Notification from Balkanka Association, Sofia, to the Greek authorities, concerning a new gold mining acrivity in Bulgaria
Dear friends,
My name is Dimiter Koumanov and I have the honor to be responsible for the environmental protection activities of Balkanka Association, Sofia, Bulgaria.
This letter is to inform you that Balkanka Association is closely watching the latest developments of the EIA procedure in a transboundary context in line with the Espoo Convention for a new gold mine in the Eastern Rhodope Mountain in Bulgaria.
The new activity is called „Extraction and processing of polymetallic ores from the ‘Rozino exploration area–Tintyava deposit,” located in the area of the villages of Rozino and Gugutka, Ivaylovgrad Municipality, Haskovo District“ in a close proximity to the border between Bulgaria and Greece, in the Byala reka River catchment area.
As you already know, the procedure under the Espoo Convention is currently in progress and the EIA Report has been translated in Greek language and was sent to the affected party Greece for further considerations and reaction. Here is the link to the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water web page holding the news on the matter:
We can see that the affected party Greece is now expected to respond and share their comments and notes on the expected serious environmental impact within Greek territory.
Now, as an environmental NGO watching closely all mining and other activities with the potential to kill our last remaining rivers, we have carried out a full and thorough study of this EIA Report, only to find that it is of the usual poor quality like all the other EIA reports in Bulgaria.
In the attached document you can find our Objection to the contents and the conclusions in the EIA Report which is much worse than everything that we have seen so far and we have seen a lot.
Our conclusion is that the mine in view poses a great Threat for the pollution of the transboundary groundwater and surface water bodies Bulgaria shares with Greece. And the waters in the Byala reka River /Erythropotamos in Greece/ will inevitably be polluted like all the other rivers in Bulgaria having such mining activities in their catchment areas. There is no exception to this fact anywhere in Bulgaria.
We believe that the interesting to the affected party arguments of ours start from section 4. in the Objection. The previous sections are also interesting but they are more of a local concern with little potential in a transboundary context.
In brief, if you read the attached document, you will find some serious shortcomings and mishaps. Here are only two of them:
1. The mining area is full of arsenic and mercury. There is independent official proof for the presence of these elements in the mining area and in the ore deposits, but in the EIA report, which is translated in Greek, there is not a word about arsenic and mercury, as if they don’t exist. We believe that this constitutes a breach of the Espoo Convention because information of a great importance remains hidden from the affected party.
2. The open mining waste stockpiles and the tailings pond are planned to be constructed in the gully of a living river: Yuren Dere. This small river is tributary to the Arpa dere River which flows directly into the Byala reka river. And on top of that the tailings pond will be protected only with some sort of an injection curtain, rather than with waterproof hydro insulation to prevent any possible leakage of poisons from the tailings into the groundwaters.
There is a lot more information in our Objection, especially on all the future mining activities in the Eastern Rhodope area in Bulgaria, covering 70% of the territories of Ivailovgrad and Krumovgrad municipalities, including maps, therefore to get the full picture of the potential adverse impact on the surface and groundwater bodies, please read the whole document, in case you’re interested.
We really hope that the information in our Objection will be useful to the affected party in your further communication with our Bulgarian authorities on the matter.
If you find it appropriate, please feel free to share our warnings with the local authorities, settlements and farmers living by the Erythropotamos River in Greece, close to the border.
Should you have any other questions please, don’t hesitate to get in contact.
NOTE:
Our objection is based only on the potential adverse impact on the surface and groundwater bodies in the area concerned. All the other huge environmental concerns are not included, but there are some other environmental NGOs in Bulgaria that are currently working on the other environmental aspects of this undertaking, like the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, part of Birdlife International, so you can get in contact with them for further clarifications as well.
For direct and more convenient and easier communication you can use this e-mail address: ……
And please, be so kind to confirm receipt of this letter.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation
Kind regards
Link to the EIA report objection:
