Contamination source: mining
The Nikitovsky Mercury Mine Plant used to produce mercury by open-cast mining from 1957 till 1995. Today, the plant consists of the carcass of a metallurgical shop, five abandoned mercury mines with depths from 40 to 180 metres, a waste dump and closed mercury mine, and also a high concentration of mercury in the soil and water. The site is labelled as being in the first category for danger, with a regulatory sanitary zone of 1000 m. The regulatory sanitary zone, of course, doesn’t exist and a hundred apartment houses are located one kilometre away from the plant. In spite of some positive dynamics concerning air quality, the incidence of disease among the population continues to grow.
Toxics: Mercury
