Residents of the village of Kurianovka, located near Karaganda, have opposed the opening of a medical waste disposal plant. They said they have been battling environmental problems for many years and fear the plant will add another one.
According to Informburo.kz, villagers learned about the medical waste incineration facility from a public hearing notice scheduled for 17 December.
"For the past four years, the residents of Kurianovka have been in a constant fight for survival. They even compare their village to a crematorium. For over a year it was covered in dust from an old ash dump from a thermal power plant, then they fought against the construction of a new one nearby. There are also coal sidings kicking up dust here, and sewage is periodically discharged into the river.", the report states.
In turn, the contractor - director of LLP "Altyn-Zhaga" from Astana assured that a high-temperature furnace with two combustion levels and a filter can clean 96% of pollutants. He noted that he cannot place the plant away from residential areas due to a lack of electricity.
"This project has not yet been implemented. There are no permits from the authorised body, nor from us. As of today, they only plan to install a furnace for medical waste disposal. If there are no emissions, if there is no threat, why worry?" – commented in turn the head of the Natural Resources and Environmental Management Department of the Karaganda Region, Bakhtiyar Sanbayev.
Incidentally, residents of Kurianovka have already collected over a thousand signatures against the construction of the plant.
Recall that in October, in the Almaty Region, residents of six villages asked authorities to stop the company Block One Company, which is trying to reopen the Chinasyl-Sai mine, closed last century. The villagers believe that the gold miners' work could lead to the pollution of the river that supplies water to 50 thousand residents.