Norilsk, where atmospheric discharges amounted to nearly 2 million tons in 2010, had more emissions than any other city in Russia last year, according to the Russia in Figures 2011 report issued by the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat).
Norilsk, where atmospheric discharges amounted to nearly 2 million tons in 2010, had more emissions than any other city in Russia last year, according to the Russia in Figures 2011 report issued by the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat).
The service has compiled a list of 56 Russian cities with the worst environmental record. Rosstat says Russia’s industrial cities produced 100,000 tons more pollutants in 2010 than in 2009, 19.1 million against 19 million tons. Although Norilsk leads in atmospheric emissions by a huge margin, the environmental situation in the city actually improved last year compared to 2009, with 1.924 million tons of emissions against 1.958 million.
Cherepovets (333,300 tons) ranks second. It is home to iron and steel and chemical industry enterprises like Severstal, Severstal-Metiz, Ammofos and Cherepovets Azot. Photo: Severstal’s port facilities on the Sheksna River.
The third-ranking city for pollutants is Novokuznetsk (301,100 tons). It is one of the oldest cities in Siberia and one of Russia’s largest metal- and coal-producing centers. The Kuznetsk Iron and Steel Plant located in the city is one of the largest iron and steel enterprises in Russia.
Lipetsk (299,100 tons) ranks fourth for emissions. The Novolipetsk Iron and Steel Plant, which is the largest in Europe, accounts for the bulk of the pollution.
Magnitogorsk (231,900 tons) ranks fifth. A city in Russia’s Chelyabinsk Region, Magnitogorsk is one of the world’s largest iron and steel producers.
The next city on the list is Angarsk (207,400 tons). Chemical industry, oil-refining, machine-building and nuclear fuel processing (enrichment) enterprises are located in Angarsk.
Omsk (198,200 tons) ranks seventh. A large number of major enterprises in the metal, light, printing, chemical, petrochemical and aerospace industries are based in the city.
Krasnoyarsk (148,600 tons) comes in eighth. It is a well-developed industrial center, with more than 17,000 enterprises, organizations and institutions.
Ufa (134,100 tons) ranks ninth on the list. It has about 200 large- and medium-sized industrial enterprises in mostly the oil-refining, chemical and machine-building sectors.
Chelyabinsk (117,800 tons) fills out the top 10 of Russia’s most polluted cities. In 56th place is Stavropol (3,600 tons), ranked the least polluting city on the list, ahead of Vladimir (4,000 tons), Kyzyl (5,800 tons) and Magadan (5,900 tons).
