Bulgaria's Sofia, Plovdiv Suffer Permanent Excessive Pollution

Society » ENVIRONMENT | March 1, 2010, Monday // 12:20
Bulgaria: Bulgaria's Sofia, Plovdiv Suffer Permanent Excessive Pollution Bulgaria is exposed to almost permanently excessive levels of air pollution, with Sofia and Plovdiv worst affected, official environmental data confirms. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria is experiencing excessive and permanent air pollution across its territory, with the amount of dust in the air exceeding all environmental standards.

The capital, Sofia, and the second-largest city of Plovdiv are the urban areas worst affected, according to monitoring data provided by the Bulgarian Environmental Ministry. The town of Pernik registers pollution levels twice as high as permitted levels.

Ivan Anguelov, Director of the Air Protection Directorate at the Ministry, explained on Monday that the principal sources of pollution are: energy; industry; household consumption; and, to a great extent, transport.

He stated that, in general, municipal authorities have underestimated existing problems of air pollution, merely reacting in a bureaucratic, rather than effective, manner to the problem.

Anguelov also stated that the pollution problem is evident almost year-round, and is not confined to particular days or locally prevailing weather conditions.

There was a real risk that Bulgaria could be sanctioned by the European Union for this excess of air pollution, he predicted, although no formal warnings had yet been received by the Environment Ministry.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Environment » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: pollution, Environment Ministry, Ivan Anguelov, sofia, Plovdiv, Pernik, Bulgaria, sanctions, EU

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria