The Haskovo office of the Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water (RIOSV) says it found 45 illegal dumps in Haskovo and Kardzhali regions during routine checks in October.

Illegal waste turned up in the municipalities of Haskovo, Harmanli, Dimitrovgrad, Stambolovo, Chernoochene, Kirkovo, Topolovgrad, Mineralni Bani and Momchilgrad. Their mayors were ordered to clean up the sites by set deadlines.

Inspectors checked the Maritsa 3 thermal power plant in Dimitrovgrad four times in October. Three of the checks were prompted by excess sulphur dioxide readings picked up by the Rakovski automatic monitoring station. The inspectorate ordered the plant to cut its sulphur dioxide output to permanently low levels in Dimitrovgrad.

In Kardzhali, experts made a follow-up check on the operator Harmony 2012, which had received an order earlier. The company must take suitable steps to make sure strong-smelling emissions from its site do not spread beyond its boundary.

In October, RIOSV Haskovo made 106 checks at 91 sites in the two regions. It issued 50 orders to fix breaches of environmental law and two penalty notices, worth €2,556 in total.

In September, it made 123 checks at 115 sites and issued the same number of orders, 50, to fix breaches or meet legal requirements. It issued five penalty notices that month, worth €4,857 in total.