Bulgarian Authorities: Air Quality Normalizing After Refinery Blaze

Jerusalem, 21 September, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Pleven (BTA) There is no danger to the health of the population of Pleven and nearby communities after last night’s fire on the territory of the former Plama refinery. This was announced to BTA by the regional governor of Pleven district, Eng. Martin Machev.

He added that the fire has now been completely extinguished.

There are no increases in fine dust particles in Pleven.

According to the measurements of the mobile automatic station of the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water (RIEW) – Pleven for the state of atmospheric air, which is located in the village of Yasen, at 1:00 am the fine dust particles (PM10) were 13 micrograms per cubic meter. At 2:00 am they dropped to 12 micrograms. Gradually their quantity increased, with the highest value at 6:00 am, when they reached 432 micrograms per cubic meter. At 10:00 am the recorded value per cubic meter was 100 micrograms, and subsequently a drop to 35 micrograms was registered, with a norm for 10 hours of 100 micrograms.

There is a trend towards a decrease in the values. The final assessment will be made at 24:00 today. The 24-hour average norm for fine dust particles is 50 micrograms.

Nitrogen oxides were reported with slightly elevated concentrations, but without exceeding the regulatory thresholds. All other indicators are within normal limits.

The regional governor added that the measured higher values ​​of fine dust particles are due to soot, ash and dust resulting from the fire. He also said that the situation remains under continuous monitoring.

Residents of the village of Yasen complained that there was a lot of fog in the village this morning and some of them did not dare to go out. A BTA investigation found that people in the village are already out on the streets, in shops and restaurants.

On Saturday, old sludge tanks of the former refinery caught fire and a huge black cloud worried people in Pleven and nearby villages.