The most important issue of working with facilities of negative impact on the environment was discussed by the participants in the Seminar «Regional Experience in Eliminating Accumulated Environmental Damage», which took place as part of the 24th International Forum «Ecology of the Big City» held at the EXPOFORUM Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The event participants explained what a facility of negative impact on the environment (NIE) is. Most often, this is a capital construction facility, the activity of which leads to releasing emissions or discharges into the environment. According to Mikhail Strakhov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Environmental Management, Environmental Protection and Environmental Safety of St. Petersburg, in cities, including St. Petersburg, landfills of Hazard Class IV and V often become dangerous.

Representatives of various specialized organizations spoke about the experience of working at NIE facilities. So, Stanislav Zhabrikov, Director for Environmental Projects at Federal State Unitary Enterprise «Federal Environmental Operator» (FEO), spoke about the activities at the Landfill «Krasny Bor» in the Leningrad Region. «In fact, eliminating accumulated environmental damage began with the work at the Landfill «Krasny Bor», which was a pilot project», he noted.

The facility itself occupies 67.4 ha and contains 1.7 million tons of waste. The FEO’s main task is to localize the facility by erecting an engineering wall along its perimeter, which will prevent the transit of any substances beyond the landfill boundaries. According to Stanislav Zhabrikov, 90% of the wall has already been built, its total length will be 3 km. Another task is constructing a waterproofing coating for the landfill, which will prevent precipitation from entering it. The third task is pumping out some of the liquid waste to be located at the facility. As Stanislav Zhabrikov noted, the FEO is expected to complete the entire range of work next year.

He also spoke about the FEO’s activities in the territory of the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill (PPM) in terms of working at the Landfill «Babkhinsky». It contains 2.4 million m³ of waste from the PPM operation. It was decided to conserve the landfill, with pumping out water there and equipping the landfill with a waterproofing coating. Thus, the facility will be conserved and become stable and safe for the environment, explained Stanislav Zhabrikov.

Stanislav Kubetov, Chief Engineer at «CC «Gidrokor» LLC project, spoke about eliminating the accumulated damage at the Landfill «Yablonovskaya» in St. Petersburg. According to him, this area has already been used by local residents for recreational purposes, dog walking, etc. Last year, «Gidrokor» conducted a number of engineering surveys on the landfill remediation. Its total area is 23 ha, with 1.2 million m³ of waste accumulated there. As part of the work at the Landfill «Yablonovskaya», it is planned to organize the removal and disposal of part of the garbage from the landfill, as well as localize waste, create a protective shield, the surface water collection and drainage systems and the degassing system. As Stanislav Kubetov explained, the localized landfill with the open drainage system will be conserved, without affecting the environment. It is planned to plant trees on some part of the landfill, he added.