2012-04-26
National Audit Office of Lithuania: chemicals from industrial waste water may accumulate in the nature
Having performed an audit of the management of industrial waste water the National Audit Office of Lithuania stated that the potential for ensuring the protection of the aquatic environment from contamination by dangerous chemical substances is not used in Lithuania.
Some 9.000 chemicals and nearly 900 substances are registered in Lithuania. Around 80 per cent of these substances are hazardous to the aquatic environment. Auditor General Giedrė Švedienė said that „Protection of the aquatic environment from such amounts of substances is difficult and expensive. Therefore it is necessary to complete the prevention system. Only separate elements of the system are already operating.“
The National Audit Office of Lithuania identified that there are weaknesses in the Programme for Reduction of Water Pollution by Dangerous Substances approved in 2004, therefore its measures are not implemented sufficiently effectively. There are no assessment criteria established for the implementation of Programme objectives, a separate financing is not provided for the programme, the implementation of principal measures is well overdue, and the implementation of Programme measures lies solely with the Ministry of Environment and its subordinate bodies. Furthermore, the Programme does not envisage any measures or concrete dates for stopping of contamination of the aquatic environment by most dangerous chemical substances.
Industrial waste water is the main source of chemical pollution in rivers, lakes, ponds, and the Curonian Lagoon. Chemical pollution does not decontaminate itself. Municipal waste-water treatment plants are able to purify only waste water, and chemical substances are only diluted. The risk persists that if industrial waste water is not managed properly, chemical substances may accumulate in the nature and at some point may provoke an accute and long-term toxic effect.
Audit report “Untapped Potential for Protection of the Aquatic Environment from Contamination by Dangerous Chemical Substances” is available in Lithuanian on the website of the National Audit Office