A titanium plant in the Crimea will suspend work due to acid emissions. Crimean chemical industry

text Xenia Zolotareva. Ekaterina Levitskaya, Nicole Jamal

The work of the enterprise was suspended for two weeks. Sulfur compounds were released into the atmosphere due to a sharp drop in air temperature

The work of the Crimean Titan plant was suspended for two weeks, the head of Crimea saidSergey Aksyonov. “This morning I talked with the head of Rosportrebnadzor of the Russian Federation Anna Popova<…>working groups arrived from all control departments. Based on the results of the meeting, I, in agreement with the management of the Titan plant, decided to suspend the production of the plant for two weeks. The management of the enterprise supported this initiative and promised that all employees would receive a monthly wages in full, ”says his official statement on the website of the administration of the republic.

August 23 in Armyansk, where the plant is located, appeared bad smell, an oily coating of a yellow tint has formed on open surfaces. locals began to complain of sore throat and irritation of the nasal mucosa. According to the Crimean administration, at the same time, daily control measurements of air, water and soil began, which did not show an excess of the concentration norm. harmful substances. The maximum allowable concentration of sulfur dioxide for the first time exceeded the norm this night, due to a sharp diurnal temperature drop. According to preliminary data, the cause of the release was evaporation from the factory oxygen accumulator.

In connection with chemical pollution territory, the authorities of the republic decided to introduce a two-week vacation in educational institutions Armyansk and neighboring villages: Perekop, Pyatikhatka and Filatovka. According to the Minister of Education, Science and Youth of Crimea Natalia Goncharova, schoolchildren from 2 to 11 grades, accompanied by class teachers and medical workers will be sent to children's camps in Evpatoria, Bakhchisarai and Saki regions. “If children have brothers or sisters in other classes, they will not be separated - they will end up in the same boarding house or health camp. If the teacher's child is studying at another school, they will also be sent together. Children preschool age and first-graders will be sent to sanatoriums with their mothers,” the minister was quoted by the press service of the administration of the republic. In total, almost four thousand children will be sent to camps and sanatoriums.

According to the Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea Igor Mikhailichenko, in Armyansk, laboratory samples of water, soil and air were taken again. “Today, Rospotrebnadzor specialists took laboratory samples of water, soil and air again, they were sent to the laboratory in Moscow, in the evening we are waiting for the results of the studies,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

The Crimean Titanium plant is a branch of a large Russian titanium dioxide producer - Titanium Investments LLC. According to IAS Seldon Basis, the company was registered in Moscow in 2014. The director of the company is Alexander Emelin. The main activity is the production of pigments and dyes. At the end of 2016, the company's revenue amounted to 7.5 billion rubles, the loss was 231 million rubles. Titanium Investments LLC is 100% owned by the Cypriot Letan Investment Limited LLC. According to open sources, every fourth resident of Armyansk works at the Crimean Titan plant.

At a meeting of the operational headquarters in Armyansk, possible technical solutions were developed to eliminate harmful fumes from the plant's acid accumulator. One option is to fill the tank with water. “We need to determine how this water will interact with the acidic environment so as not to worsen the situation. If the examination is positive, then you need to use this water. However, this may take a long time,” Sergey Aksyonov commented on the decision. Second possible way- treatment of the acid accumulator with special chemical compounds. final decision will be accepted within three days.

From different sources and from the residents themselves in social networks it is known that there was a release of harmful substances from the chemical plant "Crimean Titan". Grass is withered, drinking water is polluted, leaves have fallen from trees, animals and birds are dying, children have been evacuated…

From local authorities the information is thesis: “no danger”, “everything is under control”, “air pollution is at an acceptable level”, “no health hazards”… The Crimean authorities are doing their best to reassure the public.

The Crimean Titan plant in Armyansk is located in the north of Crimea. The chemical enterprise is the largest manufacturer of titanium dioxide white pigment in Eastern Europe.

Accident at a chemical plant in the Crimea and its cause

Meanwhile, only today, September 17, the central media published a message on the Internet that the whole thing was the destruction of the dam by Ukraine.

Director of the Crimean Titan chemical plant A. Akulov officially admitted that part of the dam was destroyed by Ukraine. Apparently, this was the cause of the accident, because the dam separates the production acid reservoir from Lake Sivash.

The fact is that the dam is located on both sides of the border, half on the Russian side and half on the Ukrainian side.

The destruction was recorded only on September 14, - said director Akulov. Although the release itself took place on August 23 and 24, according to other sources on August 28! However, they harness for a long time!

The situation reminds Chernobyl accident when the authorities knew about the catastrophe, and people, under radiation fallout, celebrated the first of May - Workers' Solidarity Day!

But even now, the director in charge of security harmful production didn't really explain the situation. By official communication the same Akulov, scientists are investigating the causes of the accident. at the Moscow Institute. Mendeleev, sent fresh air and soil samples. I wonder why scientists do not come to the Crimea? Probably dangerous...

When did the accident at the chemical plant in the Crimea begin?

Recall that on the night of August 23-24, an unknown substance poured into the atmosphere, filling the landscape with smog and a pungent smell. It came from social networks, there are a lot of reports about houses and cars covered with plaque and rust, and about unknown smoke.

A few days later, some inhabitants of the Crimea began to notice that the birds from Armyansk had disappeared. Some people have found dead birds in their gardens. In the orchards, fruit trees began to dry up and people began to experience eye and throat discomfort.

The Russian authorities in Crimea and the Russian media ignored this event for several days. Sergei Aksenov, chairman of the Crimean Council of Ministers, on his Facebook page said that there are unknown emissions into the atmosphere and that's it.

On the same day, unexpectedly appeared in the Crimea Special Representative on environment, ecology and transport of Russian President Vladimir Putin Sergei Ivanov. Upon his arrival, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Crimea Aksyonov acknowledged that the Crimean Titan plant could be responsible for the emissions. Although Aksyonov initially claimed that the emissions did not pose a health hazard, he later called the emissions harmful.

When many people began to experience breathing problems and panic, the Crimean media began to write reports that the emissions did not pose a health risk. Countless air quality controls provided the same predictable result: there was no increase in harmful concentrations above the allowable level in the atmosphere.

From August 28 to September 4, the Crimean authorities and Russian media completely ignored the mysterious emissions. Only on September 4 did the authorities begin to evacuate the children from Armyansk. Aksyonov stressed that this was not an evacuation, but a holiday, and assured the residents of Armyansk that their health was not at risk and that there was no reason to take emergency measures. The concentrations of pollutants in the air in the northern Crimea "again and again exceed the permissible limits."

The Crimean Titan plant was closed for two weeks. The source of harmful emissions has been identified as acid fumes from the plant.

The exhaust cloud reached the Kherson region, at least the Ukrainian authorities say so. The State Border Guard of Ukraine reported an increase in pollution along the administrative border with Crimea and temporarily closed the border on 6 September.

Ukrainian authorities have identified pollutant emissions as sulfur dioxide, an air pollutant that has a significant impact on human health and is a precursor to acid rain. They found sulfur dioxide levels six times higher than normal.

Biologist of Odessa national university Vladislav Balynsky said that sulfur dioxide is a carcinogen that can seriously damage the airways and burn respiratory membranes.

Ombudsman of Ukraine Lyudmila Denisova informed the UN, OSCE, the World Organization health care and the Red Cross on harmful emissions in Armyansk.

The Crimean Titan plant is Chemical plant, which began working in the north of Crimea in 1971. Since the early 2000s, the plant has been part of DF Group, Dmitry Firtash's giant holding company. The plant produces chemicals used in the production of paints, rubber and plastics.

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Chemical industry provides about 13.2% of the total industrial production peninsulas. The main production facilities are concentrated in the north and are located at the Crimean Titan plant in Armyansk and the Crimean Soda Plant in Krasnoperekopsk, which are part of Dmitry Firtash's business group (Sgoir OR).

The construction of the Crimean soda plant began in 1967 near. The construction site was chosen due to the presence near the production site natural source table salt, energy resources, water resources the North Crimean Canal, as well as convenient transport logistics and the possibility of dumping production waste into closed salt lakes. In 1973, the production of disodium phosphate was launched, in 1975, the production of soda ash began, and in 2008, the enterprise began to produce baking soda. Now the main product of the plant is the production of soda ash, which forms 98% of the total revenue. Manufactured products are supplied both to the Ukrainian market and to the CIS countries and far abroad countries (through ports, and Odessa). Now the plant accounts for about 2% of the world output of soda ash, its share in the Ukrainian market reaches 80%. In 2013, the plant produced 582 thousand tons of soda ash, including 427.5 thousand tons of grade A soda, 24.4 thousand tons. edible salt, as well as over 4 thousand tons of baking soda.

AT last years the company's revenue is 6-7 billion rubles, due to the unfavorable situation in the world chemical market the plant has been chronically unprofitable in recent years (in 2012, the company's loss amounted to 0.9 billion rubles). At the same time, the company continued to invest heavily in development - in 2013, capital investments reached 0.7 billion rubles. The main volume of investments (0.36 billion rubles) was directed to the construction of a cogeneration unit for generating electricity and heat with a capacity of 14.4 MW.

The company also continued to invest in the development of the production of baking soda and in the development of the Severo-Baksanskoye limestone deposit, which will be able to meet the prospective demand for limestone from the enterprise (annual demand is estimated at 1.1 thousand tons).

Another large chemical plant, Krymsky Titan CJSC, is located in the north of the peninsula in the city of Armyansk, and is also under the operational control of Sgoir OR (it owns 100% of the company's shares). The decision to build the plant was made in 1969, and already in 1971 an ammophos production workshop was put into operation, in 1973 a complex for the production of aluminum sulphate and whole glass began to operate, and by 1978 2 workshops were launched for the production of pigment titanium dioxide. Now the plant is the largest producer of titanium dioxide in Eastern Europe (the installed capacity of the plant for this type of product is 80 thousand tons per year), which is widely used in the paint and varnish, metallurgical and pulp and paper industries. According to preliminary data, in 2013 Crimean Titan produced 107.9 thousand tons of titanium dioxide.

In recent years, the company's revenue has been growing, thanks to vertical integration and stable demand for products, the plant managed to enter the zone of positive profitability (in 2012, net profit reached 0.2 billion rubles). However, if the border with c is closed, the situation at the enterprise may worsen significantly - titanium for processing is supplied from the Irshansky mining and processing plant (Zhytomyr region) and Volnogorsky mining and processing plant (Dnipropetrovsk region). Termination of the supply of raw materials can lead to a shutdown of the enterprise.

Moscow. 4 September. site - The Crimean authorities, due to the excess of the maximum permissible concentration of sulfur dioxide in the north of the peninsula, will stop the work of a large chemical plant, a branch of Titanium Investments LLC in Armyansk, for two weeks. This was announced by the head of the republic Sergei Aksyonov to journalists on Tuesday.

"Tonight, due to temperature changes, for the first time, the maximum permissible concentration of sulfur dioxide exceeded the norm. In agreement with the management of the Titan plant, I decided to stop the enterprise for two weeks. Second: for precautionary purposes, send all children of school, preschool age to rest in our Crimea sanatoriums," Aksyonov said, noting that nothing threatens the health and life of citizens, and this is being done for precautionary purposes, while decision algorithms are developed.

He also said that the head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova arrived in Crimea.

Residents of Armyansk since August 24 in social networks on yellow coating, similar to rust, which covered car parts, fences, gas water heaters, keys, utensils and metal jewelry. In addition, the leaves on the trees turn yellow and fall prematurely. Some of the townspeople report rashes and vomiting in children, and also complain of itching and sore throats.

According to the Armenian branch of Titanium Investments LLC (a large chemical plant for the production of titanium dioxide), there were no emergency situations at the enterprise.

In Krasnoperekopsk, adjacent to Armenian, there are the Brom enterprises and the Crimean soda plant. They denied their involvement in the appearance of a strange rust.

Rospotrebnadzor deviations in air and soil samples taken this week in the north of Crimea.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Crimean government Igor Mikhailichenko recently stated that the reason for the fall chemical in Armyansk, evaporation of the contents of an acid accumulator used by the Titanium Investments branch. According to him, this "was facilitated by a prolonged increase in air temperature, a long absence of precipitation, as well as a decrease in the water level in the acid storage." The administration of the plant may be held administratively liable.

Titanium Investments LLC (Moscow) was registered in June 2014. In the summer of the same year, the property of the Crimean Titan plant (Armyansk, Crimea) was transferred to him for a long-term lease. Now this enterprise is called "Armenian branch of Titanium Investments LLC".

According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Titanium Investments LLC belongs to the Cypriot Letan Investments Limited, which is also known as the founder of the holding company of Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Firtash Group DF International GmbH (Austria).

At the same time, in 2014, the Ukrainian PJSC "Crimean Titan" was re-registered from Armyansk to Kyiv, then Group DF renamed it Ukrainian Chemical Products.

MOSCOW, 5 Sep— RIA Novosti, Irina Khaletskaya. More than a week ago, residents of the Crimean city of Armyansk discovered that all metal objects were covered with sticky rust. People began to complain about a sore throat and feeling unwell, social networks filled with photos of fallen yellow leaves on the street, children in respirators with a red rash on their faces.

The townspeople are sure that the reason is emissions from the Crimean Titanium plant. The concentration of harmful substances in the air in the north of the peninsula exceeded the norm. On Tuesday, September 4, the head of the republic Sergey Aksyonov, local and federal officials arrived here. A decision was made to take all the children to a sanatorium. The plant was stopped for two weeks, although they deny any involvement in the incident. There is another problem: "Crimean Titan" - city forming enterprise, therefore, it is impossible to simply close production and leave thousands of people without work.

Rash, burns, metal in throat

Residents of Armyansk are forced to stay at home with the windows closed even on hot days, so that the pungent smell does not penetrate the premises. They go outside only when necessary, and in a respirator and not for long, otherwise dizziness and nausea will begin. Elena Tikhaya told a RIA Novosti correspondent that the situation in the city deteriorated sharply on August 23: a release of harmful substances occurred at the local Crimean Titanium plant, after which the surroundings began to look like an exclusion zone.

“It’s been impossible to breathe since six in the morning. Today we talked with a young woman in the store, her child has a terrible allergy - spots on her body, coughing. When she takes a strong antihistamine, everything goes away. The windows and doors of the house are closed, but the hood and stove are covered with a strange coating. Everything metal on the balcony rusted. My child had a condition similar to poisoning: fever, nausea, weakness, headache. They drank polysorb, but nothing helped. It became easier only when we left the city, "says Elena.

Similar stories are posted on social networks, there are photos of rashes, and rust, and an oily coating on the highway, which is dangerous to drive on. There are a lot of visitors in medical institutions. There are no longer enough masks and respirators in pharmacies. The Ministry of Health of the Republic officially confirms: an increase in the number of visits to clinics in Armyansk has been recorded, the diagnoses are mainly allergic.

Local resident Irina Kuzmina told RIA Novosti that for several days on the way to school, her son finds the corpses of cats: "There are too many of them, so this is hardly a coincidence. Perhaps they died due to poisoning."

"Everything is in oil"

At the end of August, a group of specialists from the Ministry of Ecology of the republic, the regional department of Rospotrebnadzor and the prosecutor's office was sent to Armyansk under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Crimea Igor Mikhailichenko. Environmentalists and officials said that nothing threatens the health of citizens, the problem is being solved. Days passed, but people continued to complain about the deterioration of their health. As Elena Tikhaya clarifies, the city authorities up to the last claimed that the emissions were within the normal range.

“The roads were watered in the early morning, but when the asphalt warmed up a little in the sun, evaporation began. And there was nothing to breathe. People, if possible, took their children out of the city to their relatives, kindergartens have been half empty for a week now. , symptoms reappear. All surfaces are like oil. Where to go? I don’t know, "complains the interlocutor.

RIA Novosti phoned specialists of the republican department of Rospotrebnadzor. At the reception of the head of the department, they explained to us that all information is published on the official website. The last entry dated September 1 says that the concentration of harmful substances in the city is normal. Rospotrebnadzor could not provide an up-to-date comment, because "there is no press service, all specialists are on the road in Armyansk."

"No Panic"

After numerous complaints on social networks and publications in local media, a whole troop of officials arrived in Armyansk. The head of the region, Sergei Aksenov, met with residents, spoke with the head of the federal Rospotrebnadzor, Anna Popova, and representatives of other control agencies. On his Facebook page, he said that on September 4, the concentration of sulfur dioxide for the first time exceeded the norm, but "there are no grounds for introducing an emergency regime, there is no panic, nothing threatens the life and health of citizens."

Despite the refusal to declare a state of emergency, the head of the republic ordered all children to be quickly removed from the city, as well as two nearby villages, and announced a two-week vacation. This was done, according to Aksyonov, in order to "work out all the algorithms of actions." Created operational headquarters to coordinate departmental efforts. This, in particular, concerns the issue of sending children to sanatoriums.

"Everything will be at the expense of the state," the leader promised. It is already known that the sanatoriums, which are part of the Solnechnaya Tavrika state enterprise, are ready to receive 3,000 children and accompanying persons from Armyansk. They will be settled in three districts of the republic. Entrepreneurs also got involved: the chairman of the Association of Small Hotels of Crimea, Natalia Parkhomenko, said on Facebook that, if necessary, private traders would help with accommodation.

"Titanium"

The Crimean Titan plant is located about five kilometers from the city, not far from the border with Ukraine. This is one of the largest enterprises in Eastern Europe producing titanium dioxide, which is used for the manufacture of paint and varnish products, plastics, rubber, rubber, paper. Red iron oxide pigment, sulfuric acid, iron vitriol and other dangerous substances are also produced here.

To date, the plant is not just the only large, but the city-forming enterprise of Armyansk. Nearly five thousand people work in its workshops, which is half of the employed residents of the city. In 2014, Titan began to re-profile, change the supply chain of raw materials, which affected revenue and wages. Andrey Osintsev, an employee of the plant (his last name was changed at his request), says: “The salary is constantly delayed, not critical, but for several days, a week for sure. Employees who cannot leave the city are actually in a trap, since it is unrealistic to find an alternative source of income. The salaries are not that high, but at least something. And the management of Krymsky Titan knows that if the plant is closed, about five thousand people will lose their jobs, which means that the situation in the city will be difficult. This gives them carte blanche."

According to Andrey and other employees with whom we managed to talk, a dried-out acid trap is to blame for the emissions. "It used to be fed from the North Crimean Canal, but now this source is closed. The concentration of sulfur dioxide is exceeded. When the wind blows, you can smell of hydrochloric acid", - said the worker of the plant Alexei Prosviryakov (surname changed).

As Aleksey says, today his main headache is not work, but the health of his children, because of the release of chemistry, small residents of Armyansk complain of nausea, dizziness, burns and burning sensations in their legs.

Now "Crimean Titan" is in the stage of bankruptcy according to the statement of VTB. The debt to the bank is 2.5 billion rubles. In 2017, Aksyonov stated that the regional government would support the enterprise: the plant management only needed to maintain the average level of wages and jobs. At the same time, the head of the region instructed to form a "road map" to pay off the company's debt for gas.

It was not possible to get a prompt comment from the representatives of the plant at the time of publication of the publication, no one answers the calls in the reception. The official site of "Titan" is under reconstruction and does not work.

What's next?

Although the plant has not officially acknowledged its responsibility for emissions (according to the administration, the so-called sticky coating contains chlorine ion, which is not used in the Titan technology), the head of the republic ordered the plant to be shut down for two weeks. According to Aksyonov, the company's management promised that all employees would receive their monthly salary in full.

Now the Crimean government is urgently looking for a source of water to fill the sump. Sergei Aksyonov said that the authorities are considering two options to combat harmful emissions: "First, we determine the composition of the water from the Karkinit Bay for the content of chlorides, what interaction can be with the acidic environment that has accumulated so as not to worsen the situation. If the composition of the water is suitable for solving this situation, we fill it."

He clarified that the acid tank can only be filled fresh water. This will take up to five months - the reservoir is designed for 30 million cubic meters. The second option, Aksyonov added, is treating the sump with special compounds: "Slaked lime or something else. What substances are needed, chemists will report within three days."

He called the situation non-standard and said that no one intends to hide real information from the population.

The president of the Russian Union of Chemists (RSKh), the former director of Crimean Titan, Viktor Ivanov, has his own vision of the problem. He explained to RIA Novosti that in the current situation, the plant is not really to blame: failures in the operation of the enterprise or technological process was not, so the administration denies its involvement in emissions quite rightly.

"But upon detailed analysis, it turned out that in the last four years, Titan stopped the production of mineral fertilizers, for which it was used, in particular, sulfuric acid. As a result, more acidic waters were discharged into the reservoirs. Due to the abnormal heat, the water from the sedimentation tanks evaporated, the concentration of sulfuric acid increased. There was a reaction of sodium chlorine from the Sivash brine (Lake Sivash. - Ed.) with acid - chlorine and soda were formed. Chlorine began to evaporate, the wind carried it to Armyansk. It was impossible to predict this," Ivanov said.

According to him, nothing can be done except to raise the water level in the reservoir. The President of the RSH suggested that for this it would be possible to stretch a pipe from the Karkinitsky Gulf through the Perekop (Turkish) Shaft, which is about five kilometers.

“If the North Crimean Canal had been opened now, nothing would have happened. And now we have to build a bypass. There are no other options. But we cannot close the plant, because this is the only enterprise in Russia that produces titanium dioxide. We consume more than seventy thousand tons per year. If you stop "Titan", you will have to buy in other countries," the expert summed up.

P.S.: As it became known on the evening of September 4, the Department of the Investigative Committee for Crimea opened a criminal case on the fact of violation of the rules for handling environmentally hazardous substances after the emission of fumes from the plant into the atmosphere.