Statement of the Ministry of the Environment on storage of sludges from Ostrava lagoons on the CELIO landfill and their subsequent energy recovery

Press release: 11.11.2011

In relation to the current storage and combustion of products from the Ostrava lagoons in the Ústí Region, we state that the binding conditions for the operation of the facilities for storage of materials produced from the lagoons and their subsequent energy recovery are covered by the “integrated permits”. The issuing of integrated permits and any changes thereto are fully within the competence of the relevant Regional Authorities. In case of storage and combustion of sludges from the Ostrava lagoons in the territory of the Ústí Region, the responsible authority is thus the Regional Authority of the Ústí Region.

The Czech Environmental Inspectorate, Regional Public Health Station and the Regional Authority are responsible for controlling conditions of storage and energy recovery. In case of breach of the law, these institutions may not only impose sanctions but, as appropriate, also stop the operation of the entire facility.

On 30 September 2011, the Regional Authority of the Ústí Region passed a decision on temporary deposition of sludges in the facilities of Celio, a.s. The Council of the Ústí Region also issued a favourable opinion in the procedure on a change in the integrated permit. According to the latest amendment to the integrated permit, a new activity at the landfill of the S-NO group will consist in waste storage (sludges from physical-chemical treatment containing dangerous substances, catalogue No. 19 02 05), formed by treatment of waste acidic sludges from the Ostramo lagoons. This waste will subsequently be treated on the existing line for waste treatment for the purpose of its energy recovery at the Lafarge Cement, a.s. cement plant in Čížkovice.

The main conditions of the permit are concerned with prevention of nuisance from smells, time limitation of the relevant activity (receiving of waste only to 31 December 2011 and storage only to 21 December 2017), requirements related to minimisation of negative impacts from transport (the waste will be transported to the facility by rail in covered containers within comprehensive consignments onto the siding in the immediate vicinity of the premises and subsequently transported by automobiles covered with tarpaulins by road outside of the built-up areas to the storage site) and exactly defined requirements on acceptance of the material (protocol on acceptance, procedure in acceptance, etc.).

All the decisions are publicly available in the IPPC information system operated by the Ministry of the Environment. The relevant change in the facilities of Celio, a.s. can be downloaded at www.mzp.cz.

Within its competence, the Ministry of the Environment is closely monitoring the situation. Today, Minister of the Environment Tomáš Chalupa informed Jana Vaňhová, Regional Administrator of the Ústí Region, that he has requested the Czech Environmental Inspectorate to thoroughly monitor the situation at the Ostramo lagoons and at the landfill of Celio, a.s.

The Czech Environmental Inspectorate currently samples, analyses and evaluates the composition of material transported from the lagoons to the landfill of Celio, a.s. Energy recovery of the treated waste at the cement plant in Čížkovice will then be under constant supervision and measurements by CEI inspectors from the viewpoint of control of the emission limit values for pollutants from combustion.

If any doubts or breach of the law occur, the environmental authorities are prepared to react immediately.

Michaela Jendeková, tiskové oddělení MŽP