Prolonged windless weather that could be observed in Nizhniy Tagil at the end of January 2012 was the cause of the worsening environmental conditions that finally made the locals place a complaint with the public prosecution authorities. Due to these citizens’ complaints, the Nizhniy Tagil public prosecution authorities for the environment had to check how well the local enterprises Nizhniy Tagil Iron & Steel Works (NTMK) and Uralvagonzavod comply with the air protection regulations.

It was detected that while this unfavorable weather held, NTMK’s coke production department kept shipping its chemical produce, even though this is forbidden is windless weather.

It was also revealed that the production departments of Uralvagonzavod failed to comply with the environmental requirements for unfavorable weather conditions: one of the departments kept on using its tube-cutting unit and rotoblast barrel, while another one occasionally used its ready-mix station, even though it is illegal to use the station in unfavorable weather conditions.