Jalal-Abad Region, Suzak District, Bagysh Village + Lenin. Destroyed Warehouse of Obsolete Pesticides
Former property of two collective farms: Bagysh and Lenin. The plots are currently private. Plot No. 5 is used as a centralized seed treatment facility for treating seeds (cotton and grains). Pesticides were stored in the back of the warehouse; seeds were treated in basins. After treatment, the seeds were stored in front of the building. No signs of pesticides are visible. There is a slight smell of pesticides in a small room in the corner. Two treatment complexes are located at the ends of the airfield. The seed treatment process usually took 8 hours with Granosan (grains) and Fentium, Branatak, Pentathium (cotton). There are two storage buildings at the back: the larger one is for fertilizers, and the smaller one is for pesticides. The pesticide storage building still smells of pesticides. Local villagers have repaired the former pesticide storage and plan to use it as their residence. All together – about 1 hectare. The warehouse is privately owned, fenced with a new fence, no smell, no hazardous waste, no traces on the soil.
The greatest anthropogenic impact in the southern regions of the Kyrgyz Republic was experienced by the Jalal-Abad region. Most warehouses are destroyed, and the territorial relocation/placement of previously stored hazardous waste is unknown. During the inventory, a large number of contaminated areas of former warehouses with unidentified hazardous waste were found, with contaminated packaging leaking pesticides into the soil and groundwater. More than 11 sites were identified in the Jalal-Abad region from previous inventories, and an additional 8 sites were indicated by territorial representatives of the State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry of the Kyrgyz Republic. A total of 19 sites were surveyed.
The main sites are the burial grounds Suzaka-A, Suzaka-B, and the burials in Ala-Buka and Zhil-Kol. In 1973, burial took place at Suzaka A in the Ak-Chabyr area of the Suzaka district of the Jalal-Abad region, where approximately 2000 - 3000 tons of outdated pesticides were buried. The burial site is fenced with barbed wire, but access is free. This work was funded by a small grants program. There is security, but the guardhouse is destroyed. Signs of recent excavations were found.
In the 1970s-1980s, burials were conducted at the burial ground Suzaka B in the Tash-Baka Kungay area, near the village of Kyzyl-Bayram in the Jalal-Abad region. According to the State Committee for Ecology and Climate (SCEC), approximately 1300 tons of various hazardous waste were buried in total. Currently, the condition of the burial site is satisfactory (fenced, there are video cameras near the guardhouse, with autonomous power supply using solar panels). No signs of recent excavations were found.
The burials in Ala-Buka did not undergo proper registration. All hazardous waste from the warehouse (the former pesticide warehouse is destroyed) of the Production Association "Agricultural Chemistry" in the Ala-Buka district was buried 200 meters south of the warehouse. The area has been leveled with imported soil, and a large site has been prepared for construction. Soil monitoring for pesticides is necessary.
The burial area of Zhil-Kol indicates that there was extraction of hazardous waste, most of which may already be irretrievably lost. The surface of the site shows signs of old excavations. Nearby, another site with deep pits was discovered, possibly indicating soil contamination. Pastures where animals graze are located around. The burial site is situated in a small valley. All pesticides from the Uch-Korgon warehouses were brought to this site and buried. According to local residents, the buried stocks were mainly insecticides; cattle were treated with pesticides (presumably DDT).
During the survey, 6 plots in private ownership with partially or completely destroyed warehouses were identified. There are no smells, hazardous waste, or traces on the soil in the area. The absence of traces on the soil may have been obscured by the application of clean soil, and soil contamination cannot be ruled out. The owners of the plots do not know the locations of the old volumes of hazardous waste.
Currently, the exact quantity of hazardous waste placed in the burial grounds requiring repackaging and storage has not been established. More than 10 cubic meters of hazardous waste remain at the former warehouses. The approximate amount of contaminated soil is more than 60 cubic meters.
It should be noted that the GEF-UNEP project "Demonstration of non-thermal treatment of DDT-containing waste in Central Asian countries (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan)" plans to dispose of waste in the burial grounds Suzaka-A and Suzaka-B. These works must be accompanied by the development of project documentation, obtaining a positive conclusion from the state ecological expertise on the disposal technology, feasibility study, environmental impact assessment, as well as monitoring possible emissions of POPs into the environment throughout the disposal process.
To date, despite the abundance of previously implemented projects for the inventory of outdated pesticides, contrary to national legislation:
• There are no laboratory data bases on the composition of waste;
• Waste passports are absent;
• Regular monitoring of the condition of outdated pesticide waste is not conducted (only within the framework of international projects);
• There is no executive authority responsible for the storage and disposal of waste;
• Laboratories lack the capacity to conduct analyses on outdated pesticides, including POPs;
• There is no information on the composition of outdated pesticides in the supervisory authorities;
• Further research is required on the owners of some warehouses/land where points with outdated pesticides are located.
• Training for local government employees, supervisory and regulatory authorities is necessary;
• It is necessary to tighten responsibility for improper handling of hazardous waste.
Conclusions
According to the Stockholm Convention on POPs (Article 6 (d) (ii)), waste containing POPs must be destroyed. To find environmentally acceptable methods for the disposal of outdated pesticides, the exact composition of the waste is necessary. To achieve this, it is essential to address the equipping of laboratories, training of personnel, and obtaining accreditation in accordance with GOST ISO/IEC 17025-2019.
In addition, it is necessary to continuously monitor the condition of pollution points with outdated pesticides and to repack and place waste in a temporary storage warehouse that meets national legislation requirements. Repackaging, construction of a temporary storage warehouse, and disposal must be accompanied by an environmental impact assessment procedure and obtaining a positive conclusion from the state ecological expertise. For all waste, the owner must present waste passports and obtain permits for the storage of hazardous waste.
The process of storage and disposal of hazardous waste must be conducted under the supervision of environmental regulatory authorities.
To this end, it is necessary to initiate the process of maximum legalization of the data obtained from the inventory.
Previous inventories did not become the basis for creating a monitoring system for the management of outdated pesticides. As a result, a large volume of uncontrolled hazardous waste has become a threat to the environment, life, and health of the population living near the points of placement of outdated pesticides.
Full report on the inventory of outdated pesticides (OP) in Chuy, Talas, Naryn, Issyk-Kul, Jalal-Abad, Osh, and Batken regions
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