EURENT

At the moment the water

along Bulgarian beaches is clean, the head of the Basin

Directorate for the Black Sea region Ventsislav Nikolov said.

Participating in Monday's second meeting of the directorate's

Basin Council with attending French experts, Nikolov, however,

warned that although he does not expect problems with the waste

water treatment plant in Golden Sands resort by August, the

South Beach of Varna is the one most endangered by pollution

along the entire Bulgarian coast.

The main problem is the spillway nearby and the discharge of

waters from the canal in the vicinity. Nikolov also warned that

the beaches in the northern part of the coast are threatened

with possible pollution coming from the Danube. There are no

risks for the southern coast.

Nikolov commented that the shortest deadline with which Bulgaria

has to comply is the requirement for the development of waste

water treatment plants for agglomerations with population

exceeding 10,000 by the end of this year. In the region of Varna

the municipalities of Provadia and Dolni Chiflik will not be

able to cope with this task, he specified.

Non-execution of the measures provided in the water management

plan will mean sanctions from the EU, Laurent Fayein, President

of the Board of Directors of the Rhone-Mediterranean and

Corsica Water Agency, also warned. Fayein specified that the

fines for lack of waste water treatment plants are one-time and

daily, until the facilities are built.

According to the European Commission's 2009 quality of bathing

water report released last week, 98.9 per cent of the coastal

bathing waters in Bulgaria complied with the mandatory values in

2009. This is an increase of 5.6 per cent compared to the

previous year. The rate of compliance with the guide values

increased significantly from 78.7 per cent to 91 per cent.

Only one beach located near Varna (1.1 per cent) did not comply

with the mandatory values compared to six bathing waters (6.7

per cent) in 2008. No coastal bathing water had to be closed

during the season, the same as in 2008.

BTA

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