site.btaNo Report So Far from Plovdiv Environmental Inspectorate on Contamination due to Galvanic Production Processes at Armaments Factory in Sopot

There is no report so far from the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water (RIEW) in Plovdiv, establishing pollution as a result of galvanic production processes at the VMZ-Sopot armaments factory, Economy Minister Nikola Stoyanov said Friday during parliamentary control. He was responding to a question about pollution of the waters of the nearby Manastirska River as a result of this type of production by the company.

Stoyanov stressed that the ministry was closely monitoring the facts of the case and added that "firm action" would be taken if any acts or omissions were found to have led to the pollution of the river's waters, or if any breaches of regulations relating to the company's environmental protection obligations were found.

Stoyanov said that on April 20, because of suspected releases of harmful substances, control samples were taken from the VMZ, and among the findings was that the concentration of hexavalent chromium was well below regulatory requirements. At the end of the same day, repeated samples were taken in the presence of officials which again found no chromium in the water. A check on the following day also revealed no contamination, the minister said.

The treatment plant for the treatment of production and waste water from the electroplating industry, the Sopot site, is designed for the disposal of chromium, cyanide and acid-alkali waters and the precipitation of heavy metal hydroxides. The facility has been in operation since 1986 and no significant financial resources have been allocated for the necessary repairs and maintenance of the facility, the minister said. He said that the station has undergone a partial reconstruction and modernisation at a cost of BGN 600,000 in 2020. Three other projects are being implemented to improve the safety of the technological process of treating wastewater from galvanization at a total cost of nearly BGN 200,000, the minister said. He stressed that the projects were not started after the "potential incident".

On April 20, RIEW Plovdiv found pollution of the Manastirska River by VMZ-Sopot. The pollution was detected while a planned inspection of the enterprise was being carried out, combined with water monitoring, the RIEW Plovdiv's press centre said at the time. A day later, RIEW Plovdiv reported that no leakage of harmful substances from VMZ-Sopot to the river had been detected. Indicators from the water treatment plant showed permissible concentrations according to the norms, the VMZ-Sopot said then. The company's investment programme includes improving the parameters of the treatment plant by purchasing new equipment, the VMZ-Sopot said.