'This is good news for the city': Nizhnekamskneftekhim reconstructing a landfill for waste disposal

Public hearings via videoconferencing

The public hearings were held at the children's ecological and biological centre — a sponsored institution of Nizhnekamskneftekhim. The hall was not crowded, only journalists, representatives of the administration and the petrochemical company were present. Most of the listeners followed what was happening in zoom mode. A total of 163 people registered.

The traditional moderator of the public hearings, deputy head of the Executive Committee of the Nizhnekamsk Municipal District Lenar Akhmetov, reminded the audience that it was possible to get acquainted with the project in electronic form on the websites of the Nizhnekamsk Municipal District and Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC, the information was also published in the printed publications Tugan Yak, Nizhnekamskaya Pravda, Respublika Tatarstan, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Then he gave the floor to Irek Aglyamov, the deputy director general of Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC.

“Our company is the main city-forming enterprise of Nizhnekamsk," Aglyamov began his speech. “The company takes a responsible approach to any construction, reconstruction and modernisation of existing production facilities. Careful attitude to the environment is one of the main principles of the work of Nizhnekamskneftekhim. We propose to consider the project of reconstruction of the landfill at public hearings. Our goal is to minimise the risks of damage to the soil, water and the environment.

Complaints from the population decreased by 10 times

Oleg Grishakov, the deputy chief engineer for environmental protection — head of the environmental safety department, told in more detail about the work of Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC in the field of environmental safety.

“Environment has been and will be a priority for petrochemists. Five environmental posts of the automated atmospheric air control system are installed along the perimeter of the industrial zone and on the BTF. In residential areas of the city and in nearby settlements, control is conducted using a modern mobile post. For the conservation and careful use of water resources, wastewater, including storm water, is neutralised at own treatment facilities. The developed system of recycled water supply makes it possible to repeatedly reduce the demand for fresh river water used as a refrigerant," he stressed.

Grishakov said that to conserve the soil, most of the waste — 79% — is used in own production and by third — party organisations, 4% is neutralised at special units, and unused solid and paste-like waste is deposited at its own landfill.

To protect the atmospheric air from pollutants, the company uses 93 gas cleaning units, 18 flare systems are operated for the safety of production.

Oleg Grishakov reminded that the implementation of the fourth environmental programme, designed for seven years, was completed in 2020. Four hundred and ninety environmental protection measures were implemented worth 7,96 billion rubles. It was possible to achieve a reduction in the consumption of river water by 12,7 million cubic metres (18,6 per cent), and emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere by 6,089 tonnes (26 per cent).

“The most significant projects in recent years, worth more than 3 billion rubles, have been the reconstruction of biological treatment facilities (BTFs) and the construction of a new 15-kilometre collector of industrial wastewater. According to Rospotrebnadzor alone, the number of appeals from Nizhnekamsk residents for the presence of chemical odours in 2020 was less than 10, and in 2018, there were 94 such appeals, that is, a 10-fold decrease," he said, with pride.

According to Grishakov, from 2001 to 2020, the gross emission of pollutants at the enterprise was reduced by 63,9% (from 48 to 17,300 tonnes), while the output of commercial products was increased by 64%. Over the past 20 years, due to the implementation of a set of measures and the decommissioning of old production facilities, Nizhnekamskneftekhim has reduced its emissions into the atmosphere by more than 63%.

“The share of pollutants released by the company in the total gross emissions from industrial enterprises of the Nizhnekamsk industrial hub has also decreased: as of 2006, the share of emissions of Nizhnekamskneftekhim PJSC was about 50%, and according to the results of work in 2020 — 33%," Deputy Chief Engineer for Environmental Protection Oleg Grishakov announced the statistics.

Petrochemists are not going to stop at this. This year, the company has adopted the fifth environmental programme. Over four years, 255 events are going to be completed, the expected costs will amount to 12,5 billion rubles. This year alone, the environmental programme plans to implement 60 measures worth more than 2 billion 789 million rubles.

For 6 months of this year, 11 measures have already been implemented, the main part of which is aimed at reducing emissions into the atmospheric air, improving the quality of wastewater, rational use of water resources and improving the water consumption accounting system. More than 466 million rubles have been allocated for their implementation.

In total, within the framework of the fifth environmental programme, it is planned to prevent the release of harmful substances into the atmosphere by 1,430 thousand tonnes, the discharge of wastewater into the reservoir by 13 million 990 thousand cubic metres, pollutants into the reservoir — by 857 tonens, the formation of non-recyclable waste — by 10 thousand 740 tonnes, save the consumption of river water — by 13 million 930 cubic metres.

The new environmental programme also includes the third stage of the reconstruction of the BTF and the post-treatment plant and the neutralisation unit, the construction of the fourth line of the water pipeline and local treatment facilities for the treatment of chemically polluted wastewater from the production of isoprene, as well as the reconstruction of the industrial waste landfill.

Landfill has been operating since 1982

At the public hearings, it was reported that the landfill was built according to the project of the Giprokauchuk Institute and put into operation in 1982. It is intended for the disposal of solid and paste-like industrial waste of hazard classes III and IV. The territory of the landfill is divided into two functional zones: production and auxiliary. The first is a system of 48 cards isolated from each other.

“Nizhnekamskneftekhim is considering the possibility of implementing the project 'Reconstruction of the Waste Landfill facility' through the introduction of basic technological solutions. The measures are aimed at preventing and reducing the adverse consequences of the object's impact on the environment, as well as to increase the life of the landfill and bring it up to the requirements of environmental safety," Oleg Grishakov said.

According to him, as part of the reconstruction, it is planned to install a cutoff curtain (diaphragm). The device will ensure the protection of soil and groundwater from the penetration of filtrate from the landfill by excluding the passage of groundwater through the landfill site and the discharge of contaminated water to the adjacent territory. The changes will also affect the device of drainage system for collecting surface water, and the removal of filtrate from the landfill.

The regulatory pond will also be reconstructed with an increase in the storage capacity, the territory will be planned with the provision of surface watercourse and the collection of stormwater runoff.

It is planned to reconstruct eight waste disposal maps to bring them into compliance with the current regulatory requirements. The works include the layout of the base of the maps with filling with uncontaminated soil and waterproofing of the bottom and slopes of the maps with geosynthetic materials.

Thirty-six cards are subject to decommissioning. Reclamation measures will be carried out on them, which include waterproofing the top of the maps with geosynthetic materials and filling with uncontaminated soil.

The design solutions also provide for the modernisation of the auxiliary part of the landfill. It is planned to install underground tanks for fire water supply, equip the ABC with a sanitary room and a shower, build car scales with a canopy and a vehicle washing point to prevent road pollution when leaving the industrial site of the landfill. The planned implementation period is no more than three years, including the implementation of design and survey work.

“This is good news for the city of Nizhnekamsk and its residents”

Lenar Akhmetov, the moderator of the meeting, deputy head of the Nizhnekamsk Municipal District Executive Committee, congratulated petrochemists on the adoption of the fifth environmental programme and the reconstruction of the landfill.

“This is good news for the city of Nizhnekamsk and its residents. The 12,5 billion that you have just mentioned really inspires confidence that we will also dynamically, progressively consider important projects, such as the reconstruction of the landfill," he said enthusiastically.

The developers of the project “Reconstruction of the object Landfill of waste disposal” were specialised organizations that use the best international experience in their work. Yelena Petrova, the chief engineer of SC Gidrokor PLC, made a report on the reconstruction project. She noted that the data of the results based on the materials of the environmental impact assessment of the project “Reconstruction of the landfill” showed that the project documentation meets the requirements of the Russian environmental legislation.

“We were tasked with bringing all technical solutions into compliance with regulatory documentation, thereby minimising the impact on all components of the environment. Cutoff curtains will be created, they prevent the spread of negative effects outside the waste disposal site. The impact on the soil cover will be minimised by creating screens made of special materials that prevent the penetration of pollutants into the soil and groundwater," Yury Osipov, the deputy director general of the construction company Gidrokor PLC, assured the audience.

After the speech, everyone could ask a question. The chairman of the Public Council of the Nizhnekamsk Municipal District, Khamza Bagmanov, who closely followed the public hearings in zoom mode, did not miss the opportunity and asked two questions at once.

“A very important project, we confirm this," he said. “The first question is what types of waste will be buried at the landfill, the second is how long the reconstruction of the facility provides for.

“The wastes of hazard classes III and IV, and only generated from the production of Nizhnekamskneftekhim, are placed at the landfill. This is waste that is not recycled. The service life is five years," Oleg Grishakov, the deputy chief engineer for environmental protection, hastened to answer.

Next came another question from a Nizhnekamsk resident, which concerned the analysis of the composition of the completed maps and the waterproofing of the landfill. At the end of the public hearings, the final voting was held.

The hearings were recognised as having taken place, the project documentation, including the EIA materials, were brought to the attention of the population. The project “Reconstruction of the landfill” was approved and supported almost unanimously: 134 people voted in favour, only seven people abstained.

At the end of the event, the petrochemists thanked the residents of Nizhnekamsk for their support and caring attitude to the life of the city and the enterprise.