THE industrial zone in Kato Polemidia, where a large quantity of toxic waste was dumped some 25 is currently safe with no further contamination of the soil or groundwater according, the Agriculture Minister said yesterday.
Concerned about the possible effects to the environment and what measures the Agriculture Ministry is taking regarding the dumping of the Electricity Authority’s (EAC) highly toxic askarel transformers, Greens MP George Perdikis had asked that parliament be informed on the matter.
Askarel transformers, also known as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) or transformers, were manufactured prior to 1977 and were deliberately insulated with PCBs as a dielectric. Due to its environmental toxicity and classification as a persistent organic pollutant the EAC withdrew them and dumped the askarel in the industrial area of Kato Polemidia.
Polemidia Mayor Giorgos Georgiou told the Cyprus Mail that no problems have ever been reported regarding the dumped waste.
“We ask for checks to be carried out on a regular basis and we have been reassured by the ministry that there is absolutely no cause for concern,” he said.
The dump site is fenced off and properly labelled according to Agriculture Minister Nicos Kouyialis, and all necessary measures have been taken to ensure there is no risk of destabilising the buried soils.
“It should be noted that while the area is not occupied, recently it has been observed that new housing units are being built close to the dumping site which is considered an industrial zone and is around two or three kilometres from the closest houses,” he said.
Kouyialis said that the ground where the PCBs were dumped should remain part of the industrial zone so it is clear what the land should be used for in accordance with the law.
In 1987, transformers containing a total of about 160 tonnes of askarel oil were due to be dismantled and disposed.
During the process 10.6 tonnes of askarel was poured outside the fenced-off waste disposal area in the industrial area of Kato Polemidia and around 100 tonnes were poured near the entrance of a neighbouring quarry. Several of the transformers were kept in storage at Limassol port where they began leaking and were also taken to the area and dumped.
Later that year some soil samples showed contamination so two watertight tanks were built with a total capacity of 15,000 cubic meters, where the contaminated soil would be placed. Samples were taken every year, between 1990 until 1999 when a chemical analysis performed by the state laboratory carried out at four boreholes did not detect any PCB contaminations.
Currently annual checks are made on the soil and groundwater samples which have shown the contamination of the area has not expanded.
