Illegal scheme for disposing of hazardous waste at a 23-hectare landfill uncovered in Dnipro

Under the procedural supervision of prosecutors from the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office, a scheme for the illegal disposal of hazardous industrial waste at a landfill within the city limits of Dnipro has been uncovered.

This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General.

According to investigators, a company was disposing of industrial waste at a landfill of approximately 23 hectares located on forestry land within the city.

“Hazardous waste was classified as non-hazardous — classifier codes were altered and false information was entered into waybills, environmental reports, laboratory test results, and documents purporting to record completed disposal,” the prosecutor’s office said.

In practice, the waste was neither processed nor neutralized but was buried on the landfill site. This led to contamination of the land and posed a threat to soil, air, and the environment.

Investigators documented nine companies that, over the past year, delivered more than 23,000 tonnes of hazardous waste to the landfill and paid nearly 6 million hryvnias for its disposal.

In addition to the illegal disposal, the company’s director organized the extraction of loam — a mineral used in construction — on the landfill’s territory. Specialized equipment was used for this purpose, and the extracted material was sold under the guise of other products. The total volume of illegally extracted loam exceeds 1,300 cubic meters.

As part of the pre-trial investigation, 65 searches were conducted at the residences of suspects, in vehicles, offices, and on the landfill site in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and Kyiv. Mobile phones, vehicles, cash, and documents were seized and will be sent for expert examination.

The company’s director, chief engineer, and accountant have been notified of suspicion on charges of violating rules for the protection or use of mineral resources and illegal extraction of minerals. The question of imposing preventive measures against them is being resolved. The final extent of the environmental damage will be determined following expert assessments.

Previously, the prosecutor’s office submitted an indictment to court against the director of a company that organized an illegal dump in the Holosiivskyi district of Kyiv. Law enforcement officers also announced a suspicion against Uzhhorod City Council deputy Oleksandr Borysenko, who accepted kickbacks to allow entrepreneurs to extract raw materials from the solid waste landfill he headed — this is already the second suspicion the official has received.