Last year was marked by the fuss over Mondi Syktyvkar. Suffice it to mention September 27 when people smelled the emissions both in Ezhva and in Syktyvkar. According to Syktyvkar Interdistrict Environmental Prosecutor’s Office the violations had taken place at Mondi Syktyvkar. At present the preliminary proceedings are being held in court. Not long before the new year it became known that Mondi Syktyvkar had been fined for the exceeded maximum allowable concentrations of hazardous substances in the discharged waters. The penalty amount made up 35 thousand roubles. Now Ezhva District Court has to estimate the caused harm. Anton Aynazarov speaks about the perspective of this case in court and about the other claims raised by the State.

- Last year Mondi Syktyvkar was blamed for the emissions into the atmosphere. The Environmental Department actively took part in the investigation of these cases. It seems like there had been no problems until 2011.

- Of course, there had been problems and complaints. By the beginning of the last year we had already worked with Mondi Syktyvkar. We analyzed the situation of 2009-2010 and detected lots of violations. Previously we detected the violations basically in water. At present we inspect air, water and the amount of waste in forests.

- So what about the water?

- We made about 5-6 observations since September till the end of October. As a result we detected that the concentration of several hazardous substances almost constantly exceeded the maximum allowable limits. These substances get into the Vychegda.

- Where were these water samples taken?

- They were taken in Ezhva at several parts of the sewage outfalls (which is about 11 kilometres in length, and if you remember there had been pictures of foamy emissions taken at these sewage outfalls). Then the samples were taken from the Pychim river where the sewage outfalls join together (above and below the discharge point and in the discharge point itself). The discharge system in the Pychim is very complex. The main outlet here is not just a pipe that goes from the bank into the river. At a three-kilometer distance from the river the pipe goes under the ground and then rises from the underground in the middle of the river. The discharge is gradual and goes through several diffusers. Mondi Syktyvkar was held administratively liable for the excess of maximum allowable concentrations. The penalty amount made up 35 thousand roubles.

- Don’t you think this is a ridiculous sum of money?

- I don’t award these penalties myself. This is the legislative regulation and we can’t exceed its limits. On February 2 the legal action against Mondi for the October incident will be adjudicated by Ezhva court. The damage makes up 164 thousand roubles (also calculated according to the legislation). The court decision requires that the purification works should be adjusted in accordance with the new technologies. We have also addressed the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resource Usage with a demand to undertake joint studies of the river. If we find any violations we will again hold Mondi Syktyvkar liable. Mondi representatives say they pay for everything. But speaking about the excess we mean that the enterprise is allowed to discharge the waste within the limits of maximum allowable concentrations of hazardous substances. And these limits are exceeded.

- What is the real state of things at waste treatment facilities?

- Our studies show that only the biological treatment of discharged waters is carried out. But as the production at Mondi is chemical we ask them what chemical waste treatment facilities they have got. We get no answer, though the maximum allowable concentrations of chemical elements are also exceeded. Mondi administration claims they pay considerable sums of money for modernization, but I don’t see any results. Step is not an environmental project. It aims at the overall production increase. It happens despite the European practice. In Germany, for instance, the cellulose production is prohibited. We suggest that increasing the production Mondi should reduce the damage to the environment. When the Step project was completed and the production started, people began complaining about the emissions. That’s why last year we started intensive work with Mondi.

- Do you mean the situation of September 27 when lots of people complained about the smell coming from Mondi Syktyvkar?

- Yes, that day we didn’t receive any help from Mondi and wasted much time inspecting the enterprise. We found out that in the chief boiler there is a chamber for collecting discharge gases from each of the production departments. Then these gases are burnt down. On September 27 the burner was blocked and ceased its work. According to the instructions an emergency burner must be used in such cases. This burner should be warmed up during 20 minutes before it starts working. During this time period on September 27 the discharge gases were being emitted into the atmosphere. We studied the Siberian Federal District arbitration award and the equipment service instructions (dated 1983) which state that the use of technical equipment is prohibited in case the gas treatment units are switched off.

- Does this mean that the industrial complex had to stop its work for 20 minutes on September 27?

- Yes, and due to the Legal Practice in such questions we have quite strong positions in court. We have also indicated the other cases of emissions (that took place last year in January and February) in the legal action against Mondi Syktyvkar. During the inspection we made a copy of Mondi’s register with all the cases of emissions recorded there.

- Last autumn Mondi Syktyvkar published releases which stated that the rate of emissions was not exceeded.

- I received the same answer to my questions. But this doesn’t agree with the information from the documents. We sent all the data to the Pechora Division of the Federal Environmental, Engineering and Nuclear Supervision Agency. The answer was that the emissions had taken place, that the chief burner had been blocked and that the gas supply to the emergency burner started in 20 minutes, but this shouldn’t be considered a violation.

- What reasons for such an answer were given?

- No reasons were given. The Federal Environmental, Engineering and Nuclear Supervision Agency just stated that despite the emission of discharged gases no violations were detected.

- How is it possible?

- The Federal Environmental, Engineering and Nuclear Supervision Agency is the organization that must control the activity of dangerous objects. It has its own specialists in ecological monitoring. But in practice we do their work for them. We must only control that the objects are inspected correctly, but instead of this we inspect the objects ourselves, we file legal actions, demand the business units to keep on the right side of the law and attract the laboratories of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resource Usage, the Federal Supervision Agency for Customer Protection and Human Welfare, the Centre of Laboratory Analysis and Technical Metrology and the Centre of Hydrometeorology to carry out investigations. As for our Department, we have neither ecologists nor laboratories of our own. But what do we have to do with the emissions? For example, on September 27 our specialists together with the specialists from the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resource Usage and the Federal Supervision Agency for Customer Protection and Human Welfare used gas analyzers during the investigation at the territory of Mondi Syktyvkar. The specialists from the Federal Environmental, Engineering and Nuclear Supervision didn’t use them, though according to the regulations they may have a continuous access to the enterprise, especially in cases the violations are suspected. Our Department has to notify of the inspections beforehand to get the pass and the access to the objects. Can you imagine what will have happened at the industrial complex by the time we arrive?

- Here rises the question as to the objectivity and the independence of an expertise.

- An independent expertise should also be unexpected. In court Mondi representatives claim they have no excess. The Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resource Usage answers that Mondi detects no excess because it takes the measurements itself. In the European countries an enterprise installs sensors into a pipe and the data are transmitted on-line via the Internet, so that everyone can enter the site and check the data. I like this idea. But in our country a laboratory is owned by the enterprise which it should control.

- But you have already constructed the observation station at Stroitel district in Ezhva, haven’t you?

- Yes, and this station is a very good one. It is located right in the place where the main complaints come from. But the station lets us to study the environmental situation only in general. We can’t define where particularly the emissions come from.

- Evidently this gives Mondi the opportunity to blame the other enterprises for the emissions.

- Our claims for the water emissions are reasonable, because Syktyvkar Plywood Mill and Syktyvkar Tissue Group direct their discharges to Mondi for further purification. They pay for this under the agreement. As to the air, no violations at the other enterprises were detected during the inspections (we didn’t participate in those inspections).

- So what next? Will people continue smelling the emissions?

- The solution is extremely easy: if we want people to have no allergy or asthma, it is necessary to switch on both the chief and the emergency burners and to redirect the emission flows. This solution is inexpensive.

- Have any violations been detected at dumps and allotments as well?

- We are still inspecting the dumps. Mondi Syktyvkar has a dump of lignin in Ezhva, but during the investigation we found building waste and household rubbish along with lignin there. We will question Mondi about it. Another question is the sludge dumps. While examining the compliance with the fire security requirements we found out that much of felled timber hadn’t been removed from the areas rented by Mondi. This is the violation of the storage and sanitary regulations.

- Some time ago there used to be discussions about the necessity of creating a sanitary protection zone, but then the discussions were set aside.

- Yes, we took up this question. The Step project underwent the federal expertise and it was expected that by the end of the reconstruction the sanitary protection zone would have been created. We brought a legal action against Mondi, but the court dismissed it, as Mondi had collected and sent all the documentation to the chief medical sanitation officer for approval. We are glad that at least these steps have been taken. Indeed the situation is much more difficult, for it is necessary to examine the northern industrial hub in general, which means about 70 enterprises. They intensify the negative situation that’s why creating the sanitary protection zone is a need.

- But are the proprietors of these enterprises ready to invest the creation of the industrial hub and of the sanitary protection zone?

- That’s the question. And another question is who will supervise their organization. These questions are discussed at governmental level. Also we are creating an inter-agency working group. I’m going to be a member of this group. But it’s still difficult to say by what time the problem of organization will have been solved.

- At present it’s hard to believe that our laws and such scanty penalty amounts can make Mondi Syktyvkar comply with the environmental legislation.

- We will inspect them until the violations are ceased. If the violations are detected in all fields of concern the legislation provides for stern measures to be taken against the enterprise, up to the suspension of its activity.

- Do you believe in that yourself?

- (A pause) Yes, I do.

- Mondi is one of the largest companies in Europe which has been visited by the country’s chief executives. You and Mondi belong to different categories.

- We have already started to be taken seriously. Now Mondi has a numerous representation in courts and we are glad about that.