Albania and UNDP present in depth study of nine environmental hot spots in Albania

TIRANA, May 5ؔhe Government of Albania and United Nations Development Programme presented on Tuesday, to the donor community and other stakeholders, the findings of an in depth study of nine environmental hot spots in Albania.
The study, part of UNDP’s project “Identification and prioritization of environmental hotspots in Albania” is financed by the Government of Kingdom of the Netherlands and conducted by Foster Wheler Italiana and its partners LDK, Greece and G&G, Albania. The study includes the preparation of environmental impact assessment, remediation action plans and cost estimate for the nine environmental hot spots.
The identified hot spots areas are: Alba Film in Eastern part of Tirana, at the ex-Kinostudio, Battery Factory in Berat, Perrenjas Mine Site, Buildings at Biticka Mine near Korca, Dajti Enterprise Site in Tirana, Tailing Dam in Guri i Kuq on the shore of Ohrid Lake, Ferrochrome Smelter in Elbasan, Pesticides Dump in Rreshen and Textile Factory in Berat.
United Nations Resident Coordinator in Albania, Ms Gulden Turkoz-Cosslett said: “Albania does not have specific legislation related to hotspots. While new legislation has been passed related to Environmental Impact Assessment, waste management, water and air quality, gaps remain for ground water, soil protection, industrial pollution and ownership of polluted sites. The latter in particular remains a significant problem because the question “who owns the pollution?” remains unanswered. We now face situations in which historically polluted areas are being turned into residential or commercial areas, often without the knowledge or awareness of their new residents. The Government of Albania and the respective national institutions need to take the lead and address these issues, including resource constraints as well as technical and capacity gaps.”
The Minister of Environment, Forests and Water Administration, Mr. Fatmir Mediu highlighted:”We should be aware that the cleaning of environmental hot spots is a challenge to be faced.However, it can not be succefuly realized without the joint efforts of all stakeholders and without nourishing the appreciation and interest for the environment which should be considered as an added value for which we are responsible to protect and manage effeciently for the genrations to come.
The National Environmental Action Plan has highlighted that the environmental situation around the closed industrial sites in Albania is a serious concern. The copper, chromium, iron-nickel and oil industries have produced several million tons of industrial wastes that were disposed without environmental and human health considerations. In addition a number of chemicals stored inside the production lines of closed chemical factories pose a serious problem requiring urgent measures for safe disposal of such chemicals.
UNDP is supporting the Albanian Government in achieving its objective to rehabilitate polluted areas to meet basic safety standards through intervention in “hot spot” areas and elimination of toxic materials. Through this project Albanian Government and UNDP contributes to achievement of environmentally sustainable development in Albania by integrating the principles of sustainable development into national and local policies and programmes, while observing the commitments of the Albanian Government within the EU accession process.
UNDP and the Government have already conducted the cleaning up of Bajza railway station, Balez chemicals depot and several satellite sites. Interventions to reduce the risk associated to the tailing dams at Reps and Rreshen mines have also been initiated.