For the second time within a month, the Minister of Environment and Water Petar Dimitrov conducted an inspection in the Montana region in reaction to numerous reports of unregulated pollution. The inspection was carried out jointly with the member of parliament Petar Petrov, the Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Montana and the Director of the Regional Environment and Water Inspection (RIEW) - Montana.

Minister Dimitrov inspected how the prescription given by the Regional Inspectorate of Environmental Protection - Montana to the Mayor of Montana Municipality to exercise control over the cleaning of the sites identified with unauthorized dumping of waste during the previous inspection on 30 April, which are located on municipal properties.

During the inspection, it was established that two of the terrains in municipal properties were completely cleaned. One is in the land of the village of Studeno Buche, where the Municipality of Montana has also kept its commitment to install video cameras to track illegal waste disposal actions in nature. The other cleared area is a training ground for drivers of motor vehicles on the territory of the Municipality of Montana. The given prescription to clean a third terrain in a municipal property is being implemented, and the deadline for completing the activities and providing information to RIEW - Montana is May 23 of this year.

The owners of private properties in the region, where uncleaned areas have been established, have already been given prescription by the Municipality of Montana to clean them and to take administrative-punitive measures. For its part, RIEW - Montana has already referred the cases to the prosecutor's office to investigate the committed violations.

According to the Law on Waste Management, in cases of non-fulfillment of a prescription, a fine in the amount of BGN 2,000 to BGN 10,000 is to be imposed on individuals, and a pecuniary sanction in the amount of BGN 5,000 to 20,000 is to be imposed on legal entities.

During today's inspection, several more "emerging" unregulated waste dumping sites were established on land not indicated in the signals received, for which the RIEW issued new instructions to the municipality to exert control to establish the actual perpetrators of the violations, clean up the unregulated waste, and undertake administrative and penal measures.

As part of the inspection, an arm of the Ogosta River with impaired conductivity was also found, for which an inspection by experts of the Basin Directorate "Danube Region" - Pleven, appointed today by order of Minister Petar Dimitrov, is pending.