Fish farms on Zamarayka, Kakva and Sosva have lost their fish populations
Supervisory authorities have officially confirmed the excess of metal content in the rivers of the Serovsky district and discharges from the industrial site of the Vorontsovsky deposit, where the Polymetal company operates. At the same time, they did not see any grounds for introducing any sanctions against industrialists, pointing out that water from the rivers and the Zamaraisky pond is not used for drinking and economic activities, and according to documents, there are no recreational zones on the reservoirs at all. Residents, however, indicate that they regularly use the pond for watering their gardens, relaxing and fishing. In addition, active fish farming is carried out on the reservoir itself and on the flowing rivers up to Sosva. However, after the emergency at the industrial site, the number of fish, including valuable species bred, according to local resource users, “has decreased significantly. Birds left the reservoirs, and the forest began to dry out.” Restoring the biological balance now, according to experts, will take years. Activists are trying to bring polluters to justice, fearing a repeat of the disaster. At the same time, the Sverdlovsk environmental prosecutor’s office does not notice the source of pollution, and the industrialists themselves avoid explanations.
Supervisory agencies completed inspections at the request of environmentalists and local residents of reservoirs and the territory adjacent to the industrial site of JSC Gold of the Northern Urals and LLC Krasnoturinsk-Polymetal (controlled by JSC Polymetal, which was previously acquired by the Mangazeya group).
According to the Ural Interregional Department of Rosprirodnadzor, traces of overflow from industrial facilities were found at the site. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the region also indicates the presence of runoff from the Vorontsovskoye gold deposit site.
Local residents recorded the runoff at the end of April. The water flowed into the Bezymyanny Stream, from there into the Kamenka River and Zamaraysky Pond, and further into the Zamarayka, Kakva and Sosva rivers. Samples from reservoirs were sent for research several times. At the end of April, according to the Rospotrebnadzor department, the nickel content in the pond was 10-50 times higher, and the copper content was 5 times higher. As of mid-July, the amount of copper in the water of the Bezymianny Stream was 16.6 times higher than the maximum permissible concentration. The supervisory agency did not provide data on measurements of metals in soil.
The regional Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology could not determine the reason for the drying out of the forests until the end of September, noting that an application was sent to the Serovskoye Lesnichestvo State Institution for the appointment of a specialist for a forest pathological examination, and the institution is still “preparing materials for contacting law enforcement agencies to determine circumstances indicating signs of a crime.”
Rospotrebnadzor does not see any grounds for taking action against polluters. In the official response, representatives of the department said that the population of the nearest village of Klyuchevoy does not use water from the rivers for drinking and household needs, and recreation zones on the reservoirs have not been established, therefore, there are no violations of Sanitary Regulations and Regulations. Residents themselves, however, point out that the reality is strikingly different from the departments’ responses.
For about 10 years, entrepreneur Nikolai Mashkin has been engaged in industrial fish farming on the Zamaraisky pond. Using his own funds, he cleared the banks and dredged the reservoir. Now his farm also breeds grass carp, colored carp, silver carp, bream, and pike on the Kakva and Sosva rivers, where water flows from the pond. However, after spring pollution that occurred during the spawning period, the fish died. The entrepreneur estimates the damage at tens of millions of rubles.
According to the Nizhneobsky territorial department of Rosrybolovstvo, in samples taken from reservoirs 12 days after the discharge, the copper content was exceeded by 133 and 75 times, manganese by 35 and 26 times, and the indicators of phenols, nickel, sulfides, and ammonium nitrogen were also higher than the MAC .
Activists point out that the data from the inspections of the supervisory departments were brought to the environmental prosecutor’s office of the Sverdlovsk region, but the department refused to open a case on the basis of an allegedly unidentified source of pollution. Currently, having new responses from departments confirming the presence of an outflow from the industrial site, the entrepreneur is preparing an appeal to the prosecutor’s office of the Sverdlovsk region, including a complaint about the inaction of the environmental prosecutor’s office.
Representatives of Polymetal and its member companies did not comment on the situation.
