Bulgaria's regional environment inspectorates fined offenders a total of €468,038.01 in September, in 48 penalty decrees. Ten of the penalties, worth €335,102.28, were for air and water pollution above legal limits.
The 10 penalties were issued under Article 69 of the Environmental Protection Act.
The fines and penalties collected so far come to €77,356.83. That sum also includes payments under settlements reached with the penalising authority under the Administrative Violations and Penalties Act.
During the month, the 15 inspectorates carried out 2,092 checks at 1,834 sites. Inspectors gave 490 orders to fix violations and drew up 90 reports of offences under the Environmental Protection Act and other environmental laws. Eight of the reports were for orders that were not carried out.
The checks followed the inspection plan. The inspectorates also paid closer attention to cleanliness in towns and villages.
The Burgas inspectorate looked into reports of white deposits on beaches in the municipalities of Tsarevo and Primorsko.
Inspectors also kept checking sites illegally polluted with waste. They made 82 checks, gave 49 orders, drew up 5 reports and issued 2 penalty decrees. Another 32 sites have now been cleaned up.
The Blagoevgrad and Shumen inspectorates imposed two compulsory administrative measures. In the first, inspectors ordered an offender to treat non-hazardous waste without harming nature. In the second, they sealed off access to a site where chemicals were allegedly being handled illegally.
The Pleven inspectorate sent orders to the mayors of the 19 municipalities in Pleven and Lovech regions, and to the heads of the regional road authorities in both cities. It wants a schedule from them for checking and clearing litter along municipal and national roads. It also wants waste bins at roadside rest stops, emptied regularly.
The Varna inspectorate made 3 checks in the Lake Durankulak protected area after receiving reports. Three individuals were given reports of offences for parking their cars on the coastal beach strip and damaging vegetation.
The Vratsa and Pazardzhik inspectorates monitored the state of protected dormouse species. The Pazardzhik inspectorate also monitored a protected plant, the alpine bastard toadflax.
The operation to pump water from the Danube into the lake has ended. It was led by the head of the Ruse inspectorate.