Prosecutor's Office of North Ossetia finds source of pollution of Terek River

The Prosecutor's Office of North Ossetia has identified a source of pollution of the Terek River in Vladikavkaz: it is a workshop for the production of carbon dioxide located in an abandoned part of the territory of the "OZATE" (Ossetian plant of automobile and tractor electrical equipment) plant not far from the Krasnogvardeisky Bridge.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 20, residents of Vladikavkaz reported on the pollution of the Terek River. According to them, the river got the reddish hue because of lilac water discharged to it from a pipe not far from the Krasnogvardeisky Bridge. The "Rosprirodnadzor" (Russian Federal Agency for Nature Supervision) of North Ossetia sent its experts to the place, and they confirmed the fact of pollution and start to search for its source. During May, there was at least three cases of pollution of the Terek River.

Because of the colour of water discharged from the pipe, the Prosecutor's Office has suggested that the water contains manganese solution, and therefore, the prosecutors have started to analyze the production methods that use potassium permanganate. This has been told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Yuliya Khludeeva, the Prosecutor for the Zaterechny District of Vladikavkaz.

According to the Prosecutor, the inspection has revealed in the territory of the "OZATE" plant a workshop for the production of carbon dioxide. Yuliya Khludeeva has reported that the discovered workshop represents a two-storey building with barred windows, a video surveillance system, and tightly closed iron doors.

"We have decided to call an operational investigative team and a rapid response unit of the police department No. 2. We have invited a team of the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) to assault the doors. Inside the building, we found people: four men and a young woman, who was an assistant chemist. All of them wore special clothes. The inside equipment looked like new, expensive, and of high-quality," Yuliya Khludeeva has said.

According to the Prosecutor, the results of the further inspection are to determine what punishment awaits the suspected perpetrators. "The purpose of this very inspection was to prevent illegal discharges into the Terek River. And the inspection has succeeded," Yuliya Khludeeva has noted.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.