This endangered region is marked off by the towns Vranov nad Topľou, Humenné and Michalovce with the centre around Strážske. The region goes south esp. to Vojany and Trebišov settlements. The region occupies the area of Humenné, Vranov nad Topľou, Trebišov and Michalovce districts. The pollution is mainly caused by the chemical and energy industries. In this endangered region, there are 207 000 inhabitants living in 57 settlements, eight are municipal. The region occupies the area of 1 081 km².

Air Pollution
 

The largest sources of air pollution in Stredný Zemplín region according to the emissions of basic air pollutants from 1996 to 1997 (tonnes per year) Pollution sources SPM SO2 NOx CO 1996 1997 1996 1997 1996 1997 1996 1997 SE a. s. Power Station Vojany (EVO) 8 589.9 10 607.0 25 578.6 22 077.0 17 587.7 17 302.0 722.8 729.0 Chemko a.s. Strážske 642.6 580.6 8 939.5 9 404.5 2 787.7 1 900.9 2 698.3 2 640.1 Bukóza a.s. Vranov nad Topľou 363.4 369.3 2 948.0 3 204.0 761.0 806.0 344.4 344.0 Chemes a s. Humenné 672.2 569.0 2 881.1 2 332.0 676.1 758.0 612.4 447.0 Potravinársky kombinát a. s. Trebišov 20.1 11.4 232.2 181.9 74.3 210.8 11.3 9.7                                                                                                                                                                                               Source: SHMÚ

 Basic characteristics of main producers of air pollution and pollutants

• The emission of basic pollutants from the largest sources of air pollution in this endangered region was 74 484 tonnes in 1997, that means 2 659 tonnes less than in 1996
• The slight decrease of SPM emissions was indicated in 1997 with the exception of Vojany power station, which produced 2 017 tonnes more emissions because of the increase of electricity production
• The total volume of SO₂ emissions from the largest sources was 3 380 tonnes more then in 1996. The increase of SO₂ emission by 465 tonnes was indicated in Chemko a.s. Strážske and by 256 tonnes in Bukóza a.s. Vranov nad Topľou
• The total volume of NO_x and CO emissions slightly decreased, compared to the year 1996
• The emissions of chlorine, mercaptan and hydrogen sulphide (Bukóza a.s. Vranov nad Topľou), ammonia, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, cyclohexane, cyclohexanone and alkylalcohol (Chemko a.s. Strážske) were also important.

Basic characteristics of the quality of surface watercourses at the checkpoints in 1997

• For the high concentrations of mercury, the River Laborec is put to water quality categories IV - V. Coliform bacteria in all checkpoints put the group of biological and microbiological indicators to category V- as a consequence of improper water treatment in WWTP in Michalovce and WWTP in Humenné
• The water quality in the Rivers Latorica and Uh tributaries running from Ukraine was in the quality categories III-V. The category V was caused by coliform bacteria
• The River Ondava watercourse bellow Vranov nad Topľou is in all assessed groups of indicators in the categories IV-V. This quality level is caused by COD_cr, IS, ENPuv, zinc and coliform bacteria indicators

The soil in this region is under the long-term impact of emissions from various sources. The acidification is apparent from the past production of Vojany power station and Chemko a.s. Strážske. The soil is in the category O-A not contaminated - risk soil according to the Soil Fertility Research Institute survey. The contamination by petroleum products was caused outside the territory of Slovakia (Ukraine) by the accidents that led to the contamination of the Rivers Uh and Latorica (in 1993 and 1994).

Waste Management

All district towns in this region have problems with the waste treatment. This situation is caused by the lack of landfill sites capacities and by the lack of appropriate landfill sites. The assessment of the environmental impact in Michalovce and Michalovce surroundings forced to find a new area for the new regional landfill site.

The largest producers of waste - hazardous including (Chemes a.s. Humenné, Chemko a.s. Strážske, Bukóza a.s. Vranov nad Topľou, Vojany power plant) solved the problem of waste management by the construction of their own landfill sites, incinerators and sludge pits so the waste management in these companies is in accordance to the legislation (except Bukóza a.s. Vranov nad Topľou). There is a waste separation plant operating in Michalovce.

Landfill sites in Stredný Zemplín region
 

	Industrial waste landfill of III. Construction category			Municipal landfill of III. Construction category
District	In accordance to the governmental regulation No. 606/92 Coll.	Special conditions issued in accordance to § 15 Act No. 238/91 Coll.	Operated by	In accordance to the governmental regulation No. 606/92 Coll.	Special conditions issued in accordance to § 15 Act No. 238/91 Coll.	Under the reconstruction / In the preparation	Sludge pits in accordance to Act. No. 327/96 Coll.
Michalovce	3	-	SE a.s. Power Station Vojany,  Chemko a.s. Strážske  Nafta a.s.Gbely	1	2	2	2
Humenné	1	-	Chemes a.s. Humenné	0	1	1	-
Vranov nad Topľou	-	1	Bukóza a.s. Vranov nad Topľou	2	0	1	-
Trebišov	-	-	-	0	1	1	-

Note: This chart contains only the district landfills that are within the endangered area.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Source: SAŽP