UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 21, 2018. Ural Federal District division of Rosprirodnadzor (the national environmental watchdog) is going to investigate the activity of Ural Mining & Metallurgical Company’s asset Svyatogor at Shemursky and Novo-Shemursky Deposits next year.

‘Rosprirodnadzor intends to carry out a number of additional checks regarding Svyatogor, take water samples at Shemursky and Novo-Shemursky Deposits, and inspect the sources of pollution there,’ the division informed UrBC.

Earlier on, Rosprirodnadzor officers did a verification check of the conservation zones and water areas of the Shegultan, the Tamshyor, and the Olkhovka on October 11-15, 2018 following complaints of river pollution.

It is reported that no sources of pollution or pollutant confluence points were detected during the check. Water samples were collected from the Shegultan, the Tamshyor, and the Olkhovka. Based on the lab test results, the water in all the three rivers has a higher pollutant content that what is allowed for rivers of commercial fishing importance.

In October 2018, Rosprirodnadzor placed its application for an unscheduled inspection of Svyatogor. The checks carried out in November and December 2018 uncovered seven environmental problems at Shemursky and Novo-Shemursky Deposits.

‘Seven warrants got issued, while the legal entities responsible will have to face administrative liability (eight administrative offense lawsuits based on Article 7.3 (Part 2) and Article 8.1 of the Russian Federation Administrative Offense Code,’ Rosprirodnadzor reports.