‘I have numerous reports from environmental experts indicating that Reftinskaya state district power plant’s proposed hydraulic ash handling system upgrade will have a negative environmental impact and is therefore unacceptable. I intend to present these report findings at the public hearings today, and I hope this will result in an examination of the project by an independent board of experts,’ Chairman of the International Socio-Environmental Union’s Sverdlovsk Region division Vladimir Terekhov said to an UrBC reporter.

The public hearings taking place in the town of Reftinskiy are devoted to accessing the environmental impact of Reftinskaya state district power plant’s proposed hydraulic ash handling system upgrade. The greens are highly critical of the project and claim that the introduction of a new system will result in deforestation and damage to all other kinds of vegetation within ten to fifteen kilometers of the site. What is more, they believe the operation of the system will be detrimental to the local dwellers’ health.

‘To have an independent examination, one has to apply to either the town council or some environmental NGO with an official permission to perform such tasks. After either of them makes a proposal to this extent, an ad hoc committee is set up consisting of both town council and NGO representatives and of the examining body experts,’ Terekhov explained.

‘The examination will cost about 500,000 to 600,000 RUR. In case we get the town council to apply for it, it will be the town council itself that will supply the money. In case the application is placed by an NGO, the organization will have to get the needed sum elsewhere. I hope the dwellers of Reftinskiy take a proactive position and manage to persuade the town authorities to apply for the examination,’ he said.