Tons of dead birds were buried between May 9 and 14, 2023, in the village of Mlechevo, Sevlievo municipality, after an outbreak of avian influenza erupted at two nearby poultry plants. The burial was rushed, which might be seen as normal considering the need to contain the outbreak. However, it appears that this haste came at the expense of adhering to regulations.
The designated burial site must be at least one kilometer away from the nearest houses and 100 meters from any main or local road. This is stipulated in Regulation 3 of January 27, 2021, regarding the conditions and procedures for the disposal of animal products and by-products. In Mlechevo, the burial trench is slightly off the main road leading to the village and seems to maintain the 100-meter distance based on a visual assessment. However, the trench itself is only a few steps away from a local road that leads to a hamlet with inhabited houses. According to local residents, the nearest house is less than one kilometer away. Even assuming the distances are respected, the matter of securing the trench to comply with the regulations regarding
burial sites is not adequately addressed.
According to the same regulation, the walls and bottom of the burial pit must have reliable waterproofing, and the materials used for this must be documented. In the burial pit near the village of Mlechevo, a plastic sheet has been placed at the bottom and walls, explained Dr. Spasov, director of the Regional Directorate of Food Safety (RDFB). He added that the pit is treated with hydrated lime on top and is periodically disinfected. To verify his statements, he provided “Za istinata” with copies of the invoices for the waterproofing materials purchased.
The payment documents indicate that the RDFB purchased 40 bags of 25 kg of quicklime and 66 kg of polyethylene sheeting with a thickness of 0.12 microns. Another invoice mentions a small coal shovel, two-stroke engine oil, and polyurethane foam.
What is Wrong
In the two invoices that Dr. Spasov sent, there is no mention of concrete—neither as a purchased material nor as a paid service for concrete laying. However, the regulation states that the surface of the pit must be covered with a concrete slab with an opening that is tightly sealed with a locking metal cover. There is also no information regarding a metal cover in the invoices. This “omission” suggests that the burial pit near Mlechevo does not have a concrete cover or a locking metal lid. This means that the requirements for a burial pit in this specific case have not been adhered to.
In fact, the absence of a concrete cover became evident even before “Za istinata” obtained the invoices. In a phone conversation with Dr. Spasov, he only mentioned a nylon cover, leaving no doubt that the concrete cover of the burial pit was omitted. What this could mean for the environment and the potential consequences for local residents is a question that the relevant institutions should address. If, of course, they are committed to investigating this case.
According to the residents of Mlechevo, the lack of a concrete cover makes the pit easy to dig up by wild animals. Their concerns are entirely justified, as the area around Mlechevo is a game zone, and only a year ago, there were incursions by packs of jackals.
The Prosecutor’s Office is involved in the case,
but not regarding Mlechevo; instead, it pertains to the Gabrovo village of Yavorets. According to an agreement between “Agro Loviko,” the Regional Directorate of Food Safety, and the companies “Grimit” – Chakala, Sevlievo, and “Harlanovi – Detelin Harlanov,” “Agro Loviko” is to provide silage pits in its private farmyard within the jurisdiction of Yavorets, where “Grimit” and “Harlanovi – Detelin Harlanov” will deposit bedding from a parent flock of Peking ducks and broiler chickens raised in their livestock facilities. These facilities are the ones where the avian influenza outbreak was identified, resulting in the culling of animals, which, as it became clear, were then buried in Mlechevo.
For manure that was also infected and needed to be deposited, the village of Yavorets was chosen; however, the mayor of the village refused to allow the infected manure in her community, and the mayor of Gabrovo, Tanya Hristova, supported this decision. In a public statement, she expressed her support for the residents of Yavorets and pledged to continue doing so if protests ensued. Concurrently, Hristova sent letters to the Food Safety Agency, the Regional Administration, and the District Prosecutor’s Office, urging them to halt the implementation of signed agreements for the removal of manure from avian influenza outbreaks in the Gabrovo village. All of this proved effective, and no manure was deposited in Yavorets, while the Prosecutor’s Office is working on the complaint from Tanya Hristova.
The site where the infected birds are buried is not definitively approved as a burial pit
but is in the process of being approved. The burials that took place during the week of May 9 to 14, 2023, are actions taken under emergency circumstances, officials from the Sevlievo Municipality explained in response to questions from “Za istinata.” Whether the fact that the animals were buried and not under complete safety conditions constitutes a problem is something the responsible authorities should address.
The outbreak of avian influenza in the Sevlievo region became known at the beginning of May 2023. In order to neutralize the spread of the infection, the Regional Directorate of Food Safety in Gabrovo ordered the humane culling of the sick chickens and ducks and their burial in a site designated a year earlier by a committee appointed by the mayor of Sevlievo. This committee includes representatives from the Municipality, the RDFB, the Regional Health Inspectorate, the Regional Environmental and Water Inspection, the Basin Directorate, the Fire Department, the water supply operator for the respective municipality, and the Regional Directorate of Agriculture. Decisions by the committee are made unanimously, but the minutes of its meetings are not public. “Za istinata” obtained these minutes after requesting them under the Access to Public Information Act. They indicate that the site in the jurisdiction of Mlechevo is a subject of discussion and subsequent approval for the establishment of burial pits, but the procedures have not been completed.
However, the residents of Mlechevo are unaware that their village’s land is of interest for burial pit locations. It turns out that even the village mayor’s representative is uninformed, despite the fact that excavators and trucks had been stationed in the village square for days. Whether this was indeed kept from them is a separate question.
It is likely that the protection of residents in small communities is influenced by whether they have a mayor elected by themselves or a mayor’s representative appointed by the municipal mayor. In the latter case, regardless of what happens in their assigned village, the representatives tend to remain silent and do not oppose, in order to safeguard their positions. This is probably the difference between the Sevlievo village of Mlechevo, where tons of infected birds are buried underground, and the Gabrovo village of Yavorets, where infected poultry manure was not allowed.
