HELCOM to delete two more plants from the list of the Baltic Sea major polluters

Heads of Delegation to the Helsinki Commission will convene their regular 16th Meeting in Helsinki, Finland, 4-5 November, to discuss working programs, new recommendations and ongoing projects.

It is expected that the Meeting among other issues will consider the deletion of Hot Spot No. 17 (Helsinki Municipal Waste Water Treatment Plant, Finland) and No. 119 (Lübeck Municipal Waste Water Treatment Plant, Germany) from the list of the Baltic Sea major polluters. Both plants have made major investments in waste water treatment techniques resulting in significant reductions of pollutants in the discharged waste waters from these cities.

A list of the most significant pollution source hot spots around the Baltic Sea was first drawn up under the Baltic Sea Joint Comprehensive Environmental Action Programme (JCP) in 1992. Today 91 hot spots or sub-hot spots remain on the list, following the deletion of 58 of the original 149 hot spots/sub-hot spots, the last 3 of which were deleted in 2003. Investment and remediation projects carried out at pollution hot spots around the Baltic Sea have contributed substantially towards overall pollution load reductions in the Baltic Sea catchment area.

According to the agenda, the Heads of Delegations Meeting will discuss Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedures for planned activities that may cause significant adverse effects in the marine environment of Baltic Sea area in a transboundary context. The aim is to develop guidance for a harmonized way to conduct EIA’s in the HELCOM countries.

The Heads of Delegations will also exchange opinions on how to arrange the consultation sessions between HELCOM, non-HELCOM Contracting Parties in the Baltic Sea catchment area as well as the International Financial Institutions (IFI’s). The aim is to increase cooperation between all the stakeholders in order to have better knowledge on the most important sources of pollution and at the same time to identify (potential) environmental problems that could be addressed with the support of the IFI’s.

Contacts

HELCOM Secretariat

Mr Kaj Forsius
Professional Secretary
Tel: +358 9 62202221
Fax: +358 9 62202239

Mr Nikolay Vlasov
Information Secretary
Tel: +358 9 6220 2235
Fax: +358 9 6220 2239