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Hot Spots

Map of current Hot Spots

Over half of the 162 serious pollution areas - so called hot spots - identified around the Baltic Sea since 1992 have been cleaned up.

The Baltic Sea Joint Comprehensive Environmental Action Programme (JCP) specifies a series of actions to be undertaken at "pollution hot spots" around the Baltic Sea drainage basin. The most notorious hot spots are point sources such as municipal facilities and industrial plants, but the programme also covers pollution from agricultural areas and rural settlements, and sensitive areas such as coastal lagoons and wetlands where special environmental measures are needed.

Where are the pollution hot spots?

Click here for the HELCOM map of current active Hot Spots (as of December 2009)

Click here for the HELCOM map of current deleted Hot Spots (as of December 2009)

Click here for the HELCOM map of all the Hot Spots (as of December 2009)

Click here to view the entire list of hot spots (pdf)

Information about indivudual hot spots is also available on the valid and deleted hot spot lists (as of December 2009).

Combined Municipal and Industrial Waste Water Treatment

There were originally 54 Municipal or Municipal/Industrial Hot Spots designated in 1992. At some Hot Spots there may be one or more municipal or combined waste water systems, including sewerage networks and treatment plants (existing or planned).

During the Regional Workshops in Poland (2001), it was proposed that certain Hot Spots should be split into several Sub-Hot Spots in order to facilitate their management and actions to reduce the pollution. Subsequently the total number of listed municipal Hot Spots and Sub-Hot Spots has risen to 75, of which now 40 have been deleted. The deleted Hot Spots are situated in Denmark (1), Estonia (3), Finland (1), Germany (7), Lituania (6), Poland (9), Russia (12), and Sweden (1).

Industrial hot spots

Although significant progress has been made at industrial hot spots, continued and substantial support will be required to reach the targets of the programme. Originally 50 industrial hot spots were identified by the The Baltic Sea Joint Comprehensive Environmental Action Programme (JCP).

Additionally, many industries are connected to municipal sewerage systems listed as municipal Hot Spots. Out of the 50 industrial Hot Spots, 37 were located in the countries in transition, including 9 classified as "priority Hot Spots". At least three pulp and paper mills and two food processing plants have been closed in these countries, and production has decreased at several other plants as well.

Certain industrial Hot Spots have been split into Sub-Hot Spots, as was the case for some municipal Hot Spots, in order to facilitate their management and actions to reduce pollution. This has resulted in a total of 65 industrial Hot Spots/Sub-Hot Spots. But by the December 2009, 43 of these sites had been deleted. The deleted industrial Hot Spots are situated in Estonia (2), Finland (7), Latvia (1), Lithuania (3), Poland (22), Russia (2) and Sweden (6).

Finland has the responsibility to co-ordinate and assess the implementation of measures at the industrial Hot Spots. A Finnish report presents a comprehensive review of the environmental and economical progress at the industrial Hot Spots in the Baltic Sea catchment area during 1991-1998.

To view the working document "Review of progress at industrial hot spots", prepared by the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, click here. The report includes a review on industrial Hot Spots based on data compiled from available sources by SYKE during the summer of year 2000.

Agriculture

Large areas of the Baltic Sea catchment area have been identified as agricultural Hot Spots. The list of JCP Hot Spots established in 1992 contained 16 Agricultural Hot Spots. The List also contains five Coastal Lagoon/Wetlands Hot Spots which are influenced by agricultural activities and where relevant management programmes are needed. Out of these 21 Hot Spots, 13 are located in the former countries of transition.

So far five Hot Spots have been deleted from the List: two in Estonia, one shared by Estonia and Latvia, one in Latvia and one in Germany. The main reason for deletion has been a remarkable decrease in agricultural activities in Estonia and Latvia due to economic recession.

How hot spots were chosen?

The 132 environmental hot spots were designated in 1992 by an international group of scientists, engineers, environmental managers, bankers and national representatives, according to practical economic considerations as well as the seriousness of their impact on the environment and human health.

Water quality in many coastal waters of the Baltic Sea has improved considerably since 1992, reflecting progress in the treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater. 87 of the 162 original hot spots and subsequent sub-hot spots have already been deleted from the list, and several more will be removed soon.

Read more about the criteria for the inclusion or removal of hot spots!