Residents Meeting About MAN-TESS Air Pollution

For those who care about our future well-being and health - you are invited to a residents' meeting about air pollution from the company MAN-TESS! The meeting will take place on Sunday, 6 November 2011 at 16:00 at the stairwell entrance of the building at Tvaika iela 50.

The invitation has been circulated by activists from nearby buildings - Tvaika iela 48 and 50, and Gaujienas iela 1 - and can be found on the notice boards in those stairwells.

Evidently, the dramatic deterioration of air quality in recent times prompted residents of nearby buildings to take action. On 29 October, residents living near MAN-TESS could smell a particularly unpleasant, acrid odour in the air - an odour whose appearance unambiguously points to a careless attitude towards the environment during petroleum handling operations. In the immediate vicinity there is only one company conducting such operations - MAN-TESS, which for many years belonged to Latvian millionaire Jūlijs Krūmiņš, but since spring 2011 has been owned by a company registered in the Netherlands, although insiders suggest that the interests of certain Russian citizens lie behind it [1]. The dramatic deterioration of air quality affects a large part of Sarkandaugava, primarily residents of Tvaika iela (from number 48 onwards), Gaujienas iela and Sliežu iela - at least 10 five-storey apartment buildings. It should be noted that Riga Secondary School No.28, attended by approximately 400 pupils, is also located in the nearby area.

Some grounds for concern about violations and potential violations related to environmental impact and air quality were indirectly acknowledged by J. Krūmiņš himself, after he sold the company at the beginning of this year and moved to Australia. In an interview with apollo.lv, J. Krūmiņš stated:
«I was afraid that Lembergs might be elected prime minister. If that had happened and a wagon had ever tipped over for me, there would immediately have been a call to [Environment and Regional Development Minister Raimonds] Vējonis or the Greens. Or the financial inspectorate would have been sent. They could have shut down my business in an instant,» the businessman claimed. [2] [3]

Although MAN-TESS provides employment for many local residents, those living nearby are no longer willing to tolerate the unbearable smell that apparently arises during the handling of petroleum products. The strikingly frequent appearance of the unpleasant odour also points to inadequate work by the supervisory authorities. It is about all of this that local residents apparently wish to discuss on 6 November 2011.

[1] http://www.kasjauns.lv/lv/zinas/47070/par-tranzita-kompanijas-man-tess-ipasnieku-klust-niderlandes-alandam-capital
[2] http://www.apollo.lv/portal/news/articles/253762
[3] http://www.lembergs.info/lat/lietas/tiesa/6975/

On the topic:

2010-04-14 Tvaika iela residents rise up against petroleum fumes - http://zinas.nra.lv/latvija/20677-tvaika-iela-iedzivotaji-sacelas-pret-naftas-tvaikiem.htm

2010-04-20 Attempt to persuade Sarkandaugava residents not to protest against the petroleum terminal - http://zinas.nra.lv/latvija/riga/21130-meginas-pierunat-sarkandaugaviesus-neprotestet-pret-naftas-terminalu.htm