The Ministry of Ecology and the Chisinau municipality are arguing in favor of building a refuse recycling plant without any further delay. This opinion is shared by environmental NGOs as well as the people that live near the current city dump, whereas some representatives of the scientific community say the capacity of the Tsantsareni landfill is not exhausted yet. These opinions were debated at a press conference on Friday, organized by Ecology Minister Gheorghe Salaru and the deputy mayors Vlad Cotet and Nistor Grozavu. The conference was followed by a trip to the Tsantsareni landfill, attended by reporters and environment experts, Info-Prim Neo reports. The authorities' main argument is the imminent worsening of the environmental situation in the city unless such a plant is built, especially since the landfill located near the village of Tsantsareni, Anenii-Noi district, is supposed to be closed down at the end of next year. “The National Action Plan on Environment, approved by the Government back in 1996, outlines the management of household refuse as a priority. Also, Moldova's Socioeconomic Development Strategy outlines the need to maximally reduce the accumulation of household waste and its re-utilization as secondary raw material. At the same time, the National Program on the Utilization of Solid Waste stipulates the importance of refuse recycling”, recalled Minister Salaru. Some 30 kilometers from Chisinau, the Tsantsareni landfill has been accumulating the city's waste for 20 years. Reservoirs with a total capacity of 252 cu.m. collect the extremely toxic liquids leaking from the deposited waste. The collected fluid, or filtrate is pumped into cisterns and then sprayed over the landfill. Yet environmentalists say this procedure doesn't render the filtrate entirely safe, because runoffs usually occur during heavy rainfall, poisoning the nearby farmland and, what's worse, the nearby sources of water. Moreover, according to a report by the state enterprise ENGeoM, “some drainage wells need to be cleared, while the monitoring wells located on the northern side of the dam are not working and must be repaired”. At the same time, Tatiana Tugui, doctor of chemistry, says that even though it was decided to close the landfill on 31 December 2010 it could still admit considerable amounts of waste many years ahead. For that, a huge container needs to be built to accumulate the fluids. Dr. Tugui argues that an indisputable advantage of the Tsantsareni landfill is the natural underlying layer of clay which prevents the toxic substances from reaching the soil. But the locals, supported by environmental NGOs, are reluctant to allow this happen, complaining the dump is poisoning their lives. Ion Mastac, the mayor of Tsantsareni, told reporters: “We, the locals, are affected from one side by the city dump, and from the other by the Byk river, which is totally polluted. The smell gets unbearable especially during the summer”. The mayor also says the wells in the village, the locals' main source of water, is not drinkable anymore, and many villagers have required hospitalization because of the vicinity with the dump. Covering 26 hectares in area, the Tsantsareni landfill opened in 1991. Some 1,500 to 2,500 cubic meters of waste are deposited here each day. Since its opening, the landfill has contained over 17 million cubic meters of waste. Ten years ago an earthquake caused the landfill to leak pollutants, like petroleum products, sulfur, chrome, etc., into the soil. Moreover, in recent years the structure of the landfill has changed due to ground movement, which affected especially the dam. A potential natural disaster would mean direct danger, experts warned. Deputy Mayor Nistor Grozavu said that the recent decision by the Chisinau City Council to start building a refuse recycling plant “makes us hopeful that we won't experience the problems of the residents of Naples”.