Russian Chemical Arms Recycling Plant Continues Operating - Official
Posted on: Wednesday, 5 March 2003, 06:00 CST
Russian Chemical Arms Recycling Plant Continues Operating - Official
Source: Daily News Bulletin
NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia - The head of the state commission for the destruction of chemical weapons expressed surprise on Tuesday at a statement from the Natural Resources Ministry that work at a plant that recycles chemical arms may be suspended.
The ministry press service said the plant, located in Gorny, Saratov region, had been violating environmental legislation.
"I believe that the statement from the press service of the Ministry of Natural Resources was a consequence of a bureaucratic dispute between two agencies, the Ministry of Natural Resources itself and the Ammunition Agency," commission head Sergei Kiriyenko told Interfax.
He said the plant was operating normally and that any suspension was out of the question. "To date 200 tonnes of yprite, which is a toxic substance, has been processed in Gorny," he said.
He said the dispute would become a topic of discussion at a commission meeting in Moscow on Thursday in which senior figures in the Natural Resources Ministry and Ammunition Agency, Saratov Governor Dmitry Ayatskov and other ministers and senior officials would take part.
"We expect that all the points of dispute will be settled at that meeting," Kiriyenko said.
On Tuesday, Ammunition Agency General Director Zinovy Pak and Natural Resources Minister Vitaly Artyukhov met and considered plans to discontinue the violations uncovered by a Natural Resources Ministry commission in inspecting the Gorny plant.
"The instruction given to us by the Ministry of Natural Resources is fair. It warns that, if order is not established, sanctions stricter than a warning may be applied. It may be decided to halt [the plant], which no one would want to happen," Pak said.
Saratov environmental chief Alexander Malikov confirmed that a Natural Resources Ministry commission found a series of environmental violations when checking the plant on February 25-27, including the overloading of equipment. The commission gave the plant 10 days to discontinue the violations.
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