A number of local NGOs and environmental experts presented the results of their public environmental audit of Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant’s steel-smelting complex in the town hall on May 21, 2008. The event was attended by the board of experts, Mayor of Pervouralsk Maxim Fedorov, ChTPZ Group’s Deputy GD and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant’s CEO Melik Mori, ChTPZ Group’s chief engineer Dmitriy Markov, some environmental experts, NGO members, and reporters.

The audit was originally initiated by the local NGOs as part of their cooperation agreement with Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant that was signed on May 15, 2007. The review was expected to evaluate the possible environmental and socioeconomic impact the prospective construction of the complex may have on the local people, and was carried out in order to come up with the list of solutions to possible problems.

The experts’ report indicated that the design documentation met all the environmental, technological, and legal requirements.

‘Should all the project conditions be observed, there will be no harm in putting up the complex on the premises of Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant,’ says the board of experts’ secretary Igor Manzhurov (a PhD in Physics and Mathematics).

‘We provided the experts with all the necessary project materials, we answered all of their queries, and I can say their assessment was both thorough and objective. This makes their favorable report even more valuable for the plant. We will surely consider all of their improvement proposals,’ Dmitriy Markov reports.

Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant has actually developed a multi-faceted environmental protection program for 2008-2015, including a special project targeted at protecting the local people’s health. The enterprise intends to invest 34.6 million RUR in making their future steel-smelting complex as safe for the environment as possible in terms of water and air protection, treatment of hazardous waste, and land reclamation. In addition, the plant has been monitoring the local environment since September 2007 in order to provide an objective assessment of the population’s health and to improve the city’s streets and parks.

The findings presented in the report will be directed to Rostechnadzor, while most of the information from the report will be available online.