The cleaning of the lindane from the small landfill in OHIS has started

Today, the process of cleaning lindane and its isomers from the small landfill in the circle of OHIS officially started. For that purpose, the selected contractor Polieko started with preparatory activities that include clearing the field, providing and installing the necessary equipment and machinery around the small landfill.

"With this project, we confirmed our determination to eliminate the hot spots in the country. "In the past, huge quantities of extremely dangerous chemicals were safely removed and destroyed, which were stored for decades in the OHIS circle, and today we are attending the beginning of cleaning and lindane, as a historical problem to which we paid a lot of attention and energy," he said. Minister Nuredini, announcing that the Government and the Ministry of Environment are making efforts to provide funds from several sources for cleaning the large landfill, as well as for cleaning the electrolysis plant contaminated with mercury.

For the cleaning of the small landfill, the Ministry has established cooperation with two United Nations agencies, UNIDO and UNOPS.

Initially, for the realization of the project "Removal of technical and economic barriers to start remediation of sites contaminated with α-HCH, β-HCH and lindane in OHIS" Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning through the Office for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in cooperation with UNIDO as an implementation agency, provided funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in the amount of $ 3,100,000.

Following the selection of a waste treatment company, UNIDO entered into an agreement with the selected contractor Polieko to clean 450 tonnes of highly concentrated HCH waste and 200 tonnes of HCH contaminated land from the small pool.

The necessary additional funds for the completion of the cleaning of the "small" landfill, UNIDO, MoEPP, GEF and the General Secretariat of the Government agreed to be provided by the Multi-Partnership Environmental Fund, and to be implemented by UNOPS.

Recently, UNOPS also signed an agreement with the Greek company Polieco for cleaning an additional 240 tons of HCH waste and 653 tons of soil contaminated with HCH, which will ensure continuity in the cleaning of hazardous chemical waste from this location.

"The Kingdom of Norway is a partner of the Government of Northern Macedonia in this process. "Over the past three years, we have provided support to the Government and the Multi-Partnership Environmental Fund in the amount of EUR 1.5 million in support of the OHIS landfill cleaning," said Stefan Sandstad, First Secretary of the Norwegian Embassy.

"We at UNOPS are proud to be entrusted with the management of the Multi-Partnership Environmental Fund established by the Government of Northern Macedonia in partnership with many entities working towards a common goal - remediation of lindane in OHIS. "We will continue to work together to secure funding from donors, international organizations and financial institutions for this vital environmental undertaking in the country," said Mikela Telatin, UNOPS Head of Office for Northern Macedonia.

"We have faced many challenges, problems over the years, starting from 2006 when the negotiations for securing funds from the GEF began, until 2015 when the project was officially launched, to see today the mechanization on the ground. It remains to carry out the cleaning process itself, in an extremely careful and safe way in accordance with the established standards and criteria. "During the whole cleaning process, the public will be regularly informed," said the national project coordinator Suzana Andonova from the POPS Office.

The representative of Polieco had the opportunity to explain the process of work on the site, starting from the organization of the field, setting up the tent with all the equipment for negative pressure, the applied methodology of excavation, packing and marking, as well as description of all protective and safety measures following pre-established standards and criteria, which will enable minimization of emissions into the environment, outside the tent and beyond.

The estimated value of the complete cleaning and destruction of the lindane and its isomers from the small landfill in OHIS is approximately 8 million euros.