Project Proposal

PROJECT CATALOGUE OF POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS WASTE DUMPS IN SOUTH EAST EUROPE - REMEDIAL APPROACH

Author and coordinator:: Prof. dr Miroslav Kopečni

Phase One

Introduction

Recent spillage of large amounts of highly toxic wastes in the Tisa River, originating from Romanian gold mines, emphasize once again the potentially hazardous scenarios that may erupt at various spots along the shores of countries of South East Europe (SEE) bordering on the Danube.

So far, it is known that the toxic waste ruined life in the Tisa River. As yet, however, the exact extent and nature of the "hot spots" are still unknown. It is almost sure that a repeat of similar disasters like the one on the Tisa River are highly probable. In recent history in Yugoslavia, a similar case was recorded on the Pek River, at one time one of the cleanest rivers of Europe.

We propose to create a project that will:

collect information on all potentially dangerous waste deposits in SEE,
make a list of them and
propose measures to prevent disasters similar to the one on the Tisa River.

For instance, a simple mixing of industrial liquid toxic waste with certain natural alumosilicates seems to be a promising method for immobilizing the threat of such highly risky wastes. There are numerous methods still in a theoretical or laboratory level, which show promise for large-scale use.

Project proposal

LEX proposes the formation of an international project, which will consist of the following stages:

International roundtable on large industrial waste within the countries of SEE (Bulgaria, Macedonia, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania), with special emphasize on liquid waste and industrial waste ponds. Meeting would gather experts from the region of SEE, and from Europe in general. The goal of the meeting would be to evaluate the problem and define preventative projects. The starting point would be to have each country involved produce a list of potentially dangerous spots with the characteristics toxic waste, type of the waste, probability for an ecological disaster, etc.
An international team would emerge from the roundtable. The team would create detailed program and project proposals taking into account the possible ways to prevent occurrences of the situation at certain spots.
Identify top priority waste spots that require immediate action. A detailed plan for remedial action should be jointly created, including budget formation.

This project transcends local and national interest. It should be started at regional level and then raised through a joint advocacy program to international level in order to receive top priority interest.

Project start up

Project should start with a low budget meeting which would gather reputed individuals and organization from all over Europe, to be held preferably in Belgrade. This initial meeting would recognize and define the problem. This meeting would be followed by a series of local actions leading towards formation of a catalog of potentially dangerous spots. Then, the most urgent locations would be selected and jointly, a remedial action plan developed. Next step will be budget formation to conduct the projects themselves.

Budget

For the moment, only the first phase of the project is to be considered, i.e. meeting of high-ranking professionals from neighboring countries of SEE and from European countries. Depending on the budget, some 15-20 people should be gathered in Belgrade for a two-day conference. The budget assumes travel and hotel cost, plus some little extras for the organization of the conference itself. The main goal of this summit is to define the problem.

As a second step, with a defined project, approach to local governments, and the governments of certain European countries and EC would be made, to ensure necessary funds for project realization.

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