The chemical tank containing vinyl chloride monomer in the OHIS industrial complex’s yard has a cooling system and is secured, stated the State Environmental Inspectorate of North Macedonia. After several posts appeared on the social networks and due to the general public’s concern that vapors escape from the pressurized storage tank where the dangerous chemical has been stored, the Inspectorate confirmed that the tank is kept under all safety protocols.
Around 14 tons of this dangerous and highly inflammable chemical is still located in OHIS, even though at the end of March they were supposed to be transferred into special tanks under the supervision of experts of the Kurium company from France and Italy. These tankswere supposed to be transported to be incinerated in Germany. The COVID-19 pandemic shut down the borders in Europe and it postponed all of these activities. According to experts’ recommendations, the transfer will have to wait for colder weather.
The Ekocentar 97 company, which is conducting the removal of 11 dangerous chemical deposits from OHIS’ yard hired several sub-contractors for the transfer of the vinyl chloride it, and agreements were signed with SUEZ Sonderabfallgesellschaft GmbH incinerator from Germany, a transporting company from Bulgaria, which has acquired all of the necessary licenses for hazardous materials transport throughout of the EU member countries.
In April last year, 81 smal tanks and a pressurized and large one with chlorine were processed at a specialized company in Serbia where the chlornde was pulled out of the tanks by a degasification process and was treated accordingly. Even with the end of the project for removal of 11 chemical deposits, OHIS plant still remains an environmental hotspot i.e. until the four lindane landfills aren’t completely cleaned.
