site.btaAuthorities Order Remediation After Diesel Contamination Near Pyasachevo

Petroleum products in the soil, significantly exceeding the permissible levels, have been detected at the site of the train derailment near the village of Pyasachevo, Simeonovgrad municipality. The Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water in Haskovo has prepared and published on its website a draft order outlining remediation measures to eliminate the environmental damage.

On August 15, 2025, at around 5:20 a.m., a freight train consisting of 34 tank cars carrying diesel fuel derailed near the village. Eight of the tankers caught fire, and fuel spilled on both sides of the railway line.

Soil samples taken from the site have shown exceedances of both the maximum permissible and intervention concentrations of diesel over an area of approximately three decares. Samples collected from other nearby locations did not reveal any deviations from regulatory limits.

The draft order instructs the train operator and owner of the cargo, Bulmarket Rail Cargo Ltd., to undertake so-called “bioremediation”, the treatment of soil with microorganisms that break down pollutants, followed by biostimulation and bioaugmentation.