Russian Military Says Preventing Chemical Leak From Abandoned Plant In Siberia Crucial

Russian Military Says Preventing Chemical Leak From Abandoned Plant in Siberia Crucial

SIBIRSKOYE, Russia, September 16 (Sputnik) - The military needs to ensure that a hazardous waste cleanup and the dismantling of the defunct Usolyekhimprom chemical plant in the town of Usolye-Sibirskoye in Russia's Irkutsk region does not cause a major leak into the environment, a senior officer of the radiation and chemical safety department of the Directorate of the Chief of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection (RCB) Troops, which is part of the Russian armed forces, told Sputnik on Wednesda

USOLYE-SIBIRSKOYE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th September, 2020) SIBIRSKOYE, Russia, September 16 (Sputnik) - The military needs to ensure that a hazardous waste cleanup and the dismantling of the defunct Usolyekhimprom chemical plant in the town of Usolye-Sibirskoye in Russia's Irkutsk region does not cause a major leak into the environment, a senior officer of the radiation and chemical safety department of the Directorate of the Chief of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection (RCB) Troops, which is part of the Russian armed forces, told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"When carrying out the [cleanup] work itself, we have provided for many degrees of protection, we want to prevent the slightest unforeseen situations, the penetration of anything infected beyond the territory of the industrial site," Yevgeny Veber said.

The officer added that the RCB troops held numerous joint drills with the Russian Federal Biomedical Agency, Ministry of Emergency Situations and the National Guard on the territory of the plant.

"That is, everyone knows their role and place in the event of any emergency," Veber noted.

He went on to say that the dismantling of the chemical plant would be carried out under certain conditions.

"When dismantling the structures of the plant, the most important thing is to not create a dust cloud of toxic mercury vapors, because it will be similar to a radioactive cloud. That is why we will be constantly putting protective screens," Veber said.

Military specialists will start the work when the ambient temperature drops below 16 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit).

The Usolyekhimprom chemical plant had been a key enterprise in Usolye-Sibirskoye since 1936. The plant ceased activities in 2010 and was declared bankrupt seven years later. A significant amount of waste was placed in underground tanks, as a result of which soil and underground waters have been saturated with hazardous chemicals.

On August 14, the press service of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko said that a comprehensive project to recultivate the polluted area in Usolye-Sibirskoye would be completed by the end of 2021.