In Vitebsk discussed the construction of a new landfill of solid household waste for the city

Yesterday residents of Vitebsk and Vitebsk district appealed to the publishing house “Belarus Today” in connection with the planned construction of a new municipal solid waste landfill. The site for the object was chosen in the area of the villages of Senkovo, Gatushka and Ananino - according to experts, it is the most suitable. But residents of nearby private households and apartment buildings oppose, believing that not all important nuances are taken into account. To understand the situation, correspondents of SB Belarus Today went to a public discussion of the pre-project documentation for the construction of the facility.

The landfill area will be 27.3 hectares, the service life - 15 years, the height - 28 meters. The annual capacity is more than 133.6 thousand tons. It is planned to start construction in April 2028. Wide information about this goes through the city newspaper “Vitbichi”. The topic is too exciting, so the assembly hall of Vitebsk secondary school No. 5, where public discussion was appointed, was full. Many people took off from work to attend in person. The participant of the meeting Vitaly Bobrova from the beginning of the discussion explains her position:

- Everyone understands that the city needs a new landfill, but why should it be placed on this site? This is a feature of the city, a microdistrict, the development of which is actively continuing. In addition, near large social facilities - health care institutions, the museum-estate "Zdravravno"... The expected increase in the concentration of methane from landfill biogas in the air, its impact on human health, as well as the impact of sewage on the environment are cause for concern.

The arguments in favor of the named location were voiced by the director of the enterprise "Special Base of the City of Vitebsk" Sergey Dashkov. According to him, the site was chosen from eight options. The remaining areas were weeded out because they either did not fit into the sanitary protection zones of settlements, or fell into water protection zones. The chosen site meets all the requirements. The basic kilometer sanitary protection zone has been observed - the distance to the nearest settlements is over 1.2 kilometers, Sergey Dashkov stated: - The existing city polygon has exhausted its capabilities, it will last a maximum of a year and a half. Then we will face a real environmental disaster. People should understand that everyone has garbage, and after sorting the tails, in any case, you need to bury somewhere. If you choose a location tens of kilometers from the city, it will dramatically increase transportation costs and in payments of citizens, the cost of services can grow many times. You have to understand that, too. All the issues raised during the discussion were recorded with the possibility of feedback. Detailed written responses will be sent to each of them within the time period established by law. Experts will take into account the proposals received from citizens during the revision of the pre-project documentation and, most importantly, the participants of the discussion asked about this, will study other possible options.

Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk district executive committee Ruslan Ghazaryan at the end of the meeting, in turn, added that the district executive committee will offer the customer of the facility, the enterprise "UKS of Vitebsk", alternative sites for the location of the landfill.

WHAT DO ENVIRONMENTALISTS SAY?

The environmental aspect of the location of the landfill near settlements was commented by phone to the correspondent of SB Belarus Today, Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Committee of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Alexei Markovsky:

- According to the section of the Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA), which contains the main conclusions based on the results of this assessment, the operation of the projected facility will not lead to a violation of the natural and anthropogenic balance, therefore, the implementation of design decisions is possible.

bogacheva@sb.by