In Russia, 2021 has been declared the Year of the Environment. 2020 has brought us many man-made disasters, including & nbsp; associated with the activities of particularly dangerous companies, which caused damage to nature for hundreds of billions of rubles. Quite often, the cause of the emergency was a trivial lack of attention from regulatory authorities. & Nbsp;
Pure confusion
Alas, often companies belonging to the danger 1-3 class, the production of which carries a potential threat to others, including the environment, themselves do not want to comply with the necessary requirements and spend years in save on security. & nbsp;
November 24, 2020 AiF He explained in detail how our journalistic investigation opened to the regulatory and supervisory authorities of the Samara and Nizhny Novgorod regions a problem in the form of chemical companies for the production of coagulants, where the measures safety, including environmental, were seriously neglected in the material “ Dangerous production. Chemical factories are suspected of failing to comply with safety measures. & # 39; & # 39;
Throughout the year, while there was a journalistic investigation in order to attract the attention of regulatory authorities & mdash; Rostekhnadzor, Rospotrebnadzor, Rosprirodnadzor, Ministry of Emergencies, etc., & mdash; to violations that have clearly taken place in companies, we have repeatedly sent not only inquiries, but also appeals. But, as a rule, those on whom the establishment of order depended reacted rather slowly, and many in companies using sulfuric and hydrochloric acids in production, as it turned out later , for some reason didn't notice anything at all. ;
On the contrary, local environmentalists, unlike business owners and controllers, have and still ring all the bells, believing that chemical objects in their current state pose an irreparable threat to people and nature.
& mdash; We even before the release of the material in the “ AiF '' drew attention to companies located in the territory of the former factory “ Phosphorus '' & # 39; (now & mdash; “ Khimzavod '') in Togliatti. This area is already a compilation of the Periodic Table, and in the absence of proper control the situation has worsened completely, it appears that the relaxation of government control over business activities has failed. ; has made it more flexible for those who, even in the best times of the system's work, are not particularly concerned about safety in their businesses, especially the environment, & mdash; asserting his position Stanislav Volokhin, chairman of the council of the Samara regional branch of the Russian Ecological Movement … & mdash; It is sad that the owners of some organizations, whose activities are related to the use of highly hazardous substances, earning huge amounts of money, not only want to invest in modernization, but also to do things base to bring their order established by law.
Photo: Daniil Mayevsky
Why is the law aside?
So, for example, it was only after the intervention of the central district prosecutor's office of Togliatti & nbsp; that a number of controllers nevertheless opened their eyes to serious violations in the work of one of the coagulant production companies: LLC Alkhim, part of the LLC Metakhim holding. & Nbsp;
If in 2019 Rostekhnadzor, carrying out a routine inspection, noticed here only minor violations, the list of which was reduced to a description on 3-4 pages, and in August 2020 , when the DA's office stepped in and actually forced inspectors to leave the facility with full control, there were so many violations that they barely fit over 50 pages. & nbsp;
Among the complaints were those which required the immediate suspension of the company due to its danger not only to people but also to the environment. However, the licensing authority was in no rush to do so for some reason. The same wait-and-see attitude was adopted by the Labor Inspectorate, which counted more than 20 infringements. The list of complaints from the regional Ministry of Emergency Situations, which previously approved the safety data sheet of an industrial facility, spanned 85 points. The same goes for Rospotrebnadzor. In almost all areas, inspectors have identified violations that are among the grossest and pose a threat to human life and health.
Nature is silent and endures
And we are generally silent on the shortcomings of environmental legislation. Without waiting for a reaction from the Ministry of Natural Resources of the regions and Rosprirodnadzor, we had to do their work ourselves. The result of laboratory research on soil and water & mdash; exceeding the MPC for all indicators that may be associated with coagulant production, 6-7 times. & nbsp;
The same image was in another Metakhim facility located in the Nizhny Novgorod region: LLC; Aqua- Reagent ', where regulators had previously failed to pay attention to a number of serious violations.
However, it should be noted that the two companies still do not have proper security. & Nbsp;
Rostechnadzor did not even remember that this type of facilities, according to the Federal Law of March 6, 2006 No. 35-FZ “ On the fight against terrorism '' and the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 18, 2014 No. 1413 & # 39; On the approval of the requirements of anti-terrorism protection of industrial facilities (territories) & # 39;, must be protected by units of Russian Guard or FSUE 'Okhrana'. By the way, Rosgvardia herself has responded quite evasively to our and environmentalists' inquiries about this.
In Moscow, Siberia and the Far East, there is judicial practice on such procedures, which indicates the constructive work of regulatory authorities. In the Volga Federal District there is also a practice with regard to companies engaged in the production of coagulants, and it is quite successful, but for some reason these organizations were absent there until now. has recently.
However, it's too early to tell that everything has fallen into place. As well as early to draw conclusions about why the control for so long was, to say the least, & nbsp; not particularly impressive. There are some things that cause confusion even after posting. & Nbsp;
For example, for some reason, only the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Nizhny Novgorod region successfully arrived at the scene to take research material and carry out its own checks. The result, I confess, also amazed us: the content of sulfates and chlorides in the water is over 25,000 mg per liter, which indicates high concentrations of mineral salts. Only now the results of the procedure are still unknown. It is also unclear what has been done in the Samara region. & Nbsp;
Photo: Daniil Mayevsky
As for Rosprirodnadzor, in both regions this body has not been able to fulfill its functions. & nbsp;
& mdash; Rosprirodnadzor told us that the Volga & # 39; s Interregional Environmental Prosecutor's Office did not approve them for unscheduled inspection, & mdash; comments by Stanislav Volokhin. & mdash; Although, as far as I know, by law, permission from the prosecutor's office to take samples for laboratory research and air measurements is not required. But for some reason that wasn't realized either.
The Volga Environmental Prosecutor's Office explained to us why the Rosprirodnadzor services responsible for these regions could not get this approval. & Nbsp;
“ The refusal to approve an unscheduled inspection regarding these organizations was made due to the non-compliance by the Territorial Administration of Rosprirodnadzor with the requirements for the decision to carry out an unscheduled on-site inspection, what was indicated by the prosecutor's office in the refusal. But these violations of management's demands have never been eliminated. In connection with violations of the legislation on state control, the heads of the aforementioned interregional departments of Rosprirodnadzor received submissions & # 39; & # 39;, & # 39; mdash; reported Senior Assistant to the Prosecutor of the Volga Interregional Environmental Prosecutor's Office Maria Sidorova . & nbsp;
The same lull is occurring along the lines of other control departments. It remains to be hoped that the regional prosecution will lead what has started to its logical conclusion.
The editors will continue to follow developments and will certainly analyze the work of regulatory authorities at the production of coagulants factories in other regions. We hope that the situation with LLC Alchem and & laquo; Aqua-Reagent & raquo ;, & mdash; this is an isolated case.