Bashkiria oil producers in 2013 increased emissions by 16.1 percent

Oil producers in 2013 increased the amount of air pollutants emissions by 16.1 percent compared to the level of 2012. According to Bashkortostan Statistics Agency growth occurred "in connection with an increase in oil production, gas flaring and amendments to the standards of maximum permissible emissions".

Monitoring covers more than 45 000 permanent sources of air pollution. Total emissions in 2013 amounted to almost 1.38 million tons, of which 67.4 percent were captured and disposed.

Thus, 448.9 thousand tons of pollutants were emitted into the air basin of the republic by enterprises, organizations and individual entrepreneurs, that was by 11.4 percent more than in 2012. Bashkortostan Statistics Agency explained that this substantial growth was mainly due to a technical factor: Republican Rospotrebnadzor (Russian Agency for Health and Consumer Rights) developed and approved new standards for maximum permissible emissions (MPE of pollutants into the air. Now in addition to the already accounted pollution emissions of methane, butane, pentane, isobutane, propane and ethane from gas pipelines and gas control points are subject to monitoring.

A significant increase in emissions of enterprises on generation and distribution of electricity, gas and water is also explained by standards amended (59 percent to the level of 2012).

Degree of pollution depends on the concentration and specialization of industrial enterprises. The main volume of emissions is accounted for Ufa (32.7 percent), Sterlitamak (13.1) and Salavat (8.1) in Bashkortostan.