site.bta Lukoil Neftochim to Be Fined up to 250,000 Leva for Polluting Air with Hydrogen Sulphide

Lukoil Neftochim to Be Fined up to 250,000 Leva for Polluting Air with Hydrogen Sulphide

Sofia, April 1 (BTA) - The Lukoil Neftochim oil refinery will be fined between 200,000 and 250,000 leva for polluting the air in the seaside city of Bourgas with hydrogen sulphide, Environment and Water Minister Ivelina Vassileva said on Friday, as quoted by her ministry.

The safety limit for hydrogen sulphide in the air in Bourgas was exceeded up to 36-fold at 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Thursday. The measurements were taken by the Dolno Ezerovo Automated Measurement Station. After 9 a.m. the level dropped and stayed within the safety limit. The residents of the area are not in danger, the Environment and Water Ministry said.

The legally prescribed fine in this case is between 10,000 and 500,000 leva, the ministry noted. The upper limit was raised last year on a proposal by Minister Vassileva after a petrol spill from Lukoil Neftochim, for which the refinery received the then-maximum fine of 100,000 leva.