Damage of sewage spill to River Neris may total EUR 300,000

According to the formula of calculating environmental damage, people behind the disaster will have to pay at least 15,000 euros for every cubic meter of sewage that entered the river. Marius Svaikauskas, director of the Vilnius Regional Environmental Protection Department, the damages will be finalized after receipt of precise data about the amount of sewage that entered the Neris.

Preliminary data provided by Vilniaus Vandenys (Vilnius Water) company, damage of two sewer mains last week caused at least 200,000 cubic meters of untreated wastewater to spill into the River Neris , consequently, the damages could reach about 300,000 euros.

From the start of the accident, environmental services took water samples in the Neris and the lower Nemunas, with condition of the two rivers still observed. No cases of fish death or other alarming signals have been observed so far.

Laura Nalivaikine, the chief of the State Territorial Planning and Construction Inspectorate, has set up a commission to look into the causes of the accident and identify the persons whose actions or inactivity caused the disaster.

An investigation has also been started by prosecutors.

Based on preliminary estimates, around 20,000 cubic meters of untreated wastewater spilled into the River Neris after two sewer mains burst in Upes Street, near the construction site of the underground car park of the Green Hall 3 business center that is being built in Vilnius on December 23.