EcoPolitic journalists have collected for their readers the 8 most significant cases of environmental damage that became known during the week of May 17-23. Information about them was published by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), the press services of prosecutors, as well as the State Environmental Inspectorate and its subdivisions.
1. SBI officers, together with the SBU, conducted a large-scale special operation and exposed an organized group operating in Rivne region that had been illegally mining and selling amber abroad for almost 3 years.
The illegal activity was organized by a local businessman at the end of 2021. He involved 6 people in his criminal group, including the director of one of the branches of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”.
In June 2022, the company under their control received two special permits for geological exploration of amber deposits covering an area of 20 hectares in the forest fund. However, the organizers did not comply with the restriction of removing up to 5 kg of amber from 1 hectare for research and further approval by the state authorities, but instead set up massive mining.
Photo: gp.gov.ua.
Environmental damage caused by unauthorized use of subsoil amounted to at least UAH 354 million.
Photo: gp.gov.ua.
Law enforcement officers detained all 7 members of the criminal organization. They were notified of suspicion of creating and operating a criminal organization, as well as of illegal amber mining with the use of official position.
Photo: gp.gov.ua.
Photo: gp.gov.ua.
The sanctions of the articles provide for up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
2. In Bukovyna, the head of a building materials company that extracted more than 1,500 cubic meters of low-melting clay without a special permit will be brought to trial. This mineral is a mineral of national importance. The amount of environmental damage exceeded UAH 1 million.
3. Last week, the territorial bodies of the State Environmental Inspectorate recorded several cases of illegal felling of trees in different regions of our country:
- 40 trees of different species and diameters within the coastal protection zone of the Dniester River outside the village of Mykhailivka in the territory of the Yampil City Council of Mohyliv-Podilskyi District, Vinnytsia Region; the amount of damage is UAH 1 million;
- 140 trees of different species outside the village of Bazar of the Narodytska territorial community of Korosten district, Zhytomyr region; the amount of damage is over UAH 3.7 million;
- 176 trees of different species were destroyed by unidentified persons in the field protection forest strips on the territory of Dolyna village council of Zaporizhzhia district; the amount of damage was UAH 1.5 million;
- illegal felling of trees without permits in the territory of Tysmenytsia City Council, Ivano-Frankivsk district, amounting to UAH 1.3 million;
- 123 acacias in forest plantations outside the village of Cherniakhivske in the territory of the Ivanivska territorial community of Berezivskyi district, Odesa region; the amount of damage is more than UAH 500 thousand.
Photo: kobl.gp.gov.ua.
4. The environmental inspectors of the Prydniprovskyi District filed 3 claims against HYDROSEND for a total of almost UAH 5 million for excessive emissions of pollutants into the air.
5. In the Ternopil region, the Zbarazh City Council received 2 claims totaling almost UAH 1.5 million for littering and pollution of land plots located in settlements on the territory of the community with solid household waste.
6. Inspectors in Khmelnytskyi calculated damages in the amount of almost UAH 2.6 million for pollution of two land plots with untreated wastewater on the territory of the Humenets village council of Kamianets-Podilskyi district.
7. Last week, as often before, environmental inspectors of the Central District recorded cases of poaching on the territory of the Sulynskyi landscape reserve. A citizen who illegally fished within the administrative boundaries of the village of Klishchyntsi, Zolotonosha district, Cherkasy region, was charged with UAH 945 thousand.
However, the poachers, who were fishing in the waters of the Kremenchuk reservoir, were not identified. The amount of damage they caused amounted to UAH 633 thousand.
8. Inspectors of the Carpathian District calculated damages in the amount of UAH 2.4 million for the death of fish in the Sovytsia River in the villages of Luzhany and Mamayivtsi within the administrative boundaries of the Mamayivtsi territorial community of Chernivtsi district.
Read about the top 10 environmental violations with the greatest damage for May 10-16 in our previous digest.
