The issue of waste storage in Alexandria

Alexandria municipal-city, the capital of Teleorman county is faced with a big enviromental  issue , caused by the disposal of household waste. Unfortunately nowadays in our town the waste is disposed on a so said garbage platform.

Short history

The piece of land on wich the platform is located belongs to the town hall. Since 1965 the refuse has been colected from the streets and from the industrial factories and throwed there.The garbage disposal was done without taking in consideration special measures requesting environmental protection.The platform occupies a total surface of 2 ha, the valley on which the storage began was fully covered and was eventually filled to the capacity of 300000 cubic metres and the estimated volume of stored garbage being estimated at cca 200000 cubic metres(2006)in a 40 years running time, the platform has never had a schedule and has never seen organised:

-The disposal was controlled by the town’s sanitation or economical agencies which were supported by the Town Hall. Apart from that,the disposal was unchecked by economical agencies and individuals.

-The platform is not protected properly.

-The staff consists of 3 employees.

The trash is dumped into the platform forming a pile. This action is usually done unorganised, using a bulldozer.  The waste product is only ocasionally covered by inert material when there is a surplus of garbage.

The general descrisption  of the location

The municipal waste storage platform owned by Alexandria’s Townhall  is being attributed the following services: gathering, transportation, storing and tratment of the garbage, with form of public property(100%) and a 8 hours/day, 5 days/week schedule, and with a maximum of 300 working days/year it is situated based on the main activities within the framework of the general, economical and social administration.

                The platform designed for the storing of household refuse is situated in Teleorman county, on the left bank of Vedea River and the East of Alexandria, just as it results from his plan.

                Storehouse’s immediate  vecinity:

                                -Nort- agricultural fields;

                                -East-agricultural fields;

                                -West- Vedea River’s main river bed;

                                -South- agricultural fields.

                The positioning of the platform that took place 40 years ago, in a valley which was later filled with garbage,  was never preceded by a geological and geotechnical examination of the area. The site occupies a valley orientated from NV to SE which is composed of chernozemic soil over which were laid filling layers consisting of chernozemic soils, dusty loams and other materials resulted from constructions and waste.

The topography of the location is very steady, unaffected by any physical-geological phenomenons. It is known for its natural-anthropogenic environment and it has a plane-horizontal surface,  bounded to the west by the Vedea river.

The area where the platform is located has a meadow vegetation, with high chances of anthropogenical transformation of the vegetal and animal world, which consists of the agricultural crops and the steppe zone, strongly modified by the anthropogenical development, the bioceonosis consisting of a reduced number of species.

The fauna is especially represented by rodents, birds, insects and mammals adapted to the anthropogenical conditions.

We specify the existence of some neighborhoods whose activity may interfere with the analyzed objective regarding the impact on the environment.

-          The water treatment plant of Alexandria ( 1 km distance)

-          The industrial area of Alexandria ( 3 km distance)

-          The residential area of Alexandria  (1,7 km distance)

-          The rural commune Poroschia  (3,7 km  distance)

-          The petrol storage stations (2 km distance)

Consequences on the environment

The main impact and risk forms determined by the city and industrial garbage warehouses, in the order they are perceived by the the population, so there are:

1. landscape modification and visual disconfort.

2.air polution.

3.polution of the surface and underground waters( air polution with unpleasant smell and suspensions led by the wind is very obvious in the area of actual city warehouses).

4.modification of soil fertilities and biocenoses compositions on the neighbouthood lands.

5.the participation to the generating of the greenhouse effect and of the climate modifications , by garbage burning.

6.getting aut of the natural or economical circuit of some lands.

7.the polution of the surface waters ( the flowing down the warehouse hills, being situated in the neighbourhood of the surface rivers contributes to the polution of them with organic substances and suspensions.

8.the polution of the underground waters ( non waterproofed warehouses of city garbage are often the source of underground water infestations with nitrat and nitrit but also with other poluting elements.

The composition of the garbage in Alexandria

Hârtie, carton %	Sticlă %	Metale %	Plastice %	Lemn %	Materiale organice %	Altele %	Total
4	3.3	2.3	6.7	2	73	8.7	100 %

The average composition of the garbage in Alexandria.

Paper-4%, glass 3.3%, metals -2.3%, plastic 6.6%, wood-2%, organic materials-73%, others- 8.7%

It can be noticed from diagram and from  the table that in the structure of the garbage are dominating in percentage of 73%.

Solution

We consider that the solution for the garbage warehouse will be done only by the responsible involment of the local authorities , the firm apply of the law in this field and the development of the project iniated by the Teleorman County Commitee ’’ Integrated sistem of garbage management in the county of Teleorman’’, which has the integrated environment agreement nr.9/31 .The project is financed  within the ISPA  programme of UE and it stipulates:

-The total value of the investment is 21514000 euro.

-The achievement of a county ecological warehouse having a total capacity of 2 850.000mc.

-Total surface 28ha.

-The amount of garbage collected per day-291tons/day.

-The warehouse is made of 4 cells occuring on a surface of 20ha.

-Compostation station according to the warehouse has the capacity of 25 tons/day.

-Selection capacity for the recycle garbage -25 tons/day.

-Functioning length-30 years.

-The closing of the 97 existing warehouses .

-The achievement of a transit platform for every village.

-Transport capacities from vilages to the ecological warehouse.