680, Ukraine.
Iryna
I
Krasnova
D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods*; D033161:Government Regulation; D006581:Hexachlorobenzene / Q000032:analysis*; D017745:Incineration; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014455:Ukraine; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D062066:Water Resources
D007220:Industrial Waste; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D006581:Hexachlorobenzene
Basel Convention; Chlorinated solvent; Contaminated site; HCB; HCBD; Organochlorine production; POP waste import; POPs; Stockholm Convention; Tetrachloroethylene