The removal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the premises of the former Chemko Strážske plant has begun. A total of 150 tons of waste will be eliminated. Transportation will be handled by 35 trucks, which will be escorted by police to an incineration plant in Vienna.
This was announced on Wednesday (June 11) in Strážske by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment Tomáš Taraba (nominated by SNS) and Minister of the Interior Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas-SD).
“These 150 tons, which were stored in barrels exposed to weather conditions until now, are being removed today from the Chemko Strážske site,” stated Taraba.
The Minister of the Interior recalled that a state of emergency had already been declared in 2020 for the Prešov and Košice regions due to the environmental burden at Chemko Strážske.
“If we want Slovakia to be safe, environmental protection must be part of that. It has been neglected for decades. But we have the courage to address even such long-ignored problems,” said Šutaj Eštok.
He added that, at the request of the Minister of Environment, the waste-laden trucks will be accompanied by a police escort to prevent any errors or incidents.
The Ministry of Environment launched a public procurement process for PCB waste disposal in February of last year. The estimated value of the contract is approximately €570,000. Daniel Studený, Executive Director of Detox, the company handling the task, stated that the disposal of 150 tons of waste should take about three months.
“In the first phase, the waste was sorted according to the level of contamination. This included distillation residues—thicker, tar-like sticky materials, as well as liquid waste. These were analyzed and categorized by quality, since the processors of such hazardous substances operate under strict technological and financial conditions,” he explained.
He added that about 80 percent of the waste is ready for shipment, and the entire volume is expected to be exported within three months.
Taraba emphasized the need to build domestic incineration facilities in Slovakia. “As long as Slovakia lacks its own hazardous waste disposal facilities, we will be dependent on who allows us to export the waste and at what price. We are a banana republic when it comes to waste disposal, and if this does not change fundamentally and quickly, we will have to go begging to foreign countries,” he stressed.
Market consultations are currently underway for the next phase, which involves the disposal of approximately 5,000 barrels of PCB substances stored in the heating plant building at the Chemko Strážske site. Preparations for geological surveys of the area are also in progress.
Source: STVR
