Work of Danube Oil Company suspended in Moldova until correction of infringements detected

Chisinau, 24 January /MOLDPRES/ - The Inspectorate for Environmental Protection has instructed the ceasing, starting from today, of the work of the Danube Oil Company till the remedying of the infringements detected. The Agency for Technical Supervision instructed the demolition of the non-conforming silos, with the materials of controls due to be submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office for consideration, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.        

The competent authorities reported, at an instruction by Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita, the results of the controls carried out and the infringements discovered at the Danube Oil Company, the cereals silos of which from the Giurgiulesti Free International Port took fire in the last weeks. Thus, the Inspectorate for Environmental Protection found out that the economic agents had been working in the lack of the notification of the object’s ecological expertise, environmental permit for the emission of pollutants in the atmosphere and in the conditions when norms of the admissible emissions were not established.   

The Agency for Technical Supervision (AST) issued a prescription on the demolition of silos and gave term of 60 working days for removing the infringements. According to AST decision-makers, the project solution adopted for the depositing of the groats from the processing of sunflower seeds was not adequate, according to the technical passport, the silos with conical base were conceived for the stocking of non-sticky and non-aggressive materials. Their non-conforming exploitation affected the resistance, stability and the fire protection.      

At the same time, AST found out that the economic agents had been working in the lack of the contract on technical servicing of anti-fire installations and more registers for the record of the repairs of the technology, expertise of dangerous industrial objects, etc. Also, the silos were set contrary to the provisions of the Transport Code and in the lack of the technical conditions for the coordinated placement by the Giurgiulesti Free International Port and the Railway of Moldova state enterprise.    

The Inspectorate for Environmental Protection is to assess the size of the damage caused by the fires and submit the materials of the controls to the Prosecutor General’s Office for consideration.   

At the same time, at an operative meeting on 23 January, the PM gave instructions to check all silos of Moldova, in order to avoid such incidents in the long run.