More spending on enviro in Romania. An EBRD credit worth 4 M...

More spending on enviro in Romania. An EBRD credit worth 4 M euro will solve the Snagov Lake pollution



by Paula Dumitrescu



Bucharest - The Snagov area, one of the preferred destination of Bucharesters during the weekend, is experiencing severe pollution problems, while its flora and fauna are in danger of extinction. The Environment Minister yesterday announced EBRD would grant his Ministry a 4 M euro credit exclusively destined to stop the ecological disaster at Snagov Lake. Local authorities of Ilfov county warn that Snagov Lake is endangered because of the inefficient sewer system. This is the reason why the lake’s wildlife is in danger of extinction. Besides the 1,400 luxury villas located on the lake’s banks, a certain responsibility for the pollution also goes to sporting bases in the area. Every such base has about 250 members and its waste dump is emptied twice a year. “All the waste is thrown into the lake,” said Snagov Mayor, Teodor Biris. The Minister of Water and Environment (MAPM) will draw a 4 M euro credit next year from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), with a view to reducing and eliminating, within three to four years, the pollution of Snagov Lake, Minister Lificiu announced yesterday.

The main reasons for the situation are the activity of animal breeding farms, fisheries, leisure activities, undersized equipment for the treatment of waste, and the absence of sewer grids. “The Snagov Lake and Forest represent a real lung for Bucharest, which must be protected at all costs, by enforcing firm environment recovery measures, without being afraid of the villas of Bucharest high-life that are located here,” Lificiu said.

Experts say some 1,400 villas were built around Snagov Lake after 1990, while most of them do not have proper sewer systems and dump wastewater directly into the lake. The previous day, MAPM had ordered a control that “awoke both local authorities and the Ilfov Environment Protection Inspectorate” (IMP), the Environment Minister appreciated, saying he wants a civilised rearrangement of the area, “without bulldozers or scandal.”

MAPM envisages a series of measures which include expanding the sewer network and renovation of the wastewater treatment facility in Floresti, along with lake cleaning work (dredging, reed cutting). Other measures are redimensioning hydrotechnical systems and equipping them so as to channel enough water for cleaning the Snagov River.

Authorities also envisage delimiting the Snagov commune from the natural protection zone. In July alone, IPM Ilfov ordered fines totaling ROL 104.2 M, while in the first five months of the year, it only issued fines worth ROL 20 M.