MINSK, 17 July (BelTA) - The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus and Russia’s Rosatom State Corporation plan to develop a technology for environmentally friendly pesticide extraction, Belarusian First Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Alexander Korbut told journalists before the first meeting of the Russian-Belarusian working group to identify cooperation projects within the framework of the memorandum of understanding between Rosatom State Corporation and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, BelTA has learned.
“Today we are holding the first meeting of the working group between Rosatom State Corporation and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection under the memorandum of cooperation. The purpose of the work is to consider the possibility of reducing the environmental impact in the two countries, to develop new techniques, approaches, and to develop technologies in order to reduce the environmental impact of the Soviet Union legacy. We will pay attention to ensuring the safety of people. At today's meeting, we will discuss the possibility of creating a common project within the framework of the Union State. For this purpose, we will develop a technology for pesticide extraction and processing. We hope to use them in our countries in order to reduce the impact of hazardous waste,” Aleksandr Korbut noted.
According to him, the cross-border pesticide dump in Gorodok District, which also affects Pskov Oblast of Russia, will serve as a testing ground for experiments. This project within the framework of the Union State will allow the two countries to become technologically independent from European countries.
“Class 1-2 hazardous wastes include PCB-containing equipment and pesticides that are past their expiry date. As of today, Belarus has a total of 9,500 tonnes of pesticides, of which 5,000 tonnes are housed at the specialized enterprise in Chechersk. We also have five more burial sites, three in Vitebsk Oblast, one in Gomel Oblast and one more in Mogilev Oblast. Our technology will make it possible to remove and process hazardous waste, to reclaim the land and involve it in economic use,” Aleksandr Korbut explained.
In Belarus each storage site is subject to annual monitoring. Changes in groundwater and air emissions are monitored.
“It is planned to extract pesticides in an environmentally friendly way, Belarus has such experience. This is how we liquidated the Slonim dump. Yesterday, together with the commission members, we visited the Gomel enterprise and were briefed how pesticides are extracted in the Petrikov burial site. The site is to be reclaimed taking into account environmental and economic requirements. For this purpose we will involve the scientific community,” Aleksandr Korbut noted.
BelTA – News from Belarus
