Romania, among the EU countries ‘exporting’ deadly coal pollution

Romania, along with Poland and Germany are the EU’s worst countries when it comes to ‘exporting’ deadly fumes from their coal-fired power plants, Europe’s Dark Cloud report has claimed, digi24.ro informs, quoting euronews.com.

“The trio’s coal pollution caused an estimated 8,840 premature deaths beyond their own borders, according to the analysis, produced by an alliance of environmental groups,” the source said.

The report looked at 257 coal plants across the EU, claiming they caused an estimated 22,900 premature deaths in 2013, on top of their environmental harm.

At the same time, the EU states worst-hit by coal pollution from other countries were Germany, Italy and France.

Romania, which caused 1,660 early deaths beyond its borders, is, like its neighbour Bulgaria, temporarily exempt from EU emission limits for industrial pollutants, meaning many of its plants do not have basic filters for sulphur dioxide, says the report.

It claims Romanian and Bulgarian coal-fired power facilities are responsible for 17 percent of all early deaths caused by coal pollution in Europe, despite accounting for only six percent of the total amount of coal burnt in power plants.

Poland is by far and away the EU’s worst offender. The report claims its coal-fired power plants are responsible for an estimated 4,690 premature deaths outside its borders and 1,140 within them.

At the opposite, Belgium this year became the latest EU country to go coal-free, joining Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Malta. Portugal aims to follow suit by 2020, the UK and Austria in time for 2025 and Finland sometime in the 2020s.