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Nornickel tests online system to monitor air conditions in Norilsk

The company’s representatives did not quote the time when the system would work in full

ST. PETERSBURG, December 6. /TASS/. The Norilsk Nickel Company (Nornickel) plans to launch an online system to monitor air pollution in Norilsk, the Krasnoyarsk region. The program, which presently is in the test mode, will be available for local residents, the company’s Vice President Andrei Bugrov said on Friday.

"As for the air quality, we want its parameters to be transparent to anyone interested," he said during the Arctic: Present and Future international forum. "We have launched a pilot project to monitor in real time the air quality in Norilsk."

"Nornickel and a Russian ecology operator signed an agreement on it in October," he continued. "Our task is to make this system fully automatic, so that local residents could receive this information any time by using a cellphone application."

The company’s representatives did not quote the time when the system would work in full.

After the company closed a nickel plant in Norilsk in 2016, Sulphur dioxide emissions in the residential area have dropped by more than 30%, he continued. The company continues its Northern Project to cut Sulphur dioxide emissions. Under the project, Nornickel plans to cut the emissions in the Norilsk Industrial District after 2030 by another 95% against 2015.

The Northern Project is Nornickel’s biggest ecology program to upgrade industrial assets. The project’s investments will make about 250 billion rubles ($3.4 billion).

About forum

The 11th international forum Arctic Present and Future took place in St. Petersburg on December 2-4. It was organized by the Association of Polar Explorers with the support from the Federation Council, the State Duma, the Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic, the Foreign Ministry, and other authorities. TASS was the event’s general information partner.

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