Sweco reviews polluted areas in Estonia

Sweco has been tasked by the Ministry of the Environment in Estonia with assessing the need for environmental recovery for polluted areas in the country. The investigation shows that recovery work for almost EUR 444 million needs to be performed.

Sweco has investigated 300 locations in
Estonia that are registered as previously
polluted.

Every country’s or nation’s history consists of both positive and negative memories. Industrial and military pollution in Estonia’s past was a matter of course. During the Soviet period, Estonia was part of an economic and military union that took very little consideration of nature. 

“Waste management was nothing like it is today,” says Lembit Talli, who is an environmental consultant at Sweco in Estonia. “Neither was there any crisis management in the event of accidents. Industrial and military accidents were considered confidential.”

There are over 300 previously polluted locations registered in Estonia. A number of steps have recently been taken on the initiative of the Ministry of the Environment to address the problem.

Estonian Sweco Projekt AS has been tasked by the Ministry of the Environment with investigating the polluted areas.

Thirty-two different polluted locations have been investigated over the past two years. A strategy has been established for how the Ministry should deal with the issue, and a proposal for proceeding with recovery work at the most hazardous locations has been forwarded. Work on the whole has been anything but simple. As can be expected, these locations are spread out all over Estonia’s territory. Many of them are in operation such as railway depots, ports, etc. Most of the land areas are privately owned. Only two of the areas are not considered to be significantly polluted. The cost for the entire recovery is estimated to be EUR 443.9 million.

It is believed that unprofessional recovery work could be dangerous as well as initiate increased spread of pollution.

“There are many different techniques for performing recovery work, and they are well known all across the globe,” says Lembit Talli.

“It is possible to perform more detailed field work or create electronic models for the polluted locations by using modern IT equipment and IT technology. As always, the issue of cost is decisive. That is why it is important in each individual situation to be aware of the necessity of cleaning previously polluted locations, which types of risks exist before and after recovery and to evaluate environmental effects and financial efficiency. It is also important to observe international know-how and experience. It is a well-known fact that there are differences in terms of effectiveness.

Environmental protective measures are primarily determined by various clauses in EU directives. However, these may be difficult to realize due to each country’s own circumstances.