[Summary translation prepared by Business & Human Rights Centre]

Nearly RUB 200 million sought from Gorevsky Mining and Processing Plant for pollution of the Angara River, 23 January 2025

Rosprirodnadzor has filed a lawsuit against JSC Gorevsky Mining and Processing Plant, seeking nearly RUB 200 million in damages. Wastewater discharged into the Angara River was found to contain concentrations of metals and other elements exceeding permissible limits by tens and even hundreds of times.

The Arbitration Court of Krasnoyarsk Krai reported that, according to the claim, the company operates a facility with a negative environmental impact — an open-pit mining quarry located in the Motyginsky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, in the settlement of Novoangarsk.

In June 2023, the authority carried out a sudden unannounced on-site inspection of the enterprise, during which three samples of wastewater were taken from the final section of a settling pond.

Laboratory analysis showed that the samples contained exceedances of permissible concentrations:

• manganese — 12.9 times, 19 times, and 16 times above the limit
  
• copper — 3 times, 2.1 times, and 2.5 times
  
• zinc — 250 times, 270 times, and 290 times
  
• lead — 19 times, 98 times, and 50 times
  

Rosprirodnadzor estimated the environmental damage at RUB 193,472,000.

The Arbitration Court will decide within five days whether to accept the claim for consideration.