Posted on 10-9-2002
Ammonia
Plant Stinks
(Photo shows site being protested against)
VOLNA, Krasnodar, Russia, September 5, 2002 (ENS) - Environmental
activists
protesting the construction of an ammonia terminal by the world's
biggest
ammonia exporter were beaten and arrested by police who broke
up their
blockade of Togliattiazot Corporation offices in the southwest
Russian town
of Volna. Another protest planned for Friday will target the
police
brutality as well as the planned ammonia terminal in the nearby
town of
Taman, a small port town on the Taman Peninsula projecting westward
between
the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. The environmentalists say
the terminal
construction is illegal.
Early Tuesday morning, four activists from the Rainbow Keepers
Movement and
the Movement Against Violence blockaded the Togliattiazot office
in Volna.
Some 60 people gathered as both entrances to the office were
closed by
barrels. Activists were chained to each other through the barrels
by
handcuffs. The demonstrators planned to reach the Togliattoazot
office but
instead were stopped by police. People blockaded the street
until lines of
Togliattiazot Corporation trucks appeared from both sides of
the
demonstration. Police managed to get people away from the street
without
any damage, and the demonstration continued its way to Togliattiazot
offices which were empty because of blockade. Police caught
one local
resident trying to enter the office, but he was released on
account of the
demands of the demonstrators.
After four hours, company security together with police from
nearby city of
Temrjuk unchained the activists. Two activists suffered injuries
to their
arms as police dismantled the blockade. Seven activists were
arrested; two
of them were beaten and jailed for five days. These same environmental
groups staged a protest of the planned ammonia terminal at Togliattiazot
offices on August 21 which also turned violent. Two men riveted
themselves
to the office door by their necks and suffered injuries when
the police
arrived to break up the eight hour long blockade. After a fight,
which
local residents intervened to stop, police and Taman militia
arrested
several activists. Three men were jailed for their actions in
that incident.
Togliattiazot is one of the world’s largest producers of ammonia,
used
primarily as a feedstock for the nitrogen fertilizer industry.
In their plant at Togliatti on the Volga River, the company
uses Russia's
abundant natural gas to manufacture the ammonia. It is transported
to world
markets through a 2,300 kilometer (1,430 mile) pipeline to the
Black Sea.
>From there, the ammonia is shipped around the world, with
the United States
being the largest customer. Togliattiazot is interested in optimizing
its
ammonia exports by constructing a port on the Russian side of
the Taman
Peninsula which will reduce ammonia transportation costs and
shortcut
transit through Ukraine. According to Russian federal documents
obtained
August 24 by the Social-ecological Union Of the Western Caucasus
(SUWC),
the planned ammonia terminal would include two moorages and
could initally
handle two million tons of ammonia, with plans for a future
five million
ton capacity.
The environmental group says the plan is moving forward due
to the
"irresponsible policy of federal government with respect to
providing of
ecological safety and elementary fulfillment of laws and procedures
of
agreement." Despite "enormous" environmental impact from the
terminal, SUWC
says no public hearings have been held, and the plan was prepared
without
any participation of community and local associations in the
cities and
populated areas which will be affected by the terminal. A liquid
natural
gas shipping facility is also proposed for the Taman Peninsula.
Although the Russian Federation approved plans for the ammonia
terminal on
December 5, 2001 after input from the Ministry of Transport
and the
Ministry of Railroads, SUWC says the affected communities have
only now
received any information about the project.
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