The Ryazan inter-district environmental prosecution together with specialists from Rosprirodnadzor and the regional ministry of nature management checked the fact of pollution of the pond in the Nedostoyevo microdistrict in the spring of 2018. They established companies involved in pollution, calculated damage. Prosecutor of Ryazan inter-district environmental prosecution Alexey Sekin wrote about it in a written response to the request of «7x7».
The inspection revealed that rainwater drainage from two industries spilled into the pond during the flood. "In particular, it was established that in 2015, Tochinvest Zinc LLC, laid an iron pipe underground along the concrete fence of Tyazhpressmash JSC and the railway to remove groundwater and rainwater from the territory of Tochinvest Zinc LLC, sewage from the Tyazhpressmash sludge dump located on the adjacent territory got in this pipe <...>", Sekin explained.
Accredited laboratory of the Ryazan State University named for S. A. Yesenin conducted research and found that the following substances contained in the sludge pit: ammonium ion, nitrites, phosphorus phosphates, petroleum products, iron, manganese, zinc, nickel, chromium and phenols. From this pipe, the sewage fell into the storm collector of Safyan PJSC (the service company of the Ryazan tannery), from where it entered the tributary of the Bystrica River through the ravine and further into a small pond located below Novostroika Street in the Nedostoyevo district.
The damage caused to the reservoir amounted to 61620 rubles.
The prosecution made submissions to the managers of the enterprises of Tochinvest Zinc LLC and Tyazhpressmash JSC and brought them to administrative responsibility for violating the requirements of environmental legislation under articles 7.6 ("Unauthorized occupation of a water body or use it with violation of the established conditions") 8.2 ("Non-compliance of ecological and sanitary-epidemiological requirements when handling production and consumption wastes, substances that deplete the ozone layer, or other dangerous substances") and parts 4 of the article 8.13 of the Administrative Code ("Violation of the requirements for the protection of water bodies, which may entail their pollution, contamination or depletion"). In order to determine the source of contamination of the reservoir as accurately as possible, the Ryazan Agrotechnological University continues to study documents and laboratory tests.
In mid-April, 2018, residents of the Novostroyka Street of the Ryazan microdistrict Nedostoyevo noticed a brown substance on the icy surface of a small lake. After the ice collapsed, the reservoir became reddish. Residents appealed to television, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the regional prosecutor's office, the Rosprirodnadzor department and the ministry of nature management. The first studies showed that the level of iron, zinc and lead in water is exceeded by 30 times. The authorities promised to continue research and establish the perpetrator of the pollution.
Immediately after the news of the sudden reddening of the lake, the Ryazan citizens suggested that one of the two nearby enterprises was guilty: the Ryazan tannery or the Tochinvest Zinc LLC. The leaders of both companies immediately denied the charges on their websites. The tannery even compared the Ryazan mass media to the Western media and accused them of causing reputational damage to the branch-forming enterprises.
In July, Ryazan video blogger Alexander Inyutochkin conducted his own investigation and showed an open drain, by which the black water flows down the slope. He claims that pollution was not a one-time event, but a continuous one. According to his photos, it is clear that the reservoir is still brownish, by the end of July it has not been covered with duckweed and other plants.
According to the Ryazan environmental activist and horticulturalist Andrey Petrutsky, the waters of the lakes in Nedostoyevo along with the next high water will enter the river Oka.
Ekaterina Vulikh, «7x7»
