Grodno Azot resumes production of nitric acid

MINSK. April 2 (Interfax) - OJSC Grodno Azot, the largest chemicals plant in Belarus, has relaunched the nitric acid and compression sections of its nitric acid and carbamide-ammonia mixture (NA&CAM) workshop after a scheduled shutdown, the plant said on its website.

"The nitric acid and compression sections of the NA&CAM workshop have been relaunched according to a schedule," the statement reads.

"The launch operations in the NA&CAM workshop are accompanied by a short-lived increase in the nitrogen oxide content of waste gas. The nitric oxide in nitrogen oxides gives the waste gas its characteristic red-brown color. The maximum permissible emissions of pollutant substances in waste gas is set by a complex conservation permit issued by the territorial body of the Belarusian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection," the plant said.

It said that the launch operations were conducted and the air quality of the territory, around the plant and on the border of the sanitary protection zone measured simultaneously.

"There are no threats to the environment, the city or the residents," the plant said.

Grodno Azot is one of the largest chemical enterprises in the CIS and Eastern Europe, producing nitric acid, nitrogen mineral fertilizers, caprolactam, methanol and other types of chemical products. The enterprise is state-owned and is part of Belneftekhim, the Belarusian state oil and petrochemicals concern.