Factory owned by ex-United Russia found guilty of polluting river in Penza

“Gorvodokanal” of Penza found the paper factory “Mayak” owned by ex-United Russia Vladimir Vdonin guilty of polluting the old bed of the Sura River, writes “7×7”. This happened after an audit, which the management of the enterprise itself asked for.

As noted by 7×7, Vdonin complained about water pollution and sent to the department the conclusions of laboratory tests indicating possible water pollution by fecal sewage. However, experts found that the pollution was caused by the activities of the Mayak factory itself.

Gorvodokanal sent the results of the check to the governor of the region Oleg Melnichenko and to the Interregional Department of the Federal Service for Supervision of Environmental Management in the Saratov and Penza regions.

The fact that the Mayak factory once again poisoned the Sura River, informed “7×7” citing a source in early December.

According to the publication, back in October, the department’s specialists took samples of wastewater and found that the concentration of phenol was 198 times higher than the norm. An on-site inspection of the regional Rosprirodnadzor took place after regular reports from local residents about the mass death of fish in the river.

The department and the prosecutor’s office demanded that the factory eliminate the violations by December 8, 2021. On the website of Rosprirodnadzor reportedthat the company has already tried to challenge the previously issued order through the courts and prove its non-involvement in the pollution of Sura, but lost the process.

Mikhail Markin, acting deputy head of the department of Rosprirodnadzor for the Saratov and Penza regions, told the publication that he was ready to demand the suspension of the enterprise. Vladimir Vdonin, general director of the Mayak factory and member of the legislative assembly from United Russia, declined to comment, saying that his enterprise had nothing to do with the pollution of Sura.

Complaints from Penza residents about the work of the Mayak factory began to come in from November 2020, when fish once again died en masse in the old bed of the Sura River. As a result of an unscheduled on-site inspection, Rosprirodnadzor employees found that the indicators of biological oxygen demand (BOD) exceeded the norm by 202 times. In addition, the analysis showed an excess of iron concentration by 5.4 times and copper ions by 10.6 times. Then the management of Rosprirodnadzor estimated the amount of damage caused by the Mayak factory at 592 thousand rubles.

In May 2021, residents again began to report massive fish deaths and bad smells in the factory area. Employees of the regional Ministry of Forestry surveyed the water area of ​​the old channel of the Sura and again recorded an excess concentration of harmful substances. At the same time, the regional Rosprirodnadzor was unable to conduct an unscheduled inspection of the paper mill, since the prosecutor’s office prohibited it. In August 2021, Rosprirodnadzor came out with a new check and found that the concentration of phenol in the river was exceeded by 166 times.

November 30, 2019 Vdonin was excluded from the ranks of United Russia and removed from the United Russia faction in the Legislative Assembly of the Penza Region for driving while intoxicated.