User:Lorez Qehaja/Environmental Issues in Prishtina

Air pollution in Prishtine
Prishtine is the capital city of Kosovo. As the city with the largest number of residents in Kosovo, it is also considered as the most polluted city in Kosovo. Basic reason for Prishtine’s air pollution is coal mining and energy emitted by the single producer of energy, Kosovo Electricity Distribution and Supply Company J.S.C. KEDS operates through two power plants, Kosovo A and B located 5 km near Prishtine. Furthermore, the diesel-spitting car traffic highly contributes to the pollution of air, along with the wood and coal household heating system and central coal-heating company “Termokos” that operates in Prishtine.

Main sources of air pollution in Prishtine are:
 * Trafic – cars and busses in Prishtine
 * “Termokos” heating company
 * Kosova A and B located near Prishtine

Air in Prishtine is polluted mainly from:
 * Particulate Matter – PM10, PM2.5(Dust)
 * Gases – NO2, SO2, CO, O3

Gases
NO$x$

The main nitrogen oxide found in air in Prishtine is nitrogen oxide NO$2$. NO affects the colour of textile materials, causes corrosion in metallic materials, and at vegetation causes the drop of leafs; therefore, limit values are set. NO$2$ is 4 times more lethal than NO, and it is mostly concentrated in urban areas. Prishtine has a lower annual average of NO$2$ emission as compared to the annual average limit allowed.

Table 4: Annual average of NO$2$ in Prishtine

The annual average of NO$2$ emission in Prishtine was 20.82µg/m3 in 2010, which is lower than limit of 40µg/m3. There are no available data for 2011, which would allow in turn comparing 2010 and 2011. However, this result comes from very low percentage of data collected, with only 68% of data being valid; this means that the emission of NO$2$, may not be accurate. In the other hand, according to the National Institute of Public Health of Kosovo study, the emission of NO2 is alarming; in only three months of, NO2measurement have exceeded allowed emissions by 18 times. The emission of NO$2$ is higher in winter, where the heating process is accelerated, with February being as the peak month. The main contributor to the pollution of air with NO$2$ is Kosovo A and B power plants. Thus, NO$2$ emission is estimated to be higher in urban areas where traffic is enormous. The good side of the story is that in Prishtine there is no exceed of the NO$2$ limit that would cause health problems in people’s life; however, this does not apply for other cities of Prishtine.

SO$2$

Table 5: Annual average values of SO$2$ in Prishtine

According to the table, the limit value for SO$2$ emission for vegetation protection is 20µg/m3; however, Prishtine has not reached this limit on 2010. The largest pollutant of SO$2$ is “Termokos”, local heating in Prishtine. “Termokos” emits 491µg/m3 annually, while the normal limit is 400µg/m3. This happens because SO$2$ is mostly released from lignite and oil. Kosovo is the only city in Europe that produces energy 98% from lignite coal. Taking into consideration that electricity is produced in Kosovo A and B power plants, which are near Prishtine, it means that Prishtine is mostly polluted from SO$2$. Winter months, such as November and December are critical months, where often times the limit for vegetation is exceeded and reaches 244µg/m3.

CO$2$

Vehicles and fuel burning companies are the main CO$2$ pollutants of air in Prishtine. Fuel burning contains liquid fuels, natural gas and wood, combustion of coal, and industrial processes such as furnaces, paper factories, the refineries, and facilities for production of construction materials. CO$2$ emission in air can be mitigated through plants; however, this is another problem in Prishtine. The lack of green spaces and well-maintained parks makes impossible the mitigation of CO$2$ and at the same time ruins the beauty of the environment. The highest pollutant is the production of energy, with its annual CO$2$ contribution to global warming is 5.5 million tons. CO$2$ pollution comes 30% from fuel use for power generation, 29% from transport, 20% from industry, 15% from residential commerce, and 6% from other sources. If Prishtine is compared with regional countries, it is noticed that Prishtine exceeds the OSCE and EU emissions of CO$2$. Prishtina has higher emission of CO2 compared to the region of Serbia, and lower emissions compared to the region of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Particulate Matter (Dust)
PM emission on air comes mainly from transport in Prishtina. In the road transportation, this comes mainly from cars and tires. The problem relies in the intensive increase of automobiles in Prishtine, where most of them are old and do not possess catalysts. Prishtina’s cars life span differs from 5 years to more than 15 years. 7.5% of registered cars are newer than 5 years old, 77.36% are older than 10 years, and 66.82% of them are more than 15 years old. Furthermore, each day in Prishtine enter an enormous number of cars, creating traffic as well as air pollution. Out of the total number of vehicles registered in Kosovo, 31.18% of them are registered in Prishtine; 84% are passenger’s vehicles, 13% are from transporting, and the others come mainly from urban traffic. The public transportation in Prishtine contains mainly busses exported from other countries. There are 757 licensed buses routes per day and out of these 382 are executed on average per day. Buses/minibuses connecting urban and suburban areas total 151with 935 departures per day.

There are two main stations in Prishtine that measure the air pollution: Kosovo Hydro Meteorological Institute  and “Rilindja.”

PM$2$

Figure 1: Number of days with exceeded limit values of PM$2$

As it can be seen from the table that the maximum amount allowed to be exceeded with PM10, is 35 days and the maximum daily value is 50µg/m3. However, according to KHMI, Prishtina has exceeded this limit for 99 days in 2010 and for 68 days in 2011. The majority of days with exceedance of average daily values were during the winter months. The table below presents PM$10$ maximum, minimum, and average monthly values, where November is the month with the highest recorded PM$10$ value.

Table 1: Monthly average values, max and min. of PM$10$, station IHMK (Prishtina1)

The annual limit of (40µg/m3)14 was also exceeded in 2010 and 2011, as it can be seen from figure 2. The highest pollution value reached from traffic in Prishtine was estimated to be 75.74µg/m3, which is 1.9 times more than the average annual limit.

PM$10$

Table 2: Annual Average of PM$10$

The average annual emission of PM$10$ is 25µg/m3. However, Prishtine has exceeded this limit in 2010 and 2011. Furthermore, the PM$10$ concentration has increased from 37.34µg/m3 in 2010 to 40.4µg/m3in 2011. The highest value of PM$2.5$ has been recorded in the winter months, with November leading among other months.

Table 3: Monthly average values, max and min. of PM$2.5$, station IHMK (Prishtina1)

Kosova A and B Power Plants
Kosovo A and B power plant are the number one pollutant of Prishtina. It is the primary factor contributing to the pollution of air with the above-mentioned gasses. Kosovo A and B power plant produce 97% of the energy used in Prishtine, while only 3% comes from water. Kosovo Energy Corporation is the main polluter in Prishtina region. There is no continuous emission monitoring system from those two plants. However, lower emissions have been reported in Kosovo B compared to Kosovo A. Kosovo A has three blocks, A$2.5$, A$2.5$, A$2.5$, and Kosovo B has two blocks B$2.5$ and B$2.5$. According to the state report for environmental conditions in Kosovo, both power plants have exceeded the SO$2.5$ limit in air, that of 400mg/Nm3, and the NO$1$ limit that of 500mg/Nm3, and dust emission limit that of 50mg/Nm3. CO$3$ emission from A is lower from power plant B, as it can be seen in the table below.

Table 6:CO$5$ emissions from power plant A and B in Prishtine

Electro filters are planned to be established in A$1$, A$2$ and A$2$ with the aim to increase the efficiency of the existing electro filters. However, as it can be seen, KEDS CO$2$ emissions are more than 6 million tons annually, which means 520 tons per hour. When KEDS produces at full capacity (200 MW), it emits 25 tons of dust and ash (that includes gases) per hour, which is 74 times more than the European limit. Critical months are April, June, July, October, November and December, where the emission of gases and dust exceeds the limit allowed.

Facts from Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning in Kosovo:

“Greenhouse gasses: 10,797,000 tons of CO$2$ and 425,000 t of CH$2$” “CO emissions: 986,000 tons” “Dust emissions: 167,000 t with specific values from 1,881mg/m$3$ to 7,523 mg/m$4$ at Kosovo A and 250 mg/m$5$ at Kosovo B” “SO$2$ emissions: 167,000 t with specific values of 895 mg/m$2$” “NO$4$ Emission: 20,000 t with specific values from 358 mg/m$3$ to 478 mg/m$3$ at Kosovo A and 735 mg/m$3$ at Kosovo B.” The Ministry of Environment has concluded that the problem with dust emitted from those two power plants is serious and it cannot be avoided without major redesign of the boilers. Units in Kosovo A need serious assessment since they are at the end of their lifespan. On the other hand, Kosovo B has a longer lifespan, but the existing electrostatic precipitator is in very bad conditions and also there is low control of dust emission in the air. European Union has set some targets that those power plants reach by 2017. Dust emission should be max 50mg/Nm$2$, SO$3$ max 400mg/Nm$x$, and NO$3$ max 500mg/Nm$3$.

Table 7: Emissions released from Power Plants A and B

Termokos and Household Heating
Heating company “Termokos” covers most of the neighborhoods in Prishtina. This company operates with oil and gas, while the cogeneration system is considered to be a very stable solution for the improvement of the heating system in Prishtina. However, Termokoscovers only three main cities in Kosovo, 3-4% of households in general are heated from it. There are some problems related with Termokos:


 * Loss of water / energy during distribution
 * No coverage of entire city with central heating
 * No use of energy alternatives such as solar heating
 * Pollutants emitted in the air

Table 8: SO$3$ pollution from Termokos

As it can be seen in the table Termokos releases 491mg/Nm$3$, while the limit, as stated before is 400mg/Nm$2$. In this way, it can be noticed that Termokos is one of the main pollutants of Prishtina. Households in Prishtina use mainly wood for heating. Often times, households use old sofa that do not use filters, and the pollutants end up in the air. This problem could be avoided if the central heating problem would be solved, so that Termokos could supply with heating each house in Prishtina region. This in turn would disincentivize people to secure heating materials on their own, which in turn would decrease the air pollution as well.

Water Contamination
Prishtina City has limited quantities of surface and groundwater, which are mainly distributed in the peripheral areas. A small fraction of the available water is found as underground water, such as that in “Pajtimi” field that amounts to 50 liters / sec and “Germia” source that amounts to 15 liters /sec. Watercourses are scarce. There are small rivers in the urban area, such as Pristina and Vellusha Rivers that collect the water flows of faux pas coming from Lagjia e Spitalit, Mati, Kodra e Trimave, and Shkabaj. Vellusha and Prishtina Rivers serve to collect rainwater from all urban areas of Pristina. The main drinking water sources remain Batllavaand Badovc Lakes. Batllava Lake – it has a capacity of 38 million m³ of water and supplies the town of Pristina with 65% of drinking water. Batllava represents the main source of drinking water for the municipality of Pristina. It was built in 1960-1963; initially it worked only for technical water supply to the energy complex in Obilic. From 1982 it turned into water resource for drinking water for the Pristina region. Recently, the water treatment plant in Shajkovc was built, which has a maximum capacity of 900 liters/sec. Badovci Lake- has a volume of 27 million m$3$ and supplies the town of Pristina with 35% of drinking water. It was initially built in 1960 for the supply of drinking water, irrigation, and technical water for Kishnica mine. From1980 this lake is mainly used for drinking water purposes for Prishtina region. The water treatment plant has been built in Badovc, which has a maximum capacity 400l/sec. Those two lakes are the main source of water in Prishtine. They both supply around 90% of population in Prishtina region with drinking water. However, the distribution power has many problems. Most of the pipes used are older than 50 years, which loose around 50% of available water; 35% are technical loses, while 15% are commercial loses. As a result there are reductions on available water to citizens, with 8-10 hours/day water cuts to each household. Another problem is the water contamination. There is no urban water monitoring in Kosovo. There are only some small regional, water companies that do not have large competencies on water monitoring. Wastewater discharges remain the main pollutants of water in Prishtina. Those wastes are dangerous because they contain substances such as soluble compounds of phosphorus, dissolved oxygen, pathogenic bacteria and viruses, nitrogen (eutrophication), and other matters that affect the water quality. Main carrier of underground waters pollution is Prishtevka River, which at the same time is the main carrier of sewage and rainwater.

Waste in water
There are two main pollutants of water in Prishtina: collective pollutants and industrial pollutants. Collective pollutants are households and individuals that throw waste in water and have common canalization system. Industrial pollutants are the largest industrial pollutants, such as agriculture, chemicals, and ironmongery pollutants. There are 6 individual pollutants in Prishtevka River, and 1 collective pollutant. There are 15 collective pollutants in Llapi River, and 7 individual pollutants. Sitnica River has 24 collective pollutants and 7 individual pollutants, and Gracanka River has 3 collective pollutants, and 1 individual pollutant. The table below shows the individualpollutants in Prishtine and their landfills.

Table 9: Individual Water Pollutants in Prishtina

Sewage waters
The city of Prishtina has the system of moving sewage water out of the center of Prishtina, but it does not have the system of continuing maintenance of sewage waters. The movement of sewage waters is done toward rivers in Prishtina, mainly on Sitnica River. Sitnica is the main receiver of sewage waters coming from citizens of Prishtina. The total amount of water discharged into Sitnica from urban area is 800liters/sec, from which 450liter/sec are taken through Pristina River and 150 liters/sec through Vellushariver. Other amounts are taken through Shkabajfaux pas. There are only 8 settlements in Prishtina with public or own canalization system. The table below presents main regions of Prishtina and their landfills of sewage waters.

Table 10: Water pollutants in Prishtina

As it can be seen from the table, the main polluted river with most sewage waters flows on it is Prishtevka. It can be said that Prishtevka has turned into a river flow of sewage waters, withmore than 400,000 inhabitants polluting it. Another big problem is with sewage waters that are present in Taukbashçe Park, which besides the fact that they are polluted and are part of the park, they also smell horrible for people who visit the park. This may cause health problem to people, given the fact that elderly people are those that visit this park mostly.

Underground Waters
Considering the problem of Prishtina to supply its citizens with water, underground water has been thought to be a rescue for this problem. Kolevica underground waters have been the main supplier of water for Prishtina from 1950 to 1970. Those waters are placed in the northern side of Prishtina, with a maximum capacity of 50 liters/sec. However, with the construction of Batllava River, those underground rivers were left unused, and now they form part of the polluted waters in Prishtina. Germia Source is another underground water resource that lies in Germia Park ad is the oldest water sources known. It has been used many years ago, and it has a speed of 15 liters/sec. This source is used for GermiaBasis,while those days Germia’s underground waters are considered to be the main source of water for Prishtina citizens.

Wells in Prishtine
There are hidden wells in Prishtina, which most of them are covered with waste and represented the most polluted areas of Prishtina. However, in times when there is not enough water for citizens, those wells are the used as serious resources. Recently, wells have been found in “Pajtimi” field, which currently is one of the waste polluted areas. However, in an attempt to clean Prishtina environment, and also find solution for water, the opening phase of these wells has started and they are estimated to end by mid-2014. In this place, 9 wells are found, and they are estimated to have a speed of 60 liters/sec. There are two other wells found in Llukar village. Those wells are estimated to have a speed of 50 liters/sec. The problem with those two wells is their usage, mainly for auto washing. Those wells have been used until 1989, and they are expected to start functioning again by mid-2014. In an attempt to plant new trees in Prishtina and lower air pollution, 17 artificial wells have been opened in Prishtina. Prishtina municipality has supplied monetary funds for these wells, which would supply the water the irrigation of the newly planted trees.

Waste
The region of Prishtina is the highest waste container. In 2007, 61.644.35 ton of waste have been collected only in Prishtina, while in 2008, 80.185.06	 ton of waste have been collected in Prishtina.

Table 11: Waste Collection in Prishtina 2007 and 2008

The average amount of municipal waste disposal in Prishtina is 0.9kg/day per person, while 332kg/year per person. If Prishtina is compared with other municipalities, it can be seen that Prishtina differs much more. While in Prishtina the average waste disposal is 332kg/year per person, in other municipalities this average is 95 kg/year per person.The problem relies in the disposal of this waste is done in (field-waste) municipal surface. Those waste disposals have not filled the minimum standard requirements for waste. They are settled near habitats and rivers, which most of time end up polluting the rivers also, especially underground waters and wells. Often times those waste disposals are burned from nature, as well as from people. During summer they smell badly because most of waste is not even covered with grit. Some disposals in Prishtina have been closed, with the aim to reduce those negative effects in the nature; however, still most of them remain uncovered. Prishtina regional waste disposal collects waste from Prishtinë, Obiliq, Lipjan, Fushë	Kosovë and Drenas(Gllogoc). The size of this disposal is approximately 40 hectares, it has a lide span of 15 years, and its total capacity is 3,500,000 m$2$ while its monthly capacity is 6000 tons. The status of this disposal is miserable, with a very bad smell causing many health implications to people.

Local Waste
As the capital city of Kosovo, Prishtina has the largest number of inhibitants, which in turn means that it has the largest amount of waste disposal. Generation, collection, treatment, and elimination of waste in Prishtinais done by “Pastrimi” Company, which covers the highest percentage of people with this service compared to other municipalities. In 2007 this company covered 64% of the population with this service, in 2008 52%, in 2009 53%, and in 2010 55%. Collection of waste is done through two ways: 52% door-to-door collection and 48% for collective apartments.

Table 12: Waste collection in Prishtina

In 2012, local yearly waste per capita was 515 kg, while daily waste per capita was 1.4kg. The total amount of waste collected in Prishtina is 248,832 ton. (cite 37) The collection of local waste in Prishtina has increased from 2007 to 2012. In 2007 182,000 ton were collected, while in 2012 249,000 ton were collected. This is an example of an increase in the efficiency of waste collection. If Prishtina is compared with the other regions, the collection of waste per capita is much higher. Only in 2012, the difference between Prishtina and other regions collection of waste was 0.7 kg.

Industrial Waste
Industrial waste contains substances in various aggregate forms that remained for a long time in different facilities, warehouses, and industrial units.Over time, the usage of some of these substances has expired or degraded by changing their composition, making them as highly hazardous substances for people’s health.

Table 14: Industrial Waste in Prishtina

As it can be seen, Kosovo A power plant is one of the largest pollutants with industrial waste, followed by Kishnica Laboratory.

Medicinal Waste
This type of waste includes medicinal pills whose usage is not valid anymore. This sector in Prishtina does not have a system of collection, transportation, or elimination. Even though, new waste disposals have been set in hospital as well as in medicinal family centers, they are not being used as much. Medicinal pills are thrown in normal waste disposals. When medicinal pills stay for a long time without valid usage time, then they release dangerous substances for human’s health. The Municipal Family Medicine Center in Prishtina releases 60 tons/year medicinal waste. Medicinal waste is found also in some pharmacies in Prishtina. The central pharmacy of Prishtina has declared 200 kg of medical waste. Other pharmacies have also reported medical waste, such as Agani Warehouse.

Land Degradation
The continued impact of human activities on land causes land degradation, which is harmful for human and socio-economic environment. Since Prishtina is the capital city of Kosovo, most of the population lives here. This means that land degradation issue is more present in the Prishtina region; however, Prishtina was always industrial-oriented city, with less agricultural land used for food cultivation. Land degradation happens because of the increased construction of settlements (unplanned constructions), road construction, industry (solid waste, surface mining), local and sanitary waste, erosion and uncontrolled exploitation of gravel.

Land Usage
Below are some facts for land usage in Prishtina Municipality: Constructed Land: 2365.6 hectares or 30.45% of the total surface

Residential Areas: 2011.58 hectares. It is characterized with individual residence 23.17%, with only 2.72% collective residence. Economic Areas: 217.94 hectares or 2.81% of total constructed areas belongs to the industrial development.

Educational Institutions: occupy a surface of 34.7 hectares or 0.45% of the constructed area

Health Institutions: occupy a surface of 33.9 hectares or 0.44% of the constructed area

Administrative Institutions: occupy a surface of 50.08 hectares or 0.64% of the constructed area

Green Areas: 5023.05 hectares or 64.04% of the total area

Specific Areas: 149.11 hectares or 1.92% of the total area

Transport and Traffic Areas: 231 hectares or 2.97% of total area

Ownership in Prishtina Municipality is divided into two groups:

Public Ownership: 2695.21 hectares or 34.7%

Private Ownership: 5073.48 hectares or 65.3%

Degradation of Agricultural Land
Prishtina has 9155 hectares of agricultural land, from which 8508 hectares have the system of irrigation on them. Since Prishtina has a much polluted air, then it tis thought that this emission of pollution be transferred from air to land. This happens through rainfall that dissolves air pollution and deposits it into the land. One of the most common ways of agricultural land degradation is the transformation of agricultural land into industrial land. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, in the period from 1998-2006 1 hectar of land in Prishtina was transformed. However, the construction of Prishtina started the last five years, with more people building appartments in each neighborhood of Prishtina. The problem of land degradation is that it happens in both ways: through the permition of the municipality of Prishtina, but also without the permission of the municipality of Prishtina. According to the director of the agricultural association in Kosovo, land degradation is happening each day more and more, and the most dangerous zones to remain without agricultural land are lands between Prishtina and Skopje highway.

Spatial Planning
Spatial planning in Prishtina is very important, given the enormous construction plans happening currently. The construction of collective apartments has started in Prishtina the last five years, and some of them follow the directives for constructing from Prishtina Municipality, but others do not. However, when dealing with spatial planning, it is very important to protect local zones from construction, especially parks that people use for recreational activities. One of the natural spatial areas protected from the municipality of Prishtina is the national park “Germia.”

Protected zones - Germia
The regional park “Germia” is protected and monitored from the public enterprise “Hortikultura.” This park is protected from construction, as well as because of its biodiversity in fauna and flora. Germia lies in the northern part of Prishtina and it has a surface of 62 km2. The boundaries of Germia starts with vineyards fields in the west, continues with Miredita hills in the east toward the Hajvalia mining and Gracanica River. In the South it continues with Busise River, and in the east it ends up with Badovci River. Besides of its geographic boundaries, Germia is protected because of its diversity in flora and fauna. 610 types of vascular flora have been found in Germia separated into 82 families. 83 types of mushrooms have been found and 4 forest communities. It is the only place of Prishtina where the air pollution is lower, and most of people use it as a recreational place. 41.40.52 hectares of Germia are under the protected zone, starting from the Germia Basis and continue with fields, children parks and toys, and sporting centers. The status of Germia is a Protected Regional Park, including 1.126.01.00 hectares. Germia Park is evidenced as a protected zone in the international list of protected places.