How Is the Vides SOS App Getting On?

On 14 October 2015, the State Environmental Service's mobile app for reporting environmental violations - "Vides SOS" - was, as they say, "released to the public." The launch event was attended by the Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development Kaspars Gerhards, the State Environmental Service Director General Inga Koļegova, and others, as well as the main character of the Latvian State Forests campaign "Don't Litter in the Forest!" - Cūkmens [Pigman].

Using Vides SOS is very simple: 1. Log in with Facebook or Draugiem; 2. Photograph the "problem" and add a description - the app will take the location coordinates automatically and you won't have to poke around on a map; 3. Submit. The app does not provide feedback, so you can track your submission on the website www.videssos.lv.

The majority of submitted problems are either resolved or forwarded. At the time of writing, around 400 submissions had been resolved, around 500 forwarded to other institutions, and around 200 submissions were under review. Most complaints are about littered sites. Less commonly about water violations and unidentified fishing gear. There are also a few relating to environmental nuisances - noise, smells.

In May, a resident of Teika wrote:
For 3 evenings there has been a strong smell of fuel oil/petroleum in the air. In the Jaunā Teika area, Ropažu 12, Riga. No photo, I don't know where the smell is coming from, perhaps a leak from the railway... it's impossible to open the windows, everything reeks, but it's only noticeable in the evenings.

After 4 days the inspector replied:
Good news! Inspectors, having carried out a check, found no unpleasant smells.

In May, a resident of Ventspils wrote:
In Ventspils, at 20:30, in the Sarkanmuiža Street area it smells of silage.

The inspector replied:
No silage smell was detected; the reporter may have smelled freshly mown grass.

In late July, a resident of Kurzeme wrote:
If only this manure smell could be photographed and virtually transmitted, the entire internet would go offline for several days!!! As if after a hot day no one needs fresh air at night!!! This has been going on for nights on end...

The inspector replied:
A probable source of the smell has been identified. The smell was not detected at the time of inspection.

These were, of course, the most entertaining inspector comments :) For very many complaints, particularly about littered sites, the inspector comments are genuinely encouraging - for example, that the site has been cleaned up, or that the municipality has committed to cleaning it up by such and such a date.

One gentleman in Valmiera was so thoroughly exasperated by a sawmill somewhere nearby that between April and July he had written 64 comments of approximately this kind:

It is a beautiful calm night. With intense air pollution. Wood chip dust is drifting in the air, falling from the sky along with smoke. As well as exhaust fumes, because it is impossible to sleep as there is nothing to breathe. Time: 01:53, 29.04.2016. Machines are running without the chip electrostatic filters - well, that's cheaper, electricity is expensive, human health is cheap. Money is scarce, people are plenty. Does the Environmental Service care about the environment only, or about people too? From the name alone it's not entirely clear.

It is hard to say why the Valmiera branch of the Environmental Service has not resolved this problem - all one can say is that for each submission an inspector has patiently recorded: The circumstances are being investigated and evaluated, and steps are being taken to resolve the issues.

People also complain about problems outside the Environmental Service's remit.

A Ventspils resident wrote in July this year:
The area around Ostas Street has such dangerous noise levels that people were completely startled with fright. Please enforce noise limits.

In his comment, the inspector notes in precise detail that in such cases one should contact the Environmental Inspectorate. True, the complainant, unless they periodically check the submission archive on the website to verify its status, will in all likelihood never read this inspector's comment.

The Vides SOS app is a very good step towards communication with the public. Since the app has already gained considerable popularity, one would very much like to see it develop further - for example, with notifications about status changes to submitted problems, inspector comments, and perhaps also an archive of one's own submitted problems.