Uprising in several Brasov villages. Europe’s largest landfill will be next to “Yellowstone de Romania”. 70 tons of waste will be brought daily to a “green paradise”

On the one hand, they are fighting with those who want to buy their towns and forests, in order to introduce them into the nature reserve, on the other hand, they are trying to escape the ecological disaster that will result from bringing here 70 tons of waste per day, of which only 3 will be processed, the rest remaining in warehouses. The residents of this area have faced extreme pollution before, during the communist regime, when a plant operated here, and the air was unbreathable and they could not bathe in the running waters that were heavily contaminated. People in the polluted region have no choice but to sell everything and leave.

A waste processing project for the production of biogas has revolted the villagers of the Ucea commune, but also those from the neighboring towns are organizing to participate in the protest and the future referendum that will be held after the elections on June 9.

The company Waste Energy Trading SRL from Bacău bought the station from Carmolimp, in the town of Ucea, and intends to process waste of animal origin (from manure to materials thrown away by slaughterhouses or factories producing meat products), but also waste of plant origin.

The company Waste Energy Trading SRL was established, according to the data from the Trade Register, in 2013, it has three shareholders and the figure with one employee in 2021, but the turnover has been very small, until now, so it is not understood where he would have had the money to buy the business from Ucea and from what funds he will continue the activity.

The ministry supports both the reserve and the landfill

The Ucea scandal has grown in recent weeks, and the Ministry of the Environment has nothing against landfills. In theory, the waste will be processed to produce electricity, but its storage will make human life impossible. The only solution, if the project will be started, is to sell the properties and flee the area. However, the ecological disaster will be right in the vicinity of Europe’s largest natural park, and the Ministry of the Environment supports both projects at the same time.

The documentation shows that 70 tons of waste will arrive here daily, of which 50 tons are slaughterhouse waste, animal waste, food products unfit for human consumption, the difference being represented by other categories of waste. The capacity of the station would be 50 tons of waste per day, by processing it to produce electricity and hot water, but the locals found out that the station could process only 3 tons, instead of 50.

Social and ecological disaster

Locals say that all areas of activity will be affected. Farmers will have their animals sick, all other economic activities in the area will be destroyed and the entire region will be declared a contaminated zone. Tourism will be reduced to zero, potential investors will no longer come to the affected localities, and the water table will be contaminated with mercury. Housing and land prices will drop significantly in the poisoned area.

The area is next to the future “Yellowstone” park that the Conservation Carpathia Foundation is preparing, but it is actually inside the protected area, because it borders the natural park in almost all directions. All the localities affected by the future Ucea landfill are also in conflict with the Conservation Carpathia Foundation, which wants to buy their land – not only the forests in the composed area, but also the properties in the locality, according to the locals who say that they are now under pressure from the actions of “land grabbing”, they are also permanently threatened by the wild animals that multiply from year to year, but they also found themselves with the landfill project and animal thieves that will make their lives impossible.

In order to stop the activity of this company, the residents of Ucea and the neighboring communes revolted and say that they will fight by all means, in order not to let this company destroy their environment – even the Ministry of the Environment still supports the project, and the representatives in the territory of the ministry actually work in favor of the company.

Irregularities in the original documents

The history of the waste processing station for the production of biogas in Ucea began in 2008 – according to Marian Băcilă, former mayor of Ucea. The station would have been built before obtaining authorizations from the Ministry of the Environment and before the financing that the company that was to produce biogas obtained from the Ministry of the Environment itself.

In the official documents, the biogas station is listed as having been built in 2010, with funds from the Ministry of the Environment. In 2017, the project owner requested an environmental authorization for biogas activity, and in 2018 the Environmental Protection Agency (APM) Brașov issued the integrated environmental authorization.

Although there was an integrated environmental authorization to be able to produce biogas, the station was never put into operation, and the company went bankrupt. Later, the installation was sold to the company Waste Energy Trading, from Bacău county, which now wants to bring 70 tons of waste to Ucea per day, from which it declares that it will produce electricity, but the locals oppose this initiative, saying that their activity it will irreparably destroy the localities and the environment.

The riots are organized as they can

People have organized themselves on WhatsApp discussion groups and have regular meetings to find a solution to stop the activity at Ucea. On April 10, more than 200 people were present at a public consultation in which the representatives of the company Waste Energy Trading SRL also participated, at the Ucea de Jos Cultural Home. Locals accused the company of trying to make this public debate in their absence, because the action should have been announced, but instead of going to local publications, an ad was published in a national newspaper with a small circulation of readers so that they do not find out about the meeting.

In the hall, people revolted, especially after they received some documents to sign, but the purpose of the action was to go through the necessary procedure regarding the issuance of the integrated environmental authorization for the biogas station that the company SC Waste Energy Trading SRL. In fact, the lists were launched by the APM representatives who people say tried to trick them into signing, representing the company’s interests, not the Romanian state’s.

When they realized that what they had received to collect signatures were not participation lists, but documents by which they agreed to open the activity, one participant tore up all the lists.

APM tried to trick them into signing

Representatives of APM Brașov and inspectors from the Brașov Environmental Guard were present at the public debate, along with representatives of the companies Waste Energy Trading SRL and Demeco SRL, which have the same shareholder and the same headquarters in Bacău, the object of activity being waste processing.

The local community was represented by villagers, doctors, the veterinarian, businessmen, mayor, deputy mayor, local councilors and employees of UAT Ucea. Environmental activist Aurelian Agache from Codlea also participated in support of the villagers.

“Two ladies from the Ministry of Environment also came and I explained to them what misery will be here, if dead animals are brought, 70 tons a day. This company has no employees, no permits to operate here, no water, electricity or sewerage and wants to store 70 tons of waste per day, of which it will only process 3 tons. We were shocked to see that the ladies from the Environment sided with the company and told us that there would be no problem affecting the environment”, Sorin Florea, one of the locals involved in the protest, explained to Jurnalul.

Waste from all over the country and abroad

The entrepreneurs were asked to leave the locality, but exactly one representative of the APM tried to stop the critical discussions. The locals of Ucea, as well as those from the neighboring communes, demand a zonal referendum, in order to stop the activity of the animal waste processing station.

The people were told that TIR trucks loaded with tons of animal waste and meat products will come to the commune every day. “They say that there will be waste from supermarkets in the area, but we don’t have many such stores, so they will bring from all over the country, maybe from other countries as well. They won’t even have a place to store them. They said they would build some warehouses, but they have no water, no electricity, no sewerage there. Those who lived here before 1990 had to put up with the pollution from the former plant. The children couldn’t bathe in the stream in the village, then I thought we escaped, but someone from an American pharmaceutical company came and now they want to poison our air, soil, water, so that we can no longer live here and sell them to them everything”, says the local.

Near Bucharest, the residents of the Glina area have had the same problem for decades, due to the landfill and the Protan dead animal crematorium. The same problem exists in Filipeștii de Pădure, where the residents of the area cannot breathe because of the unbearable smells, and the water table is also contaminated.

Apart from the referendum, the residents of Ucea also launched a petition, with the support of deputy Ana Loredana Predescu. Signatures have already been collected and the document will be submitted to APM Braşov. The text of the petition was drafted by a lawyer specialized in environmental issues, and he could represent the locals in court as well, if the activity is not stopped.

Authorization review is illegal

From the documents that were presented to the participants in the public debate organized by the Braşov Environmental Protection Agency, as part of the legal procedure for obtaining the authorization, it appears that the company from Bacău wants, in fact, to obtain a revision of the existing integrated environmental authorization, more chose that the biogas station of Waste Energy Trading is still listed at the same address as the meat products company.

The mayor of Ucea commune, Adrian Grovu, explained that this company needs environmental reauthorization, but APM Brașov wants to help it, offering it a review of the old authorization. The mayor can deny them the connection to the water network, blocking their activity, and the Sanitary-Veterinary Directorate could also never give them approval for the activity.

The old biogas plant is less than half a kilometer away from people’s homes. Both the mayor of Ucea and Viștea and the prefect of Brașov county support the residents of the area where the future landfill is located and steps are being taken to organize a referendum, immediately after the elections on June 9.

Several scandals are linked to the two companies, from 2013 until now. From the beginning they benefited from the support of officials from the Ministry of the Environment.

The representatives of the Ministry of the Environment do not mind the fact that right next to the protected area of ​​what would be the “Yellowstone of Romania” the air will be unbreathable and the water will be poisoned with mercury.