Bucharest mayor: Air quality, a priority for the City Hall

Bucharest still faces problems related to air quality, especially in the northern area, and the City Hall has made it a priority to solve these issues, according to mayor Gabriela Firea. According to Firea, a total of 150 notifications has been sent to the Bucharest City Hall since July, in which people complain about the bad smell in Bucurestii Noi, Pajura, Militari, and Giulesti Sarbi neighborhoods, and the towns of Chitila and Chiajna, in north-western Bucharest. Moreover, residents in the southern part of Bucharest have also made similar complaints. The National Environment Guard carried out inspections at the Iridex and Giulesti Sarbi landfills, and at the hazardous waste incinerator, according to a statement from the Bucharest City Hall. In Iridex’s case, the environment guards imposed measures to remedy the situation that should be taken in 60 days. In case these measures are not implemented, the landfill could have its activity suspended for six months, and even lose its environmental authorization. Meanwhile, at the Giulesti Sarbi landfill, the representatives of the Environment Guard sanctioned both the operator and operators that take waste to this unit. For a better monitoring of the problem, the Environment Guard will sign a protocol with the Bucharest police, the district police departments, and the local police in Chiajna and Chitila, Bucharest mayor said. Thus, the authorities will set up “fixed points of control that would ensure constant monitoring of activity in the area, with teams of specialists and video cameras.” Gabriela Firea also talked about the idea of building a waste incinerator, saying that this would be in fact a plant used for thermal treatment and turning the municipal waste into energy. The plant would neutralize between 300,000-350,000 tons of waste per year, and would produce more than 120,000 MWh of electricity and 335,000 MWh of heat per year. The new plant should be complemented by 2022, and would require costs of EUR 250 million. The authorities currently have EUR 180 million for this project, allocated through the Operational Programme Great Infrastructure. The mayor also talked about waste neutralization. “As we announced in August, we’ve already taken the first steps towards making a database in which all quantities of waste collected selectively in the capital will be registered. Bucharest City Hall has already required sanitation operators to report monthly the amounts of waste collected separately,” Firea said. Other themes discussed during the meeting were related to developing the cycling infrastructure, improving the public transport system, and green areas. The mayor's statements came after environment minister Cristiana Paşca Palmer said earlier this month that Bucharest has serious environment problems, especially related to air quality. She added that Romania risks an infringement procedure from the European Commission due to Bucharest's poor air quality. According to the minister, mayor Gabriela Firea didn't show up at a meeting in which they were supposed to talk about Bucharest's environment problems.