The decision not to grant at least EUR 25 million from the ISPA pre-accession fund [2] leaves the future of the NHWC project in doubt. The Bulgarian government still has to decide about the project’s future and also about Bulgaria’s overall hazardous and industrial waste strategy. Bulgarian environmentalists suspect that unless the current approach - based on expensive and controversial end-of-pipe solutions - is changed, then Bulgaria will face more problems in the waste management sector.

This case is an illustration of the commonplace manipulations that take place during EIA procedures and the production of bad quality EIA reports in Bulgaria, just one year before the country’s proposed EU entry in 2007. The European Investment Bank (EIB), another potential NHWC project donor, has yet to reveal its position on these project developments. The NHWC project documents show that even with an ISPA grant the economic performance of the project would be very poor.

Georgi Binev, one of the leaders of the local protests against NHWC, said: "This decision completely justifies our six year campaign to protect our health and lives from an ill-conceived project. The bitter irony is that we’ve received support from the European Commission but not from our own Ministry of Environment and Waters."

Ivaylo Hlebarov, of Za Zemiata and CEE Bankwatch Network, said: “The project’s EIA report clearly failed to take into account fundamental issues such as the cumulative effect of NHWC on people's health, existing pollution in the area and expected emissions from the project. Yet the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water and the Minister saw fit to approve the EIA in October 2004. Earlier this year our testing for toxic substances in the region surrounding the proposed NHWC site found dioxin levels to be 20 times above EU limits already. The European Commission has obviously wised up to the idea of financing an incinerator project in a region already blighted by severe health and environmental problems. The EIB must now follow suit."

Petko Kovachev, of CEIE and CEE Bankwatch Network, added “The Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water’s six year saga to push this controversial project forward has resulted in no ISPA money! The European Commission has recognised the real problems, the ongoing EIA manipulations, and has taken the right decision. As a result significant changes should be carried out immediately in the Ministry of Environment and Waters in order to meet the even stricter requirements that are part of the 2007-13 Structural and Cohesion funds."

For more information, contact:

Ivaylo Hlebarov
Za Zemiata/CEE Bankwatch Network
Tel: +359 898 252 303
hlebarov at bankwatch.org

Petko Kovatchev
CEIE/CEE Bankwatch Network
Tel: +359 888 420 453
petkok at bankwatch.org

Notes for editors:

The National Hazardous Waste Centrе has been planned to be located near the village of Kovatchevo in Bulgaria's Stara Zagora region. It will include two hazardous waste incinerators with capacities of 15 000 and 30 000 tonnes of hazardous waste per year, a tank farm for liquid organic waste, a solidification facility and landfills. An additional hazardous landfill is to be built in the Sofia area.

2. Fifty percent of ISPA money is foreseen to improve the environment in Bulgaria by financing environmental infrastructure, but not at any price. Bulgaria has to comply with EU environmental standards, as well as using the public funds efficiently.