A hidden problem

Since 1972 and the gradual withdrawal of DDT-containing pesticides from use they were stored in the pesticide landfills mainly owned by the State Farms. The obsolete plant protection products were deposited in countrywide dispersed landfills in the form of underground silos. These so called “pesticide tombs” were made from concrete cases, of up to 2.5 m in diameter and around 3 m deep with a concrete bottom and insulated with tar. Those withdrawn from use and market and/or expired plant protection products were also deposited in ground ditches, concrete containers and military bunkers from World War II.

During the monitoring tests performed in the 1980's the decline of the DDT and its metabolites content in the surface waters was noticed. However, the concentrations of DDT/DDD/DDE was at quite a high level in river basins under intensive farming and waters heavily polluted by wastewaters. The highest measured instantaneous concentration of DDT in the surface waters polluted with wastewater was 7.9 mg/l.

Poland’s transformation

After deep socio-economic transformations in Poland in 1989 the State Farms and the PZGS were progressively sold. Because of the fact that the existing data about quantities of pesticide wastes collected in the pesticide “tombs” and landfills were unclear and/or uncertain, the Ministry of the Environment commissioned the National Geological Institute to perform an inventory and test the impact of the obsolete pesticide landfills on the surrounding geoenvironment. According to the test results in some cases the possibility of a contaminant leak to ground waters was established. This mostly concerns small tombs, which were not secured properly. During the inventory check 303 landfills and other places of pesticide storage locations were identified. According to the National Waste Management Plan, amended in 2002, 340 landfills existed in Poland, where obsolete pesticide wastes and their packaging were stored since 1965. It was assessed that overall quantity of expired pesticide wastes amounts to ca 15000 Mg (tonnes).

Since the 1990's Poland have implemented the State Environmental Monitoring system which is supervised by the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection. As part of the monitoring, a regular examination of surface waters pollution with DDT are conducted in 20 river cross selections (5 on the Vistula River, 5 on the Oder River, and 10 on the rivers of the coastal drainage belt area). According to the Central Statistical Office (GUS), the DDT pollution loads discharged from the Polish territory in to the Baltic Sea declined progressively from 0.40 Mg/year in 1990 to 0.16 Mg/year in 1996. Since 1996 the GUS has discontinued publishing such data.

The liquidation of the State Farms and PZGS resulted in the fact that the expired pesticide landfills are essentially “orphan sites” with respect to responsibility and liability, and now the Poviat governors are responsible. Currently pesticide landfill liquidation is performed under the supervision of the Inspectorate for Environmental Protection and financing bodies. Nevertheless contractors performing liquidation works are not obliged to acquire planning permission and/or present any experience and competencies in the field of elimination and remediation of the post pesticide landfill contaminated land. The next step was to create guidelines giving instructions on technical investigation to be performed before and after the liquidation of landfills and on providing information to the public on the effects and costs of the operation. The guidelines includes requirements regarding preliminary and executive documentation for activities connected with the liquidation processes of stocks, landfills and other landfills like “tombs”.