Sixteen Baltic Sea Pollution Hot Spots Expected to Be Remediated

8 May 2012, Warsaw, Poland – The ways to limit pollution loads to the Baltic Sea even better, through sharing knowledge, experiences and best practices within all the Baltic coastal nations, will be discussed in the HELCOM LAND Group Meeting starting today afternoon. The topics focus on land-based pollution sources and the current and future measures to tackle them, such as enhanced treatment of urban wastewater and sludge handling, and application of best available techniques at industrial sources.

The Meeting will evaluate applications by the coastal countries for deletion of 16 hot spots from the regional list of most polluting sites established in the early 1990’s under the twenty-year Hot Spots programme.

The sites proposed for deletion are located in Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Russia, and they include six agricultural areas, six wastewater treatment plants, one industrial site, two combined municipal and industrial areas and one special programme for integrated coastal zone management. 

HELCOM LAND Group has from its start aimed at increasing regional knowledge and sharing solutions to further reduce the number of the Baltic Sea Hot Spots, which have come down from 162 to 68 (1992–2011). The positive recommendation by the Group is a pre-requisite for HELCOM to decide on deletion of hot spots.

The experts will review the progress in remediating the remaining 68 Hot Spots, most of them difficult to tackle in any simple manner. Further, another listing - Green Spots - is under development. HELCOM countries are expected to identify the exemplary spots in the region with the aim to establish an award for a remarkable action towards a healthier common sea.

Another major task for the LAND Group is to consider the interim results of the EU funded BALTHAZAR Project (2009-2012) established to protect the Baltic Sea better from hazardous waste and agricultural nutrient loading, as well as to improve pollution load data. The HELCOM-run project focuses on St. Petersburg, Leningrad and Kaliningrad Oblasts of the Russian Federation to facilitate the implementation of the 2007 HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan in that country.

The Meeting will make technical evaluation of the environmental situation at a fertilizer industry site in Kingisepp, Russia. The evaluation is expected to be based on national information provided on comprehensive assessment of industrial activities, environmental impact and environmental permits, as well as monitoring information from the BALTHAZAR Project. The evaluation has been requested by the HELCOM Annual Meeting last March as a basis for clearly recommended concrete steps to mitigate the pollution. Other cases of fertilizer production in the Baltic Sea region, including the environmental solutions applied according to HELCOM Recommendation 17/6 setting environmental standards for the production of fertilizers, will be reviewed.

In addition, the Group will consider new recommendations for measures to better manage hazardous substances, put forward by the EU co-funded COHIBA Project on Control of Hazardous Substances in the Baltic Sea Region. Other topics include good practices in municipal sludge management based on the recommendations of the EU co-funded Project on Urban Reduction of Eutrophication (PURE) as well as work to address environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals under the flagship project of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. The results of the projects will be utilized to formulate new policy and practical measures for the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting in 2013.

Note to Editors:

HELCOM’s Land-based Pollution Group (LAND) is responsible for addressing pollution from all sources on land within the Baltic Sea’s catchment area. HELCOM LAND identifies point and diffuse sources of nutrients and hazardous substances, and proposes effective actions in order to reduce the emissions and discharges. HELCOM LAND also works to promote environmentally sound practices and technologies - Best Available Techniques (BAT) and Best Environmental Practices (BEP). The priority areas of HELCOM LAND are eutrophication and pollution by hazardous substances.

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The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as the Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM, is an intergovernmental organisation of all the nine Baltic Sea countries and the EU, which works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution.

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," known as the Helsinki Convention.

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For further information, please contact:

Mr. Mikhail Durkin

Professional Secretary

HELCOM

Tel:  +358 (0)

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 645

E-mail: hermanni.backer@helcom.fi

Ms. Johanna Laurila

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)40 5238988

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 645

E-mail: johanna.laurila@helcom.fi

Mr. Kaj Forsius

Project Manager

BALTHAZAR / HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)46 850 9212

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 645

E-mail: kaj.forsius@helcom.fi

Media inquiries on BALTHAZAR may be addressed to Forsius from 8 May 2012 6pm onwards, Finnish time (CET +2h)