Municipal environmental monitoring in Siauliai

Siauliai City Council and the Department of Ecological Problems and Natural Resources are responsible for municipal environment monitoring in Siauliai. The Siauliai Municipal Environment Research Laboratory (SMERL) was founded in 1992 for this purpose. Its main tasks are to evaluate the state of the environment and its change-related tendencies and arrange for the creation of data collection and processing as well as a modelling system for making effective and long-term prognoses. SMERL also coordinates and organizes social environment-related education.

A SMERL specialist testing heavy metals in air and water using a spectrometer.

One of the biggest environmental problems in Siauliai is traffic, which is responsible for 70% of the total air pollution in the town. There are 15 air quality analysing stations in the town and biomonitoring investigations are also carried out for complex evaluation of air pollution. In accordance with the Law of Environmental Protection of Lithuanian Republic, legal and physical entities ought to estimate the influence of their economic activity upon the environment and implement measures to decrease this influence. SMERL co-ordinates investigations carried out by such enterprises and takes part as a third person during their negotiations with state environmental protection structures. Municipal ecological education is carried out by informing and involving citizens as well as, on the other hand, developing relations to local and international environmental protection organizations. For more information on this topic, please contact Mr Rimantas Krankalis, Head of SMERL, fax. +370 14 27 575. Back to the Table of Contents