Hundreds of Romanian driving licences found dumped among medical waste at Moldovan landfill
Environmental activists found hundreds, possibly thousands, of Romanian driving licences alongside infusion tubes and tonnes of plastic at an illegal dump in Porumbeni, Criuleni district, on 11 July.
The discovery
On 11 July, the environmental NGO Garda Națională de Mediu (National Environmental Guard) publicised a video showing an illegal dump in Porumbeni, a village in the Criuleni district of the Republic of Moldova. The activists had been alerted to the presence of hazardous medical waste at the site, but what they found exceeded that initial tip.
What was found
Amid the refuse, the inspectors came across hundreds, possibly thousands, of Romanian driving licences scattered among infusion tubes, plastic packaging and other debris. The exact number of licences has not been verified. The NGO stated that the documents were issued by Romanian authorities, though how they ended up in a Moldovan landfill remains unclear.
We cannot understand how hundreds, maybe thousands, of Romanian driving licences appeared. Thousands of infusion tubes, why are there tens of tonnes of plastic? Who answers all these questions?
Alongside the driving licences, the dump contained thousands of used infusion tubes, tens of tonnes of plastic and expired medicines. The activists described the waste as not mixed household rubbish, but plastic that had been accumulating for years, slowly drifting into the Ichel River.
Environmental risk
The landfill sits near the Ichel River, and the NGO warned that hazardous substances are seeping into the watercourse. One activist remarked that wherever you look there are medicines and dangerous waste, and that tonnes of plastic lie beside the river.
Wherever you look there are medicines and dangerous waste. Here, next to the Ichel River, there are tonnes of plastic. It is not mixed rubbish. You can see the plastic has been here for many years, and it all ends up in the river.
The environmental damage assessment is ongoing.
Authorities respond
After the video circulated on social media, the Moldovan Inspectoratul pentru Protecția Mediului (Inspectorate for Environmental Protection) opened an inspection. Inspectors visited the site to document the facts, evaluate the harm caused to the environment and identify the origin of the waste. Regarding the driving licences, the inspectorate said the documents, which contain personal data, will be handed over to competent institutions for traceability checks. Possible sanctions will be determined after the probe is completed.
Wider context
The Porumbeni discovery comes shortly after another serious pollution case in the village of Goian, Ciorescu commune, where authorities found over 20 cubic metres of highly hazardous waste, including mercury, used syringes and expired medicines, stored illegally. The National Public Health Agency confirmed the presence of mercury vapours inside the depot. The Moldovan Minister of Environment announced that the authorities would request support from European Union experts for an independent assessment and additional sampling. After the investigation, the extent of the environmental damage will be determined and the findings passed to the General Prosecutor's Office.
