Man-made disaster in the Crimea: thousands of children are urgently evacuated

For ten days, residents of the Crimean city of Armyansk complained of a sharp smell, breathing problems, fever and rash. Their cars were stained with rust.

Photo: video frame Crimea. Realities

In the afternoon of August 25, residents of Armyansk - a city in the north of Crimea - felt a sharp smell in the street. On the same day, citizens began to complain of rashes, fever and sore throat. Cars on the street were covered with a rust-like, but oily coating.

“Literally in two days, the whole apartment, where there are chrome-plated products, is covered with rusty patina,” local inhabitant Gulnara Abduramanova wrote on August 27 in the Vkontakte Life Group of Armenian Life.

“For 100 kilometers of the way there was a terrible smell of bromine, haze, clouds of brownish-pink color!”, Wrote in the same community a user with the nickname Vladimir Yuryevich.

“Even yesterday [September 3] in the morning it was impossible to breathe - it bakes the airways, burns the mucous membrane. Residents no longer know where to turn. By car such a bloom - like oxidation, household appliances in the house in the same condition! Nickel-containing elements change color, and the metal is usually covered with a thick bloom of rust, ”resident Dmitry Vedeneev told Medusa.

Residents of Armyansk suspected a local titanium plant in atmospheric pollution. The authorities confirmed this in five days (at the factory they denied everything).

Near the Armenian located three industrial enterprises - "Crimean Soda Plant", JSC "Brom" and "Crimean Titan" - which produce technical soda ash, bromine and titanium dioxide with sulfuric acid, respectively. By August 29 they all denied any involvement in pollution. “The results showed that during the 23-25 August 2018, there were no emergencies, emergency situations that could lead to consequences,” said TASS, for example, in the press service of Titanium Investments, which manages Crimean Titan ".

Residents of the city were immediately convinced that the leakage of harmful substances occurred precisely at the titanium plant. The former chairman of the Union of Entrepreneurs of Armyansk, Yuri Solomakha, declared the publication “Crimea. The reality "that the pollution occurred due to the fault of the" Crimean Titan ":" The release came unequivocally from the "Titan" side, because in the village of Perekop, which is located between "Titan" and Armenian, all the vegetation was burned. And an announcement appeared in the “Life of Armenian” public (it was not signed, but it indicated the contacts of the Crimean department of Rospotrebnadzor):

"According to preliminary research data, the evaporation of the contents acid storageused by Titan Investments LLC. The fallout of the substance was promoted by a prolonged increase in the temperature of atmospheric air, a prolonged absence of precipitation, and also a decrease in the level of water in the acid accumulator. ”

Only 30 August this information officially confirmed by the authorities.

About the harmful effects of titanium plant on the environment has been known for a long time. Now the authorities of Crimea have suspended his work.

“Crimean Titan” is the town-forming enterprise of Armyansk, one fifth of the city’s population works here. It belongs to the Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Firtash. In the 2014 year, after the annexation of the Crimea to Russia, Firtash put the plant in control of his Russian subsidiary Titanium Investments LLC.

In January, 2018 of the year in the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry for the temporarily occupied territories stated that the enterprise poses a threat to Armyansk and the neighboring Kherson region. According to the ministry, harmful substances from the acid accumulator penetrate into the source water intake - the only source from which drinking water enters Armyansk.

In April, 2018, the city court of Armyansk ordered Titanium Investments to pay a fine of three million rubles. The company was accused of negative impact on the environment. 31 July 2018, the plant appealed this decision to the arbitration court of the Crimea, but lost.

4 of September, the head of the Crimea, Sergey Aksenov, said that the authorities stopped the plant for two weeks: "The company's management supported this initiative and promised that all employees will receive a monthly salary in full."

Photo: video frame Crimea. Realities

Children were taken from Armyansk. Residents are advised to clean the house and not open the windows.

On August 31, the municipal services of the city disinfected in Armyansk: they treated the streets with soda solution, disinfected classes of schools. Began the evacuation of children.

“About 2,3-2,4 thousands of schoolchildren and 1,5 thousands of preschoolers and first-graders [to be taken out]. First graders and preschoolers go with their parents, 2-11 classes go by themselves, ”- said in a statement that gave TASS the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of Crimea. Children will live in health camps for children in Evpatoria, Bakhchsarai and Saki regions.

4 of September Sergey Aksenov announced that the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Services has completed checking the level of sulfuric acid vapor in the air, but did not give any specific numbers. "Tonight [on September 4] the maximum allowable concentration sulfurous anhydride for the first time exceeded the norm. I clearly and clearly declare that nothing threatens the life and health of citizens. There are no grounds for introducing an emergency. ” Accurate data on the level of pollution has not been named or published.

In the department of Rospotrebnadzor in the Krasnoperekopsky and Pervomaisky districts of the Crimea, Meduze was told that they advise residents to clean up the apartments and observe the “elementary sanitary rules” to wash, clean clothes and not open the windows. “[This] is especially [necessary] when the wind blows from the northeast side, where the acid reservoir of the [“ Titan ”] plant is located. For health deterioration, let them turn to Armyansk central city hospital, ”they said in the district office of Rospotrebnadzor and assured that“ all branches of government, all services that are closely related to what happened, are completely and completely immersed in the work to eliminate this condition. ”

The Investigative Committee of Russia in the Crimea opened a criminal case on the fact of emission of harmful substances in Armyansk. The case is open under the article on violation of the rules for handling environmentally hazardous substances and wastes; it provides for a fine of up to 200 thousand rubles or imprisonment for up to two years.

Sulfur dioxide is especially dangerous for children.

Dermatologist and medical journalist Mikhail Makmatov-Lynx told Medusa that inhaling even small amounts of gaseous sulfur dioxide can cause health problems.

"According to [Agency for Registration of Toxic Substances and Diseases of the USA] Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, sulfur dioxide in high concentrations causes severe irritation of the mucous membranes of the eyes and respiratory tract: conjunctivitis, corneal burn, bronchospasm, pulmonary edema, toxic pneumonitis may occur and acute airway obstruction, says Makmatov. - In the long term there may be vision problems, pulmonary fibrosis. In addition, poisoned people may suffer from diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Inhalation of even small amounts of sulfur dioxide provokes exacerbation of bronchial asthma and emphysema. ”

Makmatov-Lynx says the chemical is especially toxic to children: they have a smaller airway diameter and they spasm more easily; children's body slowly removes sulfur dioxide. Sulfurous anhydride is a heavy gas, it accumulates closer to the ground, and children, because of their low growth, receive large doses.

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