Air, Water Pollution in Moscow Within Norm

MOSCOW. May 26 (Interfax) – The amount of air and water pollution in Moscow is no higher than usual, the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Ministry’s press service told Interfax on Thursday.

“The minor discharge of sewage water on Wednesday was not ecologically dangerous,” the source said.

The level of pollution is dropping quickly, so there can be no talk of an “ecological disaster,” he said.

As for air pollution around the main Moscow oil refinery, excessive amounts of air pollutants in the Maryino and Lyublino districts and near the Bratislavskaya metro station dissipated in the early hours of Thursday following a slight drop in temperature in the Moscow region, the official said.

“The weather saved us. Things might have been pretty bad had the heat persisted,” he said.

Reports from automated atmospheric pollution control stations monitoring the concentration of sulphuretted hydrogen in the atmosphere show that the degree of air pollution is within the norm.