In North Ossetia, disputes over the fate of the “Electrozinc” plant continue. In Vladikavkaz, the struggle to close the “Electrozinc” factory has been going on for almost 10 years: residents are dissatisfied with the emissions into the atmosphere and are convinced that it is poisoning their lives. Working in the factory is a dangerous production, which in one case led to cancer. The Russian service of the BBC visited North Ossetia and found out who is against “Electrozinc” – and who needs the factory.
On October 21, one of the workshops of the Vladikavkaz lead and zinc factory burned down. One person died while extinguishing the fire, and two were injured. The inhabitants of the city began to complain of suffocation and coughing and began to leave the city in large numbers. Two days later, about a thousand people gathered in front of the North Ossetian government building, demanding the closure of the factory. This time the action ended with the promise of the head of the region, Vyacheslav Bitarov, to join the protesters if the plant is not closed. The residents dispersed, but the plant continues to operate.
Judging by the words of the youth, doctors, and activists in Vladikavkaz, one gets the impression that the city is truly united in the fight against “the monster” – as people call “electrozinc”. Ordinary passers-by on the streets of the city are not so unanimous. A couple at a tram stop on Prospekt Mira – an older man in a long black coat and hat, and a younger woman, also in a coat, hat, red scarf, and low-heeled boots. When asked what should be done with “Elektrotsink”, the woman emotionally replies that it should be closed “to hell, so it doesn’t poison people”. The man calmly says: “We should keep it, it feeds people, it is our inheritance”. The woman switches to Ossetian and starts arguing with the man, who also responds calmly. The argument continues, even as a tram approaches.
Former employee of the “Electrozinc” plant, Murat Tomaev. Murat Tomaev joined “Electrozinc” in 2003. He became a fourth-category smelter in the electrolytic workshop. According to Murat, the work was difficult. Tomayev worked in hazardous production for 17 years, half of them at Electrozinc. Working in a smelter is associated with contact with carcinogenic substances, especially lead, says Murat. In 2010, a malignant tumor of the bladder was detected in the smelter. Two years later, Tomayev proved in court that the disease was directly related to his work at Electrozinc. During these two years, Murat has memorized all the regulations and decisions that state that his tumor falls under the list of diseases caused by hazardous production. “Of course it was a shock, but what can you do, you have to endure it,” says Murat. His wife didn’t work at the time, and their three children were students. He lost his job and the family lost their income. “If I got a job in the factory, not heavy work, but at least something, even sweeping… I couldn’t find work,” Tomayev says. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what will happen next. The number of offers should remain : Episodes The End of the Story – Podcast Advertising The former smelter was offended by the factory, but does not hold a grudge. He says it was not difficult to prove his right in court, but he had little knowledge of the legal nuances, so the case dragged on. The money he won in the lawsuit – 300,000 rubles for moral damages – he considers a very large sum. Murat receives a monthly insurance payment of 16,000 rubles, which is enough for him. Tomayev says that there are good doctors, lawyers, and supervisory bodies in Ossetia: “They defended my rights. Murat even speaks warmly of the factory director. Igor Khodyko, he says, provided a card of laboratory tests, and Rospotrebnadzor proved that the illness was contracted through work at the plant. Tomaev lost 70% of his ability to work. 16 thousand rubles is exactly the same 70% of his former salary. His medication is also paid for. Murat describes the current situation at the factory as a misfortune, but believes that if the burnt-down workshop is rebuilt using new technologies, “then for God’s sake, let it work, because jobs are needed. “I know what it’s like to be unemployed. It’s terrible,” says the man. Opponents of Electrozinc do not believe that the factory is good for the city. They closely monitor its activities and compare the revenues with the damage it causes. They are confident that the workers who might lose their jobs after the plant closes will find another place: “Are 2000 jobs worth the health of the whole nation?” – Vladikavkaz blogger Alik Pukhaev is outraged. The website of the plant states that the tax payments of “Electrozinc” for 2017 amount to 842 million rubles, of which 52 million will go to the city budget and another 130 million to the regional budget. The main owners of UGMK, which owns “Electrozinc”, are Iskander Mahmudov (16th place in the ranking of the richest Russians according to Forbes) and Andrey Kozitsyn (25th place). Lawsuits and inspections lead to nothing, complain residents of Vladikavkaz. The court has several times canceled the orders of Rosprirodnadzor to “Electrozinc”. During the last trial, which took place in early October this year, the court sided with the plant on two claims. In 1996, the Government of the Russian Federation issued a decree on improving the environmental condition of Vladikavkaz. It included a provision for eliminating the negative impact of industrial enterprises: the expansion of the sanitary protection zone for the “Electrozinc” plant and the relocation of residences from this zone. After 2000, it was planned to build houses for the families who had been resettled from this zone, but nothing was done. The residents of Vladikavkaz are concerned not only about the operation of the plant, but also about what will happen when it closes. Doctor Marianna Kadokhova says that the land after the plant will have to be cleaned up and the plant will have to remove the waste.
Cardiologist Mariana Kadokhova The piles of waste (called clinker here) rise several feet above the factory fence. Residents claim that toxic fumes rise from the clinker after rain. “Electrozinc claims that the waste problem is being successfully addressed: “Since 2004, the entire volume of clinker produced has been sent to UGMK copper companies for further processing. Since 2016, in accordance with the comprehensive program to improve the sanitary and epidemiological situation in Vladikavkaz, landfill clinker has been sent to Ural enterprises.” Workers at the plant often mention Electrozinc’s charitable projects. In the “Social Responsibility” section of the company’s website, it is stated that the factory is involved in supporting culture, sports, patriotic education, children’s care, and other socially important areas. With the factory’s support, the website says, theater premieres are held, football teams are revived, memorial plaques are opened, and the company also sends children to summer camps. In 2018 alone, “Electrozinc” received more than 2.3 million rubles from the Ministry of Labor of North Ossetia for the organization of children’s recreation. According to the Telegram channel “BullShitOldFashion”, which publishes news about North Ossetia, “Electrozinc” has been winning tenders of the Ministry of Labor in North Ossetia since 2011. According to “Spark-Interfax”, since 2011, the factory has signed 10 contracts with the Ministry of Labor of North Ossetia for the organization of children’s holidays for a total amount of 16 million rubles. The fire that broke out in the electrolysis workshop of the plant on October 21 is not the first accident at the plant. The citizens of Vladikavkaz have been fighting for its closure for 9 years. In October 2009, there was an emergency release of toxic sulfur anhydride and sulfur dioxide. The permissible concentration of sulfur dioxide in the residential area of the city was exceeded tenfold after the releases. Local activists and journalists responded to the emissions by organizing a masked march and launching the “Stop Electrocink” movement. One of the movement’s initiators was Madina Sageeva. There was always talk about the plant’s environmental impact, Medina recalls: “Someone in the kitchen would talk about politics, but we would always talk about ‘electrozinc. Some were choking, some had a metallic taste in their mouth, some had something else. We shared news. In her case, Madina recalls, the conversations would have stayed in the kitchen if she hadn’t moved to a house a kilometer away from the factory. Her one-and-a-half-year-old child began coughing and struggling to breathe. At first, Madina treated him for a cold, but nothing helped; the attacks resembled an allergic reaction. Madina decided that her child’s cough was related to the emissions from the factory. At the time, she couldn’t prove anything, there was nothing to hold on to, she hadn’t seen the accident with her own eyes: “People who have lived near the factory for a long time told me that planned emissions occur at night and when fog descends on the city.” Madina had no confirmation. Sagen’s allies were quickly found. Medina was supported mainly by young people concerned about the ecological situation in the city, but during the march past the government building, nuns from the Alansky Epiphany Monastery joined the participants, the activist recalls. The movement, which involved about a thousand people at the time, lasted one year in its active phase, but individual activists continued weekly actions for several more years. Now, according to Madina, the youth are acting just as their movement did at the time. “I can already hear conversations about how those who were paid by [UGMK shareholder Iskander] Mahmudov’s economic competitors, political forces, and so on, are protesting. What kind of politics is it when we drink water that comes from a spring two kilometers from the factory?” she exclaims.
Shift leader in the hydrometallurgical workshop of the “Electrozinc” plant, Larisa Kochieva. During the Soviet period there were 194 enterprises in North Ossetia, now there are only three. “Electrozinc is one of them. Larisa Kochieva has been working in the factory since 1969. She raised her children alone and said: “Everything is thanks to our beloved factory”. She lives not far from “Electrozinc” and disagrees with the idea that emissions affect people’s health. She thinks that the protests of the activists are a plot of the forces that want to “destroy the factory”. Larisa says that there are 1700 factory veterans in the republic, many of whom live to be 90 and do not die of cancer. To anyone who talks about the harmful effects of emissions, the factory worker suggests switching from cars to bicycles, eating healthy food, and moving from the city to the countryside. “They should not eat fast food and drink carbonated water, which can be used to clean toilets,” Larisa believes. According to one of the company’s employees, if Electrozinc closes, the nearly two thousand remaining workers will be unable to feed their families, pay for utilities, and may even resort to theft. “People have taken out loans, bought apartments with mortgages, how are they going to pay?” she justifies her position. Kochiyeva explains that the “Electrozinc” plant stops for regular maintenance every year, and the presence of harmful substances in the air is a result of the heavy traffic in Vladikavkaz. She believes that the connection between oncological diseases in Vladikavkaz and the factory’s work is unjustified. According to her, the factory has the lowest number of cancer patients. “And what about Kobzon? Did he work in our factory? Did Zadornov work here? My grandmother lived 60 kilometers from here and died of cancer, too,” says Larisa. In 2003, when the plant was acquired by the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UGMK), the company flourished, Kochieva says: “Just look at our park on the premises of the plant. We have flowers, fountains, Wi-Fi, and they want to turn us into barbarians. And the contributions? More than 500 million a year! Why cut the branch you’re sitting on?”
The mountains of waste (called clinker here) rise several meters above the fence of the plant. One of the main proponents of closing the plant is Dzambolat Tedeev, a deputy in the North Ossetian parliament. A year ago, Tedeev ordered a special study of the soil and water around the plant. According to the deputy, he spent about 2 million rubles from his own pocket on the study. The results of the work of the St. Petersburg Center for Expertise and Exploration were published on October 24. According to them, the level of harmful substances was exceeded hundreds and even thousands of times. “The largest exceedance was found in samples: No. 3 (Požarskogo Street, even side) cadmium by 1055.0 times, copper – by 64.5 times, lead – by 496.8 times, arsenic – by 15.4 times, mercury – by 39 times,” the authors of the study write. Ossetians do not know why the deputies suddenly showed unity with the people. “Because families live here, too,” says doctor Marianna Kadokhova. “Maybe they realized that it has to be closed for good, or maybe they just want to calm people down,” says blogger Alik Pukhaev. “We have already had politicians who started by saying they would close the plant and ended with the phrase ‘smoke from shashlik is more harmful than Elektrotsink’.” One of the activists’ main arguments for closing the plant is what they say is the high rate of cancer in the region.
In 2017, the chief oncologist of the Cancer Clinic of North Ossetia confirmed that over the course of a year, the number of people diagnosed with cancer increased by 1.3 thousand, and now amounts to about 17 thousand. According to the report of the Hertsen Institute, in 2017 North Ossetia ranked third in the number of cancer cases, with the number of patients accounting for 6.9% of the total population.
Another concern that makes it necessary to close the plant, according to residents, is genetic mutations that could affect future generations. “The expert who examined the soil around the plant told me that genetic changes are inevitable. Although the first generation of people living near the plant did not suffer, it does not mean that their children and grandchildren will be able to avoid the consequences. I was told that the only way to save the environment is to remove one meter of soil from the entire city and replace it with new soil. But this is impossible, at least let them get rid of this monster now,” says Madina Sagineeva.
In English, the translated text reads: “I stand in solidarity with Madina and the cardiologist from Vladikavkaz, Marianna Kadokhova. Marianna is a member of the public organization ‘Comprehensive Security of the Motherland’ and participated in organizing the testing of soil, water and plants in Vladikavkaz.”
“I was most interested in the content of heavy metals because they have an impact on the development of pathologies, they are primary risk factors for the development of oncological diseases and premature death,” says Kadohova. The results of the research showed that the soil has excessive levels of cadmium and arsenic, and the residents of Ossetia consume them, according to the doctor. “The salts of heavy metals affect pregnancy, they can cause developmental defects. To link a person’s illness to poisoning, all you need is a test for heavy metal levels in urine and hair,” she explains.
The cardiologist bases his conclusions on data from the World Health Organization, which lists cadmium and arsenic and their compounds among carcinogenic substances. Doctors attribute the increase in malignant tumors to heavy metals seeping into the soil, water and air: “It turns out that our tsaharadzhyn – a cake with beet leaves – turns into a tsaharadzhyn with cadmium, sprinkled with arsenic. These are our pies.”