Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyy called on the Polish city of Lublin with a request to accept Lviv garbage, because the accumulation of solid waste can cause an epidemic, the Gazeta Wyborcza reported on 24 January.
The mayor said Lviv ran out of landfill capacities, and he is forced to seek help "to prevent environmental disaster in Eastern Europe."
The city has been experiencing the waste problem after a massive fire and landslide at the Velyki Hrybovychy, the city's main landfill. The local community has banned the city from using the landfill on its territory. Municipal waste landfills in other cities of Ukraine refuse to accept waste from Lviv.
"This situation is worrying, because the accumulation of large amounts of solid waste in the city could trigger an epidemic of infectious diseases and pollution of sewage waters," Sadovyy wrote.
The publication notes that Lublin authorities cannot make such decisions without prior consultations with the country's Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection (GIOS) regarding the place and technical capacities for transportation, storage and utilisation of Lviv's garbage.
Previously, Lviv City Hall said there was a threat of new landslides at Hrybovychy dump.
Late last May, four rescuers and an employee of the local utility company were buried under a 100 thousand cu m waste landslide at landslide at the city's main dump near the village of Hrybovychy. One body remains not found to this day.
After the tragedy, Hrybovychy community banned Lviv from using the landfill. The city found itself the brink of ecological disaster as other landfills across Ukraine refuse to accept waste from Lviv.