Bashkortostan ranks 7th in terms of pollutants emissions into air in Russia

According to the latest data, Bashkortostan currently ranks seventh among all regions in Russia regarding gross emissions of pollutants into the air. In the Volga Federal District, according to this indicator, our region is the leader. This was announced at the departmental board by the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Republic Ural Iskandarov.

In recent years, the volume of pollutants' emissions into the air throughout the republic has remained stable. Earlier it was reported that in 2019 alone, the volume of emissions amounted to 930 thousand tons. The fuel and energy complex enterprises pollute the atmosphere most of all with their emissions: oil production, oil refining, petrochemical, and electricity.

Improving air quality is a strategic task, the Minister of Ecology said.

According to him, until 2024, to improve air monitoring in large industrial cities, the number of automated air pollution control stations will be increased from 7 to 13. So far, automated air pollution control stations are operating: two in Sterlitamak, three in Ufa, per one in the cities of Uchaly and Sibay. Two more stations will appear in Ufa in the coming years, per one in Sterlitamak and Neftekamsk. In 2020, at the expense of the Fund for Social Target Programs, two stations had already been built in Salavat.

Ecologist Denis Nasyrov told the Bashinform News Agency that there should be more monitoring stations to monitor large cities' air condition.

"There are not enough monitoring stations to properly monitor the air condition. There is a document according to which there should be one station for 50 thousand inhabitants. That is, there should be 24 stations in Ufa. Moreover, monitoring must be around the clock; we must understand what is happening at night. Very often, many enterprises, knowing this, make the maximum emissions into the atmosphere at night. Therefore, complaints arise, for example, in Chernikovka neighborhood," the specialist said.