The Prosecutor’s Office of Chisinau municipality started two criminal cases over violation of the rules of using chemical substances and hiding of information about environment pollution. The measure was taken after the Ministry of the Environment said that 40 tonnes of crude oil leaked into the soil during several days at CET-2, but the administration of the thermoelectric plant hid this fact. For its part, the plant denies having tried to hush this case up, saying that it complied with the requirements and took all the necessary steps, IPN reports.

The Ministry of the Environment said the uncontrolled leakage of crude oil happened during a transfer from one tank to another. There was a hole that was dug nearby. It was 2 meters in width and about 10 meters in depth. The next day, employees of the State Ecological Inspectorate examined the place and established that the hole was almost fully stopped up. Despite the repeated requests to remove the contaminated soil, the administration of CET-2 didn’t comply.

The Prosecutor General’s Office said this incident hasn’t been reported to the competent bodies. An investigation will be conducted to establish the circumstances of this case and to determine, together with specialists of the State Ecological Inspectorate and the Ministry of the Environment, if the environment was polluted as a result of the leakage.

In a communique, the company “Termoelectrica” SA says that on December 23, within the technological process of pumping crude oil from one tank to another, about 8 tonnes of oil leaked into special amassers built up nearby. Nothing was done to hush this case up and measures were taken to recover the crude oil. The State Ecological Inspectorate was informed about the leakage and there is no environment pollution danger.