DPR calls on int'l organizations to inspect Ukrainian enterprises there for environmental safety
DONETSK. July 4 (Interfax) - The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) seeks international organizations to carry out monitoring on Ukrainian enterprises in Donbas that may pose a threat to environmental safety in the region.
"The Avdiivka coke plant stores over 2,000 tonnes of benzol and 1,500 tonnes of sulphuric acid, according to available data. When spilling chemical hazardous agents the chemical contamination zone will amount to over 1,200 square kilometers with 20 kilometers in radius, at the same time, over 41,000 people live in the chemical contamination zone," head of the DPR Emergencies Ministry's department for organization of civil defense events Alexander Khodzhageldyev said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
The incorrect operation or an emergency situation at other nine enterprises will cause similar aftereffects, contamination of ground waters by chemical agents, he also said. These are the Kostiantynivskyi State Chemical Plant, Dzerzhinskiy Phenol Plant, Uglegorsk thermal power plant, Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, Khimprom production association's Soda Production Plant, Mariupol Iron and Steel Works named after Ilyich, Dzerzhinskugol state enterprise's Coalmine Yuzhnaya, Dzerzhinskugol state enterprise's Coalmine named after Artyom, Coalmine named after D. S. Korotchenko in the city of Selidovo.
"Following the monitoring on preservation of enterprises and vital facilities for Donbas residents, the joint inspection thus reveals possible hazard of an environmental catastrophe in probable emergency situations at the inspected facilities and seeks for international organizations to undertake thorough and objective monitoring on preservation of these enterprises," Khodzhageldyev said.