KIEV, Feb. 2 – Urgent measures are needed to prevent an environmental disaster at a huge chemical company in western Ukraine that if out of control may affect 10 million people, President Viktor Yushchenko said Tuesday.

The company, Kaliyniy Zavod, is a major producer of potassium, and has a lake of chemical and toxic wastes that may find their way into the Dnister River, contaminating a huge area.

The facility was built back in the Soviet Union, but urgent work is needed to strengthen the reservoir holding the wastes, and the government had failed to address the issue.

“Today an effective response is urgently needed in order to prevent a chemical threat to the environment and to the lives of millions of Ukrainians,” Yushchenko said after visiting the company. “More than 10 million people live in the area that may be affected.”

Kaliyniy Zavod, based in Kalush, the Ivano-Frankivsk region, was once part of a petrochemical giant Oriana, which had been exporting products to Hungary and other European countries.

Now, most of Oriana’s assets are owned and controlled by Russian oil major Lukoil, while Kaliyniy Zavod has been left in the Ukrainian ownership.

Yushchenko said he will call on Wednesday the meeting of the National Security and Defense Council, the country’s top security body, to discuss the measures that must be taken to prevent the catastrophe.

The government’s environment committee has reviewed the issue on several occasions, but no action has been taken by the Cabinet of Ministers, apparently due to lack of money.

Yushchenko on Wednesday will suggest tapping the government’s strategic reserves to finance urgent measures strengthening the reservoir.

Meanwhile, the greatest concern is over the lake holding 12,000 metric tons of hexachlorbenzene, or petrochlorbenzene, which is a third of Ukraine’s all toxic wastes.

Hexachlorobenzene, or HCB, is an animal carcinogen and is considered to be a probable human carcinogen. After its introduction as a fungicide in 1945, for crop seeds, this toxic chemical was found in all food types. It was banned from use in the United States in 1966.

HCB is very toxic to aquatic organisms and may cause long term adverse effects in the aquatic environment.

“This contains the threat of an ecological catastrophe of a European scale,” Yushchenko said. “The situation is alarming. We are on the brink of the catastrophe.” (nr/ez)