UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 20, 2011. There are 188 industrial enterprises in Sverdlovsk Region, storing a total of 8.5 billion tons worth of accumulated waste. This makes the Mid-Urals one of Russia’s most polluted places, which is exactly why the regional authorities pay so much attention to environmental issues, the Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s press service reports.

‘Sverdlovsk Region is now really one of the country’s most environmentally troubled areas. 6% of the region’s population live under condition of multi-faceted chemical pollution. These are naturally not good figures. We are trying to change the situation, for one, the region devised and nearly confirmed an action plan on recycling man-made waste in 2012-2015; this plan is part of a regional environmental and natural resources program,’ says Governor Alexander Misharin.

‘The Mid-Urals major power generating facility, Enel’s Reftinskaya power station, is now responsible for 27% of all the air pollutants in the area. The company has adopted a program that will halve the current amount of discharges. Unfortunately, this will not happen at once, the implementation of the program will take a few years, but at least we have had a start,’ the Governor administration reports.