Sochi, the host city for the 2014 Winter Olympics, lacks official garbage dumps for both Games construction and household waste, a business daily said on Tuesday.
The ecological situation in the city has become critical, Vedomosti said, citing the Russian Audit Chamber.
Currently, all waste is disposed of at a site near the village of Loo. However, the dump was officially closed in 2006, chamber auditor Mikhail Odintsov said.
The dump frequently sees blazes and waste pollutes the waters of the Pitkha River, which runs into the Black Sea, another member of the chamber said.
If the situation remains unchanged, during the peak of construction there will be no place to legally dispose of some 5 million tons of waste.
The situation could be changed by the construction of waste processing plants, but they won't be built before 2013. Responsibility for their construction lies with companies belonging to Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska.
Seventy-two out of 242 Olympic facilities planned to be built in Sochi are already under construction.
Environmentalists have also been protesting against developers' plans for Sochi, warning they could damage the unique landscape of the North Caucasus, where some territories are protected as natural UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak dismissed in March environmental concerns, accusing environmentalists of aiming to "trash" the Games instead of taking "a constructive stance."
In May the Russian branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) sent to the State Corporation Olympstroy, responsible for Olympic building projects, its remarks and proposals concerning a draft document introducing "green" standards for Games construction in Sochi.
The Russian branch of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) also sent its remarks concerning the draft document to Olympstroy.
Gleb Vatletsov, who heads Olympstroy's department responsible for environmental protection, said the state corporation "highly appreciates the role of public organizations in accompanying preparations for the 2014 Olympics in the city of Sochi."
The Sochi Winter Olympic Games will open on February 7, 2014.
MOSCOW, September 7 (RIA Novosti)
