#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The Nickel plant was closed in 2016. The firstborn of Norilsk metallurgy has worked for 74 years, 4 months and 4 days. Scientists told how the ecology has changed over the past eight years in the city and its environs.
Recall that the Nickel plant was launched in February 1942, it annually gave a load on the environment of 380 thousand tons of sulfur dioxide. And this load was not included in the design.
“At that time, the norms and design standards did not take into account the wind rose, the pollutants dispersion. The impossibility of recycling sulfur dioxide at the old capacities of the enterprise led to the fact that the company developed a large-scale environmental plan for the Nickel plant closure, and in parallel with this, the NMZ modernization was underway. In addition, the company has decided to build a new stage for the utilization of sulfur dioxide from exhaust gases – this is the Sulfur Program. When the Nickel plant was closed, 600 emission sources, 3 wastewater discharge sources were eliminated, and now we have seen positive changes in eight years”, explained Denis Arbuzov, acting deputy director of the Polar Division – chief engineer.
In addition to this, there is a decrease in the concentration of metal sulfates and sulfur in the soil. As part of the ESG agenda, Nornickel attracted more than a hundred specialists from the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as specialists from the Taimyr Nature Reserves, who conducted large-scale studies, which recorded a decrease in pollutants in the soil.
“This indicates that both the soil itself and biodiversity are being renewed. Every year we will see more and more results of our work within the framework of these events. Taking into account the Sulfur Program, I am sure that in a few years we will see even more significant changes”, explained the Polar Division representative.
“We breathe deeply. The air has become cleaner. Natural ecosystems, water bodies, and vegetation are in good condition”, said Zoya Yanchenko, director of the Arctic Research Institute of Agriculture and Ecology.
As for the city plantings, researchers note that they have become healthier compared to 2015-2016, when the trees were even sick.
“Pests, diseases, and even rust have appeared. We have seen that productivity is falling and trees may die. But the Nickel plant has been closed, eight years have passed, and scientists who come to Norilsk from different cities note that the greenery has become more lush, juicier, and richer. Indeed, the environmental situation inside the city is improving”, said Zoya Yanchenko.
According to ecologist, deputy director for science and environmental education of the Taimyr Nature Reserves directorate Mikhail Bondar, the Nickel plant closure for Norilsk residents and natural-anthropogenic complexes and natural objects existing in the vicinity of the agglomeration is an undoubted benefit. So far, perhaps, the dynamics are not so fast, but there are certain positive processes in it.
“Some birds’ species have begun to nest here, and their nesting success has increased significantly. We need to continue monitoring biodiversity, and I think the effect will not be long in coming. Climate processes are still taking place, and it is difficult to separate one from the other. The scientists’ task is to separate one from the other”, says Mikhail Bondar.
The scientist noted that in the vicinity of the Norilsk industrial region there are more than one and a half thousand taxa – both plants and animals. It is extremely difficult to monitor them all, so indicator species are selected. They can be used to judge changes in the environmental situation.
“Maybe some species will even be added. This is where we need to look and monitor. Now the company has launched a program to study biodiversity, and we are building a systematic work with Nornickel, so we will study. I think there will be certain positive indicators”, the expert notes.
The specialist from Taimyr Nature Reserves directorate emphasized that reducing industrial emissions, for example, will allow planting more spruce, larch and other coniferous trees in the city. Given the Nickel plant closure and the Sulfur Program results in greening the city, they can be safely used.
“They will take root well, please us and improve the environmental situation”, Mikhail Bondar concluded.
Let us recall that the measures to liquidate the Nickel plant were launched in 2016. The Nickel plant closure project is one of the links in a large-scale, environmentally oriented program for the reconfiguration of the metallurgical their capacities of Nornickel. The company has currently dismantled most of the former plant. In 2024–2025, dismantling work is planned in the amount of 1.5 million cubic meters.
Earlier, the last, fifth pipe was dismantled at the former Nickel plant.
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Text: Anzhelika Stepanova, Photo: Nornickel’s Polar Division’s press service
