Sofia Administrative Court (SAC) will issue a ruling in the lawsuit filed against Sofia city hall by the residents of the Souhodol neighbourhood over the re-opening of a nearby landfill within a week, the chairman of a residents association Ventzislav Bozhilov told The Sofia Echo on March 24.

The organisation, which calls itself Population and Environment Health and Life Protection (PEHLP), filed the lawsuit against the decision of Sofia Inspectorate on Environment and Water Affairs to re-open the landfill for the period December 3 2007/December 3 2009. The court held its first hearing on the case on March 24.

Sofia's biggest landfill in Souhodol was re-opened for second time after the quotas for refuse quantities dumped in Tsalapitsa and Karlovo landfills near Plovdiv have been exhausted earlier this year. Souhodol residents have been regularly protesting against the decision since then.

PEHLP's main argument is the lack of environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the landfill. Bozhilov said the eco-inspectorate based its decision on an EIA carried in 2005, because a new assessment would require public hearings that would show that local population was against the landfill, a fact that the eco-inspectorate was aware of.

Another argument put forth by PEHLP was that the landfill violated sanitary-hygienic requirements, which state that refuse depots have to be at a distance of no less than three kilometres from any residences, while the refuse was now dumped at about 350 m from the closest house.

“A health risk assessment is also missing,” Bozhilov said. He added that the Ministry of Environment and Water Affairs (MOEW), which approved the Sofia inspectorate's request for re-opening the landfill, based its decision on a survey conducted as a basic inquiry, rather than based on scientific methods. Bozhilov said Souhodol population had a long history of lung and allergic diseases, which were caused by poisonous gases emitted by the decaying refuse at the landfill.

“Even if it is re-cultivated, for at least 50 years there will be damages,” he said.

Souhodol residents are also planning to file individual cases with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg against MOEW for health damages caused to them, Bozhilov said.