VZCZCXRO5888
PP RUEHIK RUEHPOD RUEHYG
DE RUEHTI #0556/01 2070609
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 250609Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7284
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000556 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: PREL SENV AL
SUBJECT: ALBANIA'S HAZARDOUS WASTE STRATEGY 
 
REF:  TIRANA 406 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  Albania is effectively reaching out for donor support to deal 
with the country's hazardous waste (HW) problem.  The Ministry of 
Environment (MOE) has identified nine "hot zones" contaminated with 
several kinds of dangerous chemicals left over from the communist 
era.  MOE has been working with the European Commission and also 
individual countries to remediate these zones.  Due to the high 
toxicity of several types of HW, such as lead, mercury, and arsenic, 
Albania is seeking donor support to package the waste and ship it to 
countries with adequate facilities to dispose of it, rather than 
attempting to build an HW facility itself.  To deal with the 
continuing production of less hazardous industrial wastes, the EC 
has dedicated several million euros to process and store these 
wastes in Albania. 
 
USG Interest 
------------ 
 
¶2.  The Embassy and Washington agencies have been concerned about 
how Albania will handle over twenty containers of HW left over from 
the Qafe Molle chemical weapons elimination program (reftel).  In 
the Implementing Agreement between the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction 
Agency (DTRA) and the Albanian Ministry of Defense, the MOD agreed 
to take possession of the HW which was a by-product of chemical 
agent destruction.  The MOD expected the HW, consisting of salts of 
lead, mercury, and arsenic, to be stored in a permanent HW facility 
which would be located in Albania and financed by the EC.  However, 
the EC changed its plans due to local resistance to a HW facility in 
their community, leaving the Qafe Molle waste problem unaddressed. 
 
¶3.  Although DTRA claimed the containers could safely contain the HW 
for 20 years, the containers began leaking several months after 
completion of the project in July 2007.  In May 2008, DTRA's 
remediation contractor repackaged the HW, cleaned the scrap metal 
and sent it to the smelter, leaving 15 twenty-foot containers of HW 
for the GOA to dispose of. 
 
More Practical To Ship the HW Abroad 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  In May 2008, PolOff discussed Albania's HW plans with Aleksandar 
Garuli, Deputy Minister of Environment, Forests, and Water 
Administration.  According to Garuli, Albania has nine HW sites left 
over from the Hoxha era, containing various life-threatening 
chemicals.  Garuli pointed out that different kinds of HW require 
separate methods of treatment and containment.  Since these nine 
sites are relatively small and are not being added to, the GOA 
official believes it makes little sense to spend significant 
resources on a general purpose HW facility that could treat all 
types of HW.  Instead, Garuli said Albania has been working with 
individual countries that have HW facilities in place.  For 
instance: 
 
-- Industrial chemicals in the vicinity of Porto Romano were 
leaching into the local marshland from decaying containers.  The 
Dutch government packaged the HW, which was then shipped to Germany 
for permanent storage. 
 
-- The EC funded the packaging of arsenic salts in the vicinity of 
Fier.  Albania is looking for a donor to accept the HW, possibly 
Italy. 
 
-- Cyanide compounds discovered in Qafe Molle were packaged and 
shipped to the United Kingdom for destruction and permanent storage, 
funded by DTRA. 
 
-- Thirty tons of fuming nitric acid, a component of SA-2 rocket 
fuel, is being packaged by the OSCE and will be shipped to Sweden 
for destruction. 
 
-- Small quantities of nuclear compounds have been shipped to 
Germany for storage. 
 
¶5.  When the EC HW project was terminated due to local protests, the 
EC redirected approximately seven million euros to deal with 
industrial wastes.  Treatment and storage facilities were built near 
the city of Lac to treat the wastes of a phosphate factory and 
another facility was built near Rubik for a copper smelter. 
According to Garuli, new factories as well as newly-privatized 
existing factories will have to conform to stiff EU environmental 
standards, and will be responsible for disposing of whatever 
contaminants they produce. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6.  While importing and storing HW is a profitable business for many 
 
TIRANA 00000556  002 OF 002 
 
 
countries, the GOA is not interested in pursuing such a capability. 
Local government authorities and environmental councils are 
concerned not only about potential health hazards, but also the 
impact such a facility could have on future tourism prospects.  With 
donor assistance, the legacy of Albania's "hot zones" could be 
cleaned up in the not too distant future. 
 
WITHERS