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Hot Spots Subject to Qualitative Assessment
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4.3. Hot Spots Subject to Qualitative Assessment
The preliminary screening of Hot Spots has revealed numerous sources of pollution, where for a variety of reasons there are insufficient data to describe them quantitatively. The sources of pollution (Hot Spots) of this type were assessed qualitatively. Another example of Hot Spots, which are subject to qualitative assessment, are sites of high risk (potential sources of pollution). These sites cannot be considered as active Hot Spots (for example, oil pipe lines). Qualitative (expert) evaluation of a Hot Spot was supplemented with the analysis of water quality monitoring data in the river stations located downstream of the Hot Spot. When the appropriate data was available, the National Experts compared (according to monitoring data) the impact of point sources of pollution (those which have direct effluent discharge to the natural water body) with the impact of diffusive sources of pollution.
4.3.1. Solid Waste
Industrial and domestic waste disposal has an adverse impact on the environment. These localities are characterized by deterioration of the quality of underground water as a result of pollution, which is caused by the presence of industrial waste disposal sites in the river basin: the storage of solid domestic waste of large cities and industrial waste. Pollution of surface water takes place as a result of leachate plumes reaching the river network.
In the Republic of Belarus, the domestic waste disposal sites are located in the large cities: Minsk, Mogilev, Gomel, Svetlogorsk, Orsha, Bobruisk and Pinsk. The lack of waste processing is a serious problem. Only 15% of all solid domestic waste are subject to recycling, the state enterprise “Ecores” is the only waste processing enterprise in the Republic of Belarus, which utilized only 4% of solid domestic waste.
There are unauthorized dumps of solid domestic waste as well as industrial waste sites: dumps of domestic waste of large cities, wastage of enterprises “Belaruskaliy” and “Gomelsky chemical plant”, waste disposal site for the f former military base “Ziabrovka” in Gomel Oblast.
Large industrial waste disposal sites of the Republic of Belarus include: 1) halite waste and clay-salt sludge of the enterprise “Belaruskaliy” (Soligorsk City), the total area of this disposal site is 1350 hectares; 2) waste piles of phosphogypsum of Gomelsky chemical plant - the area is more than 60 hectares. The maximum quantity of solid domestic waste in the Dnipro River basin is located in the dumps and sludge pits of the enterprise “Belaruskaliy” (1350 hectares), waste piles of phosphogypsum of Gomelsky chemical plant (64 hectares), waste piles of hydrolytic industry (lignine) of the cities of Bobruisk and Retchitsa (20 hectares), waste piles of Svetlogorsk heat station (55 hectares). There are 7 industrial waste disposal sites, with a total area of 1405 hectares.
There are 3 large domestic solid waste disposal sites in the Dnipro River basin within the territory of Vitebskaya Oblast:
1) Solid waste domestic site, City of Orsha. The domestic solid waste disposal site for the city of Orsha is situated 20 km away from the city. It is located in an open pit, the lower layer of the pit is presented by moraine drift clay. The volume of the stored waste is 6190 thousand m³. The annual volume of incoming waste is about 80 thousand m³, including 35 thousand m³ of industrial waste. Industrial waste includes sludge of oil removers, foundry loam, drossy saw dust, etc.
2) Solid waste domestic site, Town of Orekhovsk (Orshansky Rayon). The disposal site for solid domestic waste site is situated 5 km from the town of Orekhovsk. It has been in operation since 1977; there was no proposed expansion or other projects for this site. The total area of the disposal site is 2 hectares. The disposal site is located in an area of moraines composed of till and clay sand. Annually, about 2 thousand tonnes of domestic waste are disposed of in this disposal site. The share of industrial waste is about 100 tonnes.
3) Solid domestic waste disposal site, Town of Dubrovno. The waste disposal site is located 1 km away from the town of Dubrovno. The distance to the Dnipro River is 0.5 km. The volume of the stored waste is 57 thousand m³. The annual volume of incoming waste is about 8.2 thousand m³, including 4.4 thousand m³ of solid domestic waste. The disposal site is located in an open pit in an area of fluvioglacial sands, the lower layer of the pit is presented by moraine clay and loamy sands. The bottom of the pit is composed of mean coarse sand (0.3 – 1.3 m), semisolid loam (3.4 – 4.1 m), tight foul moraine clay sand (7.0 – 12.0 m). Groundwater up to a depth of 12 metres is not uncovered. Reserve operation period is about 40 years.
In Mogilev Oblast the impact of industrial and domestic waste disposal sites on the environmental condition of the Dnipro River basin is not investigated, especially in the rayon centres of this oblast, where these objects are not equipped with the network of observation wells (the towns of Bykhov, Kostiukovichy, Krichev, Kirovsk, Krasnopoliye).
In Brest Oblast the solid domestic waste disposal sites are located in the towns of Ivatsevichy, Pruzhany, Ruzhany, Gantsevichy, Mikashevichy, Drogichin, Bereza, Belozersk, Pinsk, Ivanovo, Stolin, David-Gorodok and the settlements of Telekhany and Logishin. According to the results of analysis of groundwater taken from observation wells and mineshafts of the neighbouring villages, the above mentioned disposal sites do not have considerable impact on the condition of groundwater.
4.3.2. Sources of Diffuse Pollution
The impact of disperse (diffuse) sources of pollution on the environment of Belarus includes the impact of agricultural waste of stock-raising enterprises, drainage and irrigation waters, surface run-off from fields, sanitary water of small inhabited localities, peat extraction, mineral resource industry, surface run off, etc.
According to evaluation data, more than 60% of the total volume of pollution in the Dnipro River basin in the territory of Belarus is formed due to diffuse (disperse) sources.
The impact of rural inhabited localities on the pollution of water with biogenic matters becomes apparent in the form of surface run off from the inhabited localities and filtration of contamination and cesspools. Most of the villages do not have sewerage systems and mainly have cesspools. Up to 5% of nitrogen and phosphorus generated by filtration of drainage and the contents of the cesspools arrive at the river network. The amount of pollution per head consists of: 2.7 grams per day of mineral phosphorus, or 0.48 grams per day including detergents.
Livestock waste and run-off from stock-raising enterprises are one of the primary sources of environmental pollution (including water) with nitrogen and phosphorus. The volume of pollution arriving in water bodies is determined by the capacity of stock-raising enterprise, the output of solid and liquid waste and their composition. There are 66 operating cattle-breeding and 58 hog-breeding enterprises in the basin of the Dnipro River and its tributaries (the Berezina, Sozh, Pripyat and Svislotch Rivers). The availability of such a high quantity of large stock-raising enterprises has resulted in an increase in the production volume of animal husbandry products but at the same time it has an adverse effect on the environmental conditions in the areas where such enterprises are located, including the territorial-administrative units in the Dnipro River basin. In general it is caused by not inadequate capacity of the stock-raising enterprises, serious breakdowns in the process of maintenance of manure removing systems, inadequate control of environmental conditions, and non-observance of the established norms of incorporation of liquid manure into the soil.
Table A-2 (Annex A) presents information about cattle- breeding and hog-breeding enterprises operating in the basin of the Dnipro and Pripyat Rivers.
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