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Parliamentary question - E-000326/2014Parliamentary question
E-000326/2014

Law being flouted in construction of new waste depot

Question for written answer E-000326-14
to the Commission
Rule 117
Slavi Binev (EFD)

It is planned to construct a new waste disposal facility in south-western Bulgaria near the village of Banya, less than a kilometre away from people’s homes. The project will entail felling substantial tracts of centuries-old forest in a tourist region famous for its mineral springs, which will be polluted by the dump. The pollution will also affect a tributary of the Mesta, a river of crucial importance to major towns in Bulgaria and neighbouring Greece. The construction of the waste depot has been preceded by numerous breaches of the law — the environmental impact assessment does not include the requisite evaluation by the regional health inspectorate — and moreover, while there has been public discussion about specific municipal properties affected, the site for the waste depot will extend over numerous other properties, some of them privately owned. This dump can only be harmful to people and to the natural environment, it flouts the law, and I am counting on your cooperation to help the Bulgarian and Greek citizens affected by it. Data is available in relation to violations of Directives 78/659/EEC, 1999/31/ЕC, 2000/60/ЕC, 2008/1/ЕC and 2011/92/ЕU. This is the latest in a series of problematic waste disposal sites in Bulgaria — including those at Dzherman and Yambol — which are threatening people’s quality of life and are in serious breach of EC law.

1. Does the Commission know about these problems in Bulgaria and their potential for damage to the environment and the quality of life of tens of thousands of people in two Member States?

2. What steps does the Commission intend to take to counter the breaches of EC law which have occurred?

OJ C 286, 27/08/2014