AO “Omsky Kauchuk” has become the first company to discuss in disclosed way environmental issues with the public

On 14 July, top managers of the AO “Omsky Kauchuk” and the AO Group of companies Titan answered the questions of the federal environmental media project “Green Line” in a live broadcast. The plant has become the first major industrial participant in one-on-one dialogue in the “Business will answer” format.

The federal project to study the environmental anxiety of citizens “Green Line” was initiated by the Internet media team “Ecology of Russia” and the All-Russian organization of eco-volunteers “Do!” in 2020. In May 2021, the petrochemical enterprise the AO GC Titan took part in the first offline conference of the project, and in July accepted the invitation for open talk. As a reminder, the country's attention to the plant, in particular to the industrial waste landfill, was drawn during the June “Direct Line” with the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

Representatives of the Russian Ecological Movement and journalists writing about eco-subject-matter joined the air of the “Green Line” project in Moscow. Dmitry Solovyov, the specialist of the Soil Science Institute named after V.V. Dokuchaev participated as an expert. In Omsk, the top managers of the AO GC Titan and the AO “Omsky Kauchuk” communicated with him via video conference. Special guests of the event were the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Omsk Region Ilya Lobov and eco-bloggers from Moscow, Pskov and St. Petersburg.

In early July, preparing for the meeting, the “Green Line” camera crew visited the site of the plant and the landfill in Omsk. The video, including the reportage and communication with Omsk residents on the streets, was shown during the broadcast. The interviewed townspeople noted the improvement of the situation with smells.

Farkhad Samedov, General Director of the AO GC Titan, emphasized on air that the openness for dialogue with the public and environmentalists is a principled position of the Titan’s management. Within excursion activities carried out by the company, any interested citizen can visit the plant. He also spoke about the projects related to the site renewal.

“Modernization of the plant can be divided into three stages. The first stage began in 1995, when the production of methyl tert-butyl ether was mastered. This made it possible to phase out the production of ethylated gasolines containing such a harmful additive as tetraethyl lead. This year, the construction of new units for organic synthesis production has been completed at “Omsky Kauchuk”. The next step will be the transition to ethyl tert-butyl ether production (ETBE). Thus, we will completely move away from methanol,” he said.

The questions asked during the broadcast concerned the possibility to carry out express diagnostics of the atmospheric air state, emissions filtering, documentation for the phenol and acetone unit, landfill reclamation. Petr Fayn, the Head of the Department of Occupational, Industrial Safety and Ecology of the AO “Omsky Kauchuk” answered these questions.

He pointed out that the laboratory analysis data, which the company is guided by, are more accurate in comparison with the express methods with poor accuracy. The emissions purification units are equipped with special devices - absorbers, designed to capture gaseous substances. Filters, as devices, are used to capture particulates, but such particulates are not generated in the production process of the enterprise.

The company’s work with the landfill is in process in accordance with legislation, and once the accumulated substances at the landfill have been processed, the area will again be suitable for industrial construction. The organizers highly appreciated the openness of the Siberian enterprise and its willingness to cooperate with the public.

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