Sprouts like mushrooms after the rain: another illegal landfill near Vilnius

What was the abandoned farm hiding

The fire at the illegal dump was so big that local firefighters had to ask their colleagues from the capital for help. The fire brigades, who worked in the abandoned farm for several hours, defeated the fire in the evening. When extinguishing it, part of the roof of the building had to be dismantled, and tons of water had to be transported from the nearby pond.

As it turned out, car body parts, packaging, bags with chemicals, furniture, and household waste were on fire. There were empty containers of dangerous chemicals nearby. Firefighters believe the dump was set on fire intentionally, as there was no electricity or other natural cause inside that could have started the fire.

Environmental Protection did not know about the landfill

The Department of Environmental Protection (AAD) testified in a sent comment that it was not aware of this location until now. After receiving information from journalists, his specialists inspected the fire and the landfill site and found that both hazardous and non-hazardous waste was piled here.

“According to the available data, no offenses have been recorded in this place before. The owners of the plot were not known to the department until the notice was received and no undertaking was received,” reads the AAD response submitted.

The abandoned building, which contained waste dumped for years, falls within the visual protection sub-zone of the Maišiagala mound.

Environmentalists also informed that another large illegal dump was discovered and cleaned up near this place last year. “In 2023 In the summer, the www.tvarkaulietuva.lt information system received a report about garbage left in the ruins of abandoned farms,” ​​writes AAD. About 170 cubic meters of waste was accumulated here.

According to environmentalists, the waste was later sorted out and taken away by the Vilnius district municipality.

Abandoned building owner: ‘I put it up so I can take it out later’

Packages with the address of the company “Baltic Continent” were found among the unburned waste. The head of this company, according to the Register Center, is Denisas Vachovičius. He is also one of the co-owners of this building.

15 minutes contacted him and asked how an illegal dump appeared in the building he owns, which also contains packaging from the company he manages.

According to the man, he bought this building a couple of years ago together with the garbage dump that was in it. And the waste with his company address is brought by himself. D. Vachovičius says that he collects paper and cardboard, because it can only be delivered in large quantities.

The man said he could not say anything about the hazardous waste in his building and what caused the fire. According to him, in the years since he bought the building, no one has brought new garbage here.

There is a risk of criminal liability

The Department of Environmental Protection promises to contact the law enforcement regarding this case. “In the near future, all collected material will be handed over to the pre-trial investigation officers for the initiation of a pre-trial investigation in accordance with Article 2704, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania, as more than 15 cubic meters of non-hazardous waste was released into the environment,” states the comment sent by AAD.

This article declares that the person who illegally dumped 15 cubic meters or more of non-hazardous waste into the environment, if this did not cause significant damage to the air, land, soil, water, animals, plants, other living organisms, organic and inorganic substances or anthropogenic components and there were no other serious consequences for any of these environmental elements, is punishable by a fine or restriction of liberty, or arrest, or deprivation of liberty for up to three years.