Investor Kalina Shirokova: “The smells come from fertilizing the fields, not from us”
THE PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF THE DEPOT AND PLANT FOR POULTRY FERTILIZER PLANNED IN DEBELETS, WITH AN AREA OF NEARLY 3 DACA, HEATED THE PASSIONS IN THE TOWN AND TURNED INTO A STORMOUS DISPUTE BETWEEN THE LOCAL PEOPLE AND THE INVESTOR.
The fears of the residents of Debelec are that the implementation of the project will condemn the place to a constant stench, pollute the air and force many people to move out.
They are categorical that if the object is given the green light, its impact will be entirely to the detriment of the population. According to them, it is unacceptable to put the private interest before the public one.
Investor Kalina Shirokova was personally present at the meeting to calm the angry residents of Debel, who assured that the project will not lead to the generation of unpleasant odors and poisons. The topic was discussed for more than an hour in the large hall of the community center on Monday evening.
The meeting began with a speech by the mayor of Debelec, Snezhana Parvanova, who indicated that she would support the position of the local people. Then Kalina Shirokova took the floor.
“It will not be a factory, but an agricultural building in which an installation for drying fertilizer will be located.
We currently have a site that is legal and we can collect manure from our farm. However, it was never used.
A sore topic for everyone is the bad smell that permeates the area. The smells come from fertilizing the fields, not from us. Our project will not accumulate and store manure from many places, it will only be for processing our manure, which was exported by trucks to Montana. We don’t have any animals at the moment, we’re just starting to stock birds,” she pointed out.
He explained that they plan for the site to be located 500 meters from the chicken farm and it will not actually enter the city when transporting manure to the installation. Through the workshop, the production cycle will be completely closed, and according to her, the technology is as ecological and harmless as possible.
To specify the details of the project, Alexander Vodenicharov, a representative of the consortium that produces and designs the equipment for drying manure, was also present.
“The installation consists of two large containers connected to each other, located on about 60 square meters. They are hermetically sealed. There are several exits from these containers and one entrance where the manure that has just been removed from the bales is poured.
Transfer by belt conveyors to a special drying chamber begins.
In it, the material is heated and a fan is turned on, which creates a slight vacuum so that the water can evaporate, and it goes through a pipe to a heat exchanger, where it cools, condenses and all the ammonium compounds that could possibly cause any odors remain in the installation .
The air then passes through several filters and is released into the atmosphere. The dried mass enters a pelletizer, is granulated and poured into hermetic bags. The entire amount will be bought abroad,” he explained.
His words were received with a stormy reaction from people who expressed doubt that the technological process would not emit an unpleasant smell. In addition, criticism was heard that multimedia presentation of the project was not provided.
“Since the existence of the farm in Debelec, it has smelled bad. Is it reasonable to build a workshop – a manure dump?”, “We don’t want our children to breathe nitrogen fumes!”, “It is unacceptable to have a poultry manure workshop 1.3 km away. from the residential areas”, were some of the opinions and comments of the attendees.
Deblcani expressed concern that if the project is given the green light in the future, the plant will grow and therefore increase its capacity, allowing manure from many more livestock sites to be processed.
According to the documentation of the investment intention, 30 tons of fertilizer will be processed daily at the site.
A proposal was heard that the investor should promise to demolish the workshop if a stench is provoked during operation of the site.
At the meeting, there were no representatives of RIOSV Veliko Tarnovo to give an expert opinion on the potential environmental impact of the workshop. It is the department that has to decide whether a fertilizer plant will be built in Debelets or whether it will burn the desire of investors.
Meanwhile, more than 1,600 signatures have already been collected against the project from the residents of Debelec.
Galina GEORGIEVA
Photos: the author
