FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY - Article 19

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ARTICLE 19GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR FREE EXPRESSIONUkraine is one of the most energy intensive countries in the world because of the inefficiencyof its industry and old machinery and methods. 38 It is ranked 108 out of 146 countries in the latestEnvironment Sustainability Index, a study conducted by the US Yale University and Columbiauniversities. 39The impact of factories and other industrial activities on the quality of air and water has beenparticularly acute: about 39% of discharged water is polluted and a quarter of this polluted water is leftuntreated. 40 As Ukraine shares its river basins with other countries, including Moldova, Poland andBelarus, polluted water from these countries also ends up contributing to Ukraine’s environmentalproblems. Since 2000, there have been several accidental discharges of cyanide and heavy metals inRomania which have reached Ukraine via the Tysa River. 41Air pollution has a significant impact on the health of the population due to a highconcentration of dust, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide. It accounts for anestimated 6% of total mortality, 42 causing up to 27,000 deaths annually, 43 mainly from respiratorydiseases. Twenty-nine of Ukraine’s cities exceed the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s)recommended annual average of maximum allowable concentrations of pollutants. 44There are almost 20,000 tonnes of obsolete pesticides in the country, 45 some of which arestored at private sites that are not monitored and could pose a significant environmental hazard. Inaddition, 2.5 million tonnes of ammunition and chemical substances on military sites from the Sovietperiod need decommissioning. 46 There are also over 16,000 tonnes of toxic waste from Soviet rocketfuel. 47According to the non-governmental organisation (NGO) EcoPravo-Kyiv, Ukraine has nosystem of safe waste management or disposal. The country has stockpiled 25 billion tonnes of waste,or nearly 40 kg per sq metre of its total area. Dumps, landfills, storage sites, slurry ponds and pitNATO, 2007, p.48, http://www.envsec.org/easteur/docs/envsec_eastern_europe.pdf.38 Ibid.39 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index, Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, Yale University,USA, and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University, USA, 26January 2005, p.5. http://www.yale.edu/esi/ESI2005_Main_Report.pdf.40 Environment and Security, p.49, see note 37, http://www.envsec.org/easteur/docs/envsec_eastern_europe.pdf.41 ‘Lead concentration up in Ukrainian portion of Tisza River,’ Deutsche Press-Agentur, 29 March 2000.http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/OCHA-64CFFR?OpenDocument and J Kanthak, `The BaiaMare Gold Mine Cyanide Spill: Causes, Impacts and Liability’, 12 April 2000,http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/AllDocsByUNID/4e30736ba1fddbbdc12568e300630b90.42 Strukova & al, Air Pollution Costs in Ukraine, 2006, p.2. http://www.feem.it/NR/rdonlyres/B16C9BB4-9CA8-4F18-9DB5-64CD9DF92292/2115/12006.pdf.43 Ibid., p.6.44 Ibid., p.4. Also see: http://www.who.int/ceh/publications/11airpollution.pdf.45 Ibid. (Strukova), p.57.46 Environment and Security, p.61, see note 37.47 Ibid., p.44.For Internal Use Only. Is Post-Chornobyl Ukraine Ready for Access to Environmental Information?ARTICLE 19, London, 2007+'
ARTICLE 19GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR FREE EXPRESSIONrefuse heaps occupy 164,000 hectares, nearly 4% of the territory. Non-industrial waste in urban areaslies in 700 disposal sites; at 80% of their locations no measures are taken to prevent pollution ofunderground waters or the air. 48Stockpiles of obsolete pesticides do not meet safety standards and pollute soil and subsoilwaters, as a result of which people have been poisoned. Such pesticides are frequently used inunauthorised ways, and many of them are mixtures of unidentified substances. In addition to officiallyacknowledged stockpiles, environmental experts believe that there are unaccounted stockpiles ofpesticides throughout Ukraine which continue to deteriorate and for which no one is held responsible.These substances are not kept in safe containers, but only in thick paper and plastic bags. 49 Afew stakeholders know about it, but the general public tends to be unaware. Despite this, thestockpiling of dangerous substances continues, especially in rural areas, where there is inadequateoversight by the administrative district centres. 50Another threat to the environment is posed by nuclear energy and radioactive waste storagesites. 51 According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, there are six spent nuclear fuel storage sites andmany low-level radioactive waste storage sites in Ukraine. 52 It has been reported that many of themilitary’s storage sites are inadequately built and require urgent repair. 53Information about nuclear issues is hard to come by. The desire to preserve nuclear energy asan energy source in Ukraine, accompanied by the importance given to atomic energy worldwide,effectively curtails open debate in this area. At the same time, the Ukrainian government has nodetailed, accurate data about levels of nuclear pollution across the country. Since 1991 theinfrastructure and means to measure radioactivity have continuously deteriorated, leaving doubts as totheir accuracy. The lack of reliable government information on the hazards of radioactivity encouragesrumours. 54Ukraine still depends on nuclear energy: four nuclear power stations produce nearly half of thecountry’s electricity. The government plans to double nuclear energy output by 2030. Among the48 Information from EcoPravo-Kyiv.49 Interview with Tetyana Tymochko – First Vice-Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Ecological League and Head ofthe Aarhus Information and Training Centre.50 Ibid.51 See Section 2.1 below.52 The Nuclear Threat Initiative, ‘Ukraine: Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Developments’, 28 October 2004.http://www.nti.org/db/nisprofs/ukraine/reactors/power/wastedev.htm.53 OSCE, Our Polluted World and Cleaning it Up, quoted in ‘Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova Choking on ToxicWaste’, Terradaily, 23 May 2007.54 Interview with Volodymyr Usachenko, Government Commission on Chornobyl and former ‘liquidator’, April2007.For Internal Use Only. Is Post-Chornobyl Ukraine Ready for Access to Environmental Information?ARTICLE 19, London, 2007+(
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FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY - Article 19

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