Azerbaijan, Baku, 15 February / corr.Trend News S. Ilhamgizi/ 95% of hazardous plants in the industrial Sumgayit city of Azerbaijan which houses many chemical plants from the former USSR, do not operate today. However, there are still many ecological problems which exist in the city. This was stated during a roundtable meeting on the subject of ‘The Situation of Protection of Environment in Sumgayit’ which was held in Sumgayit at the initiative of the Democratic Reforms Party.

The chairman of the party Asim Mollazadeh said that ecological problems in Azerbaijan should be explored. We should join our efforts to find a solution to the problem, he said.

Nasir Zeynalov, the Ecology Department of the Democratic Reforms Party of Azerbaijan said that the chemical plants of Sumgayit are harmful to the population’s health and the environment and the hazardous wastes left from the Soviet period still serve as a major source of danger. According to Zaynalov, the ecological problems of Sumgayit include the hazardous wastes dumped into the atmosphere, wastewaters, contamination of land and a decrease in the green areas per head. He also said that there are 2,573 permanent sources in the industrial plants of Sumgayit that dump waste into the atmosphere. There are some 331 gas and dust purifying devices in these enterprise and only 150 of them function at present.

“Carbonic acid makes up the majority of the hazardous wastes dumped into the atmosphere. Sulfur dioxide, hydrofluoric acid and other wastes dumped by the Aluminum Plant flows into the Caspian Sea without being purified,” he said.

It was stated at the meeting that the majority of ecological problems in Sumgayit are a ‘heritage’ from the Soviet period. Currently the atmosphere is polluted by non-purified gases of the Aluminum Plant and gases emitted as a result of the incineration of gases at Azkomposit.

Documents and proposals regarding a solution to the problems which were adopted during the meeting will be submitted to the government.

Print PDF