S I T E   D O S S I E R

Porto Romano, Albania

 Site Description
 Site Progress



Site Description

Porto Romano, on the outskirts of the Albanian port of Durres, on the Adriatic Coast, is an old leather tanning and pesticide-producing complex shuttered since 1990. Following the end of the Cold War, waves of rural migrants from northeast Albania looking for economic prosperity settled the area. More recently, refugees of the Kosovo conflict have also made their home here, bringing the population to an estimated 6,000 – 10,000.

The abandoned chemical plants have provided the squatters with building materials for new homes, and access to water and electricity. What many of the new residents did not know is that the ground they built on, the bricks they used, and their water supply were all heavily contaminated with toxic chemicals, such as lindane, a banned nerve agent and carcinogen, and chromium, a chemical used in tanning known to cause kidney and liver damage and lung cancer.

Additionally, according to tests taken by a UNEP team in 2000, a groundwater sample from a well in Porto Romano demonstrated 4.4 mg/liter of chlorobenzene, over 4000 times the acceptable level for drinking water in some EU nations. Chlorobenzene is used as a solvent for some pesticide formulations, as a degreaser, and to make other chemicals. High levels of chlorobenzene can damage the liver and kidneys and affect the brain.

The area is so toxic that in 2001, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) declared it a “disaster area.” The pollutants are so pervasive that livestock grazing upon the grass in the area have been contaminated. A sample of milk from a cow raised in Porto Romano showed beta-HCH isomer concentrations 100 times acceptable EU standards. Soil samples revealed that there were high HCH isomer concentrations, in the range of 1,290 – 3,140 mg/kg. In some parts of the EU, remediation is required when concentrations reach 2 mg/kg.

The UNEP team was also very concerned with the possibility of chromium contamination, as chromium-laden residue from the plant has been used to build local roads.

Also of concern are nearby sites that were used as toxic dumps. A wetland area close to the plant is thought to contain up to 20,000 tons of lindane and chromium waste. According to U.N reports, the city of Durres plans to convert this area into a residential neighborhood. A third site, about 1.5 km from the plant, houses 370 tons of chemicals in three abandoned buildings. The chemicals include lindane, sodium dichromate (used in leather tanning), monomethylamine, di-methylamine, and methylamine

Site Progress

In March 2004, the Albanian Geology Institute began remediation of the Porto Romano site. It is unclear what the extent of the cleanup will be. Previous efforts in 2002, led by the UNEP and the World Bank, were hampered by squatters who refused to vacate the area because they had no other place to go. It has been estimated that a complete cleanup could cost up to $10 million. However, relocating squatters living directly within the old factory complex—the most toxic inhabited area in Porto Romano—and sealing it off, are high priority in the remediation effort.

International Relief Friendship Foundation is currently conducting its third medical project in the region—last year it sent three doctors and a nurse to offer medical assistance in the region.

— Olga Petryniak