Bulgaria’s Group of Civil Environmental Organizations (abbreviated as GEO in Bulgarian) has disputed the conclusions drawn by other environmental organisations concerning the pollution levels and its dissemination caused by Bulgaria’s biggest steel producer Kremikovtzi, located near Sofia.

Last week, the Green Party and Green Bulgaria, together with the Green Alliance association, demanded Kremikovtzi’s shutdown and the re-cultivation of land because of the pollution it causes.

They claimed then that winds in the area spread the dust particles and pollution from Kremikovtzi all the way to the region of Boyana and nearby villages in the foot of Vitosha Mountain, and those villages’ air should show the highest levels of pollution.

However, Ecoglasnost national movement deputy chair Petar Penchev said on March 4 that the environmental impact assessment report on the Sofia master plan showed that the areas most polluted by the steelworks were the ones located in its vicinity.

These are the villages of Bouhovo and Seslavtsi, where the farm lands are 100 per cent contaminated, Yana – 97.7 per cent, Kremikovtzi – 97.2 per cent, Gorni Bogrov – 86.4 per cent and Dolni Bogrov – 41.48 per cent. In those villages, as well as in Mramor, Mirovyane, Trebich, Komaritsa, Svetovrachane and Chepintsi, the concentration of lead in soil is two times greater than the maximum quantity allowed.

Penchev was backed by representatives several environmental associations, including Novi Han–European Settlement, Musatchevo and Gorni Bogrov initiative committees, and Kremikovtzi-Bouhovo eco association.

GEO said that its members were very disturbed by the claims made by the Green Party, Green Bulgaria and Green Alliance that pollution went to Boyana, arguing that if those claims were used as the grounds for an investigation that found no pollution in those areas, the conclusion would be that Kremikovtzi was not polluting the air at all, GEO said.

According to GEO, the Green Party, Green Bulgaria and Green Alliance were all closely tied to the construction industry lobby in Bulgaria and backed the project to build a business centre on Kremikovtzi lands after the steel mill was closed down.

“There is a play being performed in Kremikovtzi by Alexander Tomov, trade unions, Government, Parliament’s environmental committee and Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov. It is all part of an attempt to delay proper observation of eco norms and hide from citizens the truth about the pollution levels,” GEO said.

The European Commission has already launched an infringement procedure against Kremikovtzi over its pollution levels, especially since it did not have a complex operating permit.

But Bulgarian prosecutors have not opened an investigation, largely because two different valuation statements, from the Ministry of Environment and Water Affairs and from the Health Ministry, could not prove that that there is a need to examine the pollution situation in Kremikovtzi.

GEO claims that allowed pollution levels are exceeded by 60 to 125 times at the blast furnaces, 60 to 80 times at the coke ovens, while the amount of dust at the coal ovens was 143.5 times greater than allowed.