Minister Nona Karadjova denied information about the construction of a waste landfill
AIP coordinator in the region of Yambol reports about the refusal of the Minister of Environment and Waters, Nona Karadjova, to provide access to the project documentation related to the construction of a Regional Landfill for the Municipalities of Yambol, Sliven, Nova Zagora, Tindzha, and Straldzha. The information has been requested under the Access to Public Information Act by the citizen Dimitar Dimitrov from the town of Yambol, who is a leader of the local civil group against the construction of the landfill.
The project will be implemented under the Operational Programme Environment 2007-2013 which is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ЕRDF) and co-financed by the Bulgarian government. However, the Ministry has refused access on the grounds that the disclosure might affect the subsequent application of the Municipality of Yambol for funding under the same program.
A court case against the refusal is pending in the Administrative Court – Sofia City.
At the same time, Dimitrov has collected documents by filing requests do different institutions which evidence that the project will be harmful to the Yambol community. Based on that, Dimitrov is also suing the Ministry of Environment for unlawful issuing of an Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control permit for the construction of landfill cells. The future landfill will be constructed at hazardous proximity to households (250 m) and to orchards and gardens (700-800 m from vineyards, mushroom gardens, etc).