Disposal of pesticide waste in Poland - current state

Pesticide waste disposal projects have been ongoing in Poland for the past 11 years. Within this period, about 70 percent of underground tombs, containing 12000 tons of obsolete pesticides have been closed. Also, pesticide waste stored at warehouses throughout the country has been disposed of regularly. The major issues related to these activities involve: problems with financing and proper tendering procedures; vague laws regarding land reclamation; still unknown exact amount of waste to be disposed of. Despite some difficulties, the experience gained in recent years allows for efficient progress in terms of disposing of pesticide waste stored in tombs and warehouses by 2010, stemming from Poland's obligations under the Stockholm Convention. Currently however, the problem of tombs and warehouses is not the biggest threat posed by the pesticidal waste in Poland. The largest site storing waste containing, among others, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and other pesticidal waste is the Rudna Gora Central Waste Landfill at the Organika-Azot Chemical Plant in Jaworzno. The landfill stores close to 160 thousand tons of waste, out of which 88 thousand are classified as hazardous. The mix-up of the waste at the landfill as well as the overstocks of waste at the Plant make the site the number one threat in Poland, and possibly in Europe. The location of the site in the Vistula River Basin caused the site to be placed on the list of hot spots drafted for the Helsinki Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea. Large amounts of contaminants being released from the site as well as the site's unfavorable hydrogeological location demand taking immediate and radical steps to stop the spread of contaminants. Considering the enormous scale, it seems necessary to engage the international community to help resolve the problem. The paper demonstrates the process of closing an underground tomb exemplified by the site in Klotyldzin, in the Wielkopolskie province, remediated at the turn of 2006 and 2007. It considers the obstacles encountered in Poland and explains ways of resolving them. It also describes the situation of the Rudna Gora landfill in Jaworzno.