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Category: Awareness raising activities regarding lindane removal from OHIS

  • Informative event lindane held on the 15th of April in Skopje

    Informative event lindane held on the 15th of April in Skopje

    As a part of the component for raising public awareness within the project “Removal of Technical and Economic Barriers to Initiating the Clean-up Activities for Alpha-HCH,   Beta-HCH and Lindane Contaminated Sites at OHIS”, the Macedonian Ecological Society (MES), in coordination with the POPs office at the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning, organized an informative event with journalists and stakeholders on April 15th. It was a hybrid event and took place at the MES office and on the platform zoom.

    At the event Suzana Andonova, the national coordinator of the project from the POPs office of MOEPP, presented the project goals, main activities, and results achieved thus far.

    George Tsaimos, technical manager of the company POLYECO which is in charge of the cleaning of the landfill, shared that one of the basins of the small landfill contains 650 tons of waste, of which 450 is lindane, while the rest is soil contaminated with lindane and other chemical substances. About 350 tons have been excavated and packed thus far.

    POLYECO and a representative of TAUW (a company in charge of the supervision of the whole process) shared that the personal protective equipment of the workers is according to the highest prescribed protection standards, and that the activities are carried out according to appropriate regulations and procedures. In parallel with these activities, the performance is being monitored both within the tent and in areas near the landfill within the factory OHIS, and there is also air-monitoring that tracks the presence of certain chemicals and substances.

    This event is part of the activities planned within the project that the Macedonian Ecological Society is obliged to realize and is part of the aim to raise public awareness regarding the whole process, until the end of the clearing of the first excavation of the small landfill, with which the financial support of the project by UNIDO will come to an end.

  • MES is ready for monitoring of the remediation process for lindane and HCH in Ohis

    MES is ready for monitoring of the remediation process for lindane and HCH in Ohis

    From the 14th to the 16th of March 2022, MES participated in a workshop for the monitoring and supervision of the lindane and HCH remediation at OHIS, organized by the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning/POPs Unit, in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the international company TAUW from the Netherlands.

    The workshop consisted of two days of theoretical training for the sustainable management, monitoring, and supervision of the remediation activities in OHIS, and one day practical training on location in OHIS.

    The training was conducted by TAUW, a Dutch company with expertise on dealing with POPs (persistent organic pollutants) which, as an external company, is in charge of overseeing the whole process of the removal of lindane from the small landfill in OHIS. The main topics of the workshop were an introduction to the Stockholm convention, contaminated site management, remediation management, health and safety management and monitoring, and monitoring and supervision of a remediation.

    TAUW started with a brief history of OHIS, as well as the main objectives of the project and the specific work plan. As background knowledge, TAUW also covered the history of POPs around the world, showcasing that dealing with toxic waste of this type is still a major problem. They introduced the Stockholm convention – an international agreement aimed at eliminating or reducing the production and use of POPs.

    The training was detailed, and throughout the two days it took the participants step by step through the major topics regarding the management of a project of this type and the management of a contaminated location, from researching the site through available information and through direct on-site research, to possible contracts, necessary safety equipment and machinery, budget planning, correct zoning and manner of moving between zones, to monitoring of safety, analysis of soil and groundwater, etc.

    On the second day, a representative of the contractor POLYECO gave a presentation on their operative plan and the current state in OHIS. POLYECO showed that the safety tent has been set up, complete with three tunnels – one for employees, one for the necessary machinery, and one with rails that will be used for the containers with lindane and contaminated soil to go in and out. They showed how the space in the factory is divided by zones and how the activities will be conducted in accordance with the zoning, which safety equipment the employees will use, and which safety measures will be followed. They showed the already set up systems for the monitoring of air, and the water filters which will be used in the process itself, as well as the containers that will be used for the transportation of the lindane and the contaminated soil.

    The third day was dedicated to conducting direct field activities in OHIS – the participants were provided with safety equipment and trained to excavate soil and conduct soil and contamination analysis. With instruction and equipment from TAUW, the participants learned how to excavate and analyse soil. Using an X-ray device on the spot, they determined how much mercury and other elements were present in the excavated soil, and documented all of this in work forms. After this training, POLYECO conducted an informative tour through OHIS, in the part where the preparation activities, packing and removal of lindane (from the small landfill) will be performed. The participants entered the yellow zone, where the containers for the transportation of lindane, HCH, and contaminated soil were located. The yellow zone came up to the tent (which was set up in the red zone) where the three tunnels could be seen, but the participants did not enter in the tent itself. In the yellow zone there was also a decontamination unit – a special part with two chambers where employees can shower and leave their contaminated equipment in the first chamber, and then change into clean clothes in the second chamber.

    As a part of the workshop, the trainers shared useful materials from the field. At the end of the workshop MES, together with the other participants, received a certificate for monitoring and supervision of the remediation at OHIS.

  • Workshops on the process related to the disposal of the deposited lindane from the OHIS plant in Skopje

    Workshops on the process related to the disposal of the deposited lindane from the OHIS plant in Skopje

    On 22 and 28 March in Skopje, two workshops were held in order to raise public awareness about the importance of removing the lindane from the small landfill in the OHIS plant, organized by the Macedonian Ecological Society and in coordination with the Office for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) as part of the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MoEPP).

    The purpose of the workshops was to inform all stakeholders and the public about the next steps regarding the procedure for the disposal of the deposited lindane within the plant. It was also one of the objectives to define competencies and joint coordination and communication among stakeholders regarding this long process. According to the Planning Office (MoEPP), the tender documentation for the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) of the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning will be finalized by the end of April, announcing an international tender for the selection of a company and technology for disposal of the deposited lindane by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) the small dump in the circle of OHIS. It is expected that by autumn it will be known which firm would be involved in the process of landfill removal.

    According to the Office for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), in the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning (MEPP), by the end of April the tender documentation will be finalized, after which an international tender for the selection of a company and technology for the disposal of the deposited lindane from the small landfill in the circle of OHIS will be announced. This Autumn is expected to be known and which firm would be involved in the process of landfill removal.

    Raising the public awareness of the Skopje population about the significance and impact of the lindane on human health and the state of the environment is one of the activities that is being implemented within the framework of the multi-annual project Removal of technical and economic barriers to initiating the clean-up activities for alpha-HCH, beta-HCH and lindane contaminated sites at OHIS financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented through UNIDO. The main goal of this long-term project is to carry out the removal of the deposited lindane from one of the two existing landfills located in the OHIS plant in the next period.

    The Macedonian Ecological Society (MES) is the carrier of public awareness activities, in coordination with POPs Office within MoEPP.

  • Awareness raising activities regarding lindane removal from OHIS

    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1559824964975{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Time frame: November 2018 – April 2019

    Funding: United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

    Beneficiary: POPs Office, Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning of the Republic of Macedonia

    Project goal: By including experts in public relations and awareness raising, public healthcare, environmental protection, as well as other NGOs with relevant expertise to the topic, MES within this project endeavors to share the information to all stakeholders regarding lindane removal from OHIS in the most transparent and most appropriate manner.

    Contact person: Svetlana Pejovic arsovska@mes.org.mk

    Activities: Survey, visits to selected schools in the vicinity of OHIS, two awareness-raising workshops, public hearings and other public events.[/vc_column_text][mk_divider style=”shadow_line” margin_bottom=”30″][mk_fancy_title tag_name=”h3″ size=”30″ force_font_size=”true” size_smallscreen=”30″ size_tablet=”25″ size_phone=”22″ font_family=”none”]MES News[/mk_fancy_title][mk_blog style=”thumbnail” grid_image_height=”300″ cat=”21, 372″][/vc_column][/vc_row]