Organization and holding of public hearings on reorganization of "Khimprom" company in Ufa.
In 2005, Ufa residents commemorated the fifteenth anniversary of the phenol and dioxin accident, associated with phenol discharge of "Khimprom" plant in Ufa and poisoning of 670,000 city residents by drinking water, contaminated by chlorinated phenols. Now, the company is in the midst of bankruptcy procedures, but the site of its chemical plant is still a source of environmental pollution by dioxins and other toxic chemicals. In order to discuss potential options of company reorganization, and to coordinate design work and attract the attention of federal agencies and the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention to the problem, the Union of Environmentalists of Bashkiria conducted public hearings on an assessment of the environmental impacts of "Ufakhimprom" Co. and discussed some conceptual options for the project. The hearings were held on February 28, 2006, with participation of top managers and specialists of 12 R&D facilities, representatives of the Ufa City Administration, 16 governmental supervisory bodies, seven NGOs and eight mass media outlets, as well as managers of "Ufakhimprom" Co. and former employees of the company. Participants of the public hearings were informed of results of research studies on the health impacts of dioxins. In particular, it was noted that the adverse impacts zone of "Ufakhimprom" plant covers the northern part of the city where several hundred thousand residents live. Recommendations on Elimination of Production Facilities of "Ufakhimprom" Company and Environmental Impact Assessment were prepared.
Outputs:
Public hearing with representatives of government, NGOs, Khimprom and media
Recommendations for next steps on assessment and cleanup