MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. Emissions from Nornickel's mining and metallurgical plants in the Murmansk Region dropped by ten times over recent decade after the company closed down a few enterprises, press service of the biodiversity expedition, organized by the Russian Academy of Sciences' Siberian Branch, told TASS.
"The contamination was in the 2000s, and now it is much milder," the press service quoted Director of the Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals (the Russian Academy of Sciences' Siberian Branch) Viktor Glupov as saying. "The emissions have become cleaner by practically ten times after Nornickel closed down a few enterprises."
Earlier, he continued, Sweden and Norway used to blame Russia for air pollution from mining and metallurgical plants. Nowadays, the situation has changed, he said.
The basic biodiversity survey continues the work, which the Norilsk Nickel Company (Nornickel) and the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch began in 2020. Since the Great Norilsk Expedition, this work has extended into another three regions. The survey’s purpose is to identify Nornickel’s impact zones and to assess biodiversity in areas of Nornickel’s operations. The research results will be used in building out a corporate biodiversity management system and biodiversity monitoring and conservation programs.