The world once again became aware of the dangers of improperly stored ammonium nitrate in August when an explosion in a port warehouse broke out in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. The explosion killed more than 200 people, injured more than 6,000, left about 300,000 homeless, and cost the city billions of dollars.
The explosion was blamed on ammonium nitrate, which was seized from an abandoned ship by the Lebanese authorities six years ago. It is not stated whether 2750 tonnes of pure ammonium nitrate were stored in the warehouse or whether they were mineral fertilizers that should not explode so easily.
In Latvia, the amounts of ammonium nitrate are especially controlled due to its explosive nature. Of the six high-risk ammonium nitrate facilities, only one is required for blasting operations. The other five are related to the fertilizer business.
However, as has emerged in recent months, there are companies that tranship large quantities of fertilizers without the necessary permits. An eyewitness sent pictures to the LTV program “de facto” from the territory in Jelgava, Bauskas Street 2, where ammonium nitrate mineral fertilizers were stored in 500 kilogram bags under the open sky.
The SES confirmed to the broadcast that they should not be in the area.
The territory is managed by the farmers’ cooperative “VAKS”. However, it does not have a category B polluting activity permit for ammonium nitrate fertilizer at this address. Following a visit by SES staff last week, the company has committed to obtaining a permit.
“We have been there recently, for two months in Jelgava. We have this category B, but I must say that it is also our fault, we did not notice that the storage of this nitrogen-containing manure was not mentioned there. We are now arranging for this permit. Most likely, it will be in the near future, ”explains Indulis Jansons, Chairman of the Board of VAKS. The cooperative promises to deliver fertilizer to farmers soon.
The mineral fertilizer piles in the area were too large, so the SES gave two weeks to remove them. Hardijs Verbelis, the director of the Zemgale Regional Office, says that the company has not only stored ammonium nitrate-containing fertilizers without a permit, but has also exceeded the amount allowed by the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers, which can be kept without a special industrial accident prevention program.
‘In this case, the company did not have any permit. The only thing was that they had divided this quantity into two practically equal parts – a thousand tons on each side of the railway tracks. However, the territory is one, the object is one, ”says Verbelis.
VAKS has not received any punishment yet. The SES will assess how the company meets the requirements, but Verbelis thinks that “there will be no penalty”.
Another company in Liepaja “CTEX”, which stores and mixes mineral fertilizers, is not so accommodating to SES inspectors. The area at Grīzupes Street 8 was previously managed by the company NPK Expert, which was declared insolvent in May. When the SES arrived in early September to check whether the company had cleared the area of ammonium nitrate fertilizers, they discovered that CTEX was continuing business here without a permit.
“The ammonium nitrate we found in this company was packed in 500 kg packages. In the way the substance is transported there, it is mixed with other fertilizers. According to the documents we have, 98.5% of this substance is ammonium nitrate, ”says Ruslans Pečulis, Director of the SES Liepāja Regional Environmental Board.
SES employees ordered the removal of mineral fertilizers, but the company refused to do so. “They said they could not do it. There was also reluctance, because the company claimed that they had concluded various contracts that they had to fulfill, ”recalls Peculis.
At the end of September, the service issued an order suspending CTEX equipment. A week later, the inspectors went for an inspection, but the security guard did not let them in. VVD employees entered the plant only with the help of the State Police. There, they noted that the plant is still mixing and packaging fertilizers.
The head of the company “CTEX” Ģirts Cēlājs is not the first day in this business. The builder also operated the previous plant at this address, NPK Expert, which went bankrupt with a tax debt of half a million euros.
The complainant acknowledges that “CTEX has technically infringed” the rules, but explains that the fertilizer was produced because the permit was issued for a specific address and CTEX is the only company that can meet these requirements there.
He claims that the company had not received the decision of the SES immediately, but that the ammonium nitrate fertilizer had already been exported. However, the Raiser considers that the requirements of the institution are too strict, considering that the fertilizers have passed the detonation test.
“Even seeing the somewhat absurd desire of the VVD to stop the equipment with which mineral fertilizers can be put up, which makes them less dangerous, we have put them up and taken them out. We have not gone to an open fight or a legal scab with the SES, even seeing that this decision is absurd, ”says Cēlājs.
According to him, the company exported the chemicals sooner than required by the SES and therefore considers that no penalty would be imposed on CTEX.
The SES informed that administrative cases had been initiated against CTEX both for working without the relevant permit, for which a fine of up to 2,900 euros could be imposed, and for disrupting the work of an official, for which a legal entity is threatened with a fine of up to 14,000 euros.
The operator explains that CTEX is currently working to take over the polluting activity permit of the former plant owner.
