The head of the region, Alexei Teksler, said at a specially convened meeting about the creation of an environmental council, which will include leading industrialists, as well as environmental scientists, social activists and regulatory organizations of the region. The Council will unite all interested forces to control and ensure the cleanliness of air in the Chelyabinsk region.
One of the first tasks of the new body will be the development and introduction of a regional environmental standard, as well as monitoring compliance with the law on emission quotas. Also, the council's duties include informing the population about the environmental situation in the region, organizing public hearings, and supporting environmental associations. In addition to regional eco-activists, it will include Russian and foreign experts.
Rashid Ismailov, chairman of the All-Russian public organization "Russian Ecological Society", has been proposed to head the body. One of the first proposals of the Council will be the introduction of the practice of mandatory environmental audits for enterprises. To date, only Mechel Group enterprises have passed voluntary environmental audits: ChMK, Uralskaya Kuznitsa, Mechel-Koks, Mechel-Materials and Mechel-Energo. The audit did not reveal any excess of the established emission standards.
Oleg Korzhov, General Director of Mechel, confirmed that the company supports the idea of creating a coordinating council on ecology under the regional governor: “In recent years, Mechel has been doing a lot to improve the environmental situation in the zone of influence of the company's enterprises. We are ready to actively participate in the development of the regional environmental standard and will adhere to it in the future. We have our own program to reduce emissions in Chelyabinsk by 14.2 thousand tons per year. It is calculated until 2024. "
Earlier, on July 21, Mechel Group, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, Rosprirodnadzor and the government of the Chelyabinsk Region signed a four-way agreement on cooperation in the field of ecology. According to the document, the enterprises of the Group until 2024 are implementing a set of measures aimed at improving the ecology of the region and reducing emissions into the atmosphere.
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Nikolay Pastukhov, Head of Media Relations Department Mechel "for the Ural region tel .: +7 (351) 725-40-95 (ext. 5-40-95) e-mail: NikolayPastuhov@mechel.ru
