• The Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water (RIEW) monitors data after the accident at the Maritsa 3 Thermal Power Plant (TPP)

The air quality indicators in Dimitrovgrad are normal, after unorganized emissions and high-pressure steam were released from the boiler room of the Maritsa 3 TPP building this evening shortly after 18h.

Data from the Rakovski automatic measuring station in the city show that at 18h the hourly average value for sulfur dioxide was 15.62 micrograms per cubic meter of air, at a rate of 350 micrograms per hour. In the next two hours, the values ​​for this indicator were even lower – 14.78 micrograms per cubic meter of air at 19h and 14.53 micrograms per cubic meter of air at 20h. The wind direction during these three hours was Northwest-West. No values of sulfur dioxide have been measured to exceed standards in Dimitrovgrad, the increases are within the permissible limits.

From 18h to 20h, the values ​​of fine dust particles with a size of 10 are low, as the norm for this indicator is an average of 24 hours, i.e. 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

During the timely inspection of the TPP by experts of the RIEW-Haskovo, it was found that a technical problem had arisen - critically high vibrations in a feed pump, which led to the immediate shutdown of the boiler at 18:05. During its shutdown, as a result of unloading the steam from the boiler installation, unorganized emissions and steam under high pressure were released from the boiler room building for about 6-8 minutes.

The RIEW-Haskovo monitors the quality of atmospheric air in Dimitrovgrad, the indicators are under continuous monitoring and citizens will be informed regularly.