“Instant readiness forces” were created by the Act adopted last year by Cabinet of Ministers of the Chuvash Republic for solution of environmental issues and prevention of negative influence on the environment. The “forces” include representatives of the Committee for Matters Relating to Civil Defense and Emergency Situations of the Chuvah Republic, Technical Supervisory Authorities, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Health, environmental prosecution authorities, etc.

Play park meets you with poisoned metal

One of the first tasks of the ecological branch was connected with detection of 3 un approved waste deposits of fluorescent lamps. The deposits located at the Kukmush river near the waste treatment facilities of “Promtractor”, OAO, in Cheboksary botanic garden and what is more important in Nikolaev play park. Alexander Shefer, director of R&D Mercury, LLC visited these places. He told the journalists about how dangerous fluorescent lamps may be for people’s health if they are just wasted in the street. Due to the presence of mercury, daylight effect is created in fluorescent lamps, When operated, they bring no harm to people’s health. But if used lamps are not utilized using special facilities they may be highly dangerous. Mercury penetrates into soils, waters, evaporates into the atmosphere.

Ртуть относится к веществам 1 класса опасности, она поражает нервную систему человека, печень, кожу. И если учесть, что люминесцентные лампы используются повсеместно, то их утилизация приобретает глобальный масштаб и должна быть поставлена на промышленную основу. Что и было сделано еще в 1986 году. На Чебоксарском заводе промышленных тракторов был организован участок по утилизации ртутных ламп, на тот период чуть ли не единственный в СССР. А в 1988 году на его месте возникло отдельное предприятие, которое нарастило мощности по переработке ртутьсодержащих ламп и приборов до 100 тысяч единиц в месяц.

Mercury belong to the elements of 1 hazard class, it affects the nervous system, kidney and skin of people. Considering the fact that fluorescent lamps are widely used, utilization of these lamps acquires global scale. The utilization process must have an industrial basis. This base was first introduced in 1986. Mercury lamp utilization facility was introduced at Cheboksary Industrial Tractor Factory. It was one of the first utilization facilities of this type in the USSR. In 1988 it converted into a separate enterprise with a processing capacity of 100 thousand mercury containing lamps a month.

Every factory and enterprise of the Chuvash Republic began to use this service. R&D Mercury, LLC started production of mercury containing lamps and equipment processing facilities, it introduced training courses for operating personnel and began demercurization of polluted soils. Modern production assets were built which correspond to all sanitary and technical regulations.
The equipment of R&D Mercury, LLC successfully underwent an examination at Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, the company was awarded with a certificate of the Russian Technical Supervisory Authority. The activity of R&D Mercury, LLC doesn’t cause any concerns among the authorities. Mercury containing out-of-order lamps and equipment (more than 300 types) are delivered to R&D Mercury, LLC in accordance with the utilization agreements signed with the relevant enterprises.

Private initiative

Shall we go back to the already discussed topic. Where did those mountains of fluorescent lamps came from to Cheboksary? And is there a possibility for such incidents to repeat? We will not find an answer to these questions. Innocent until proven guilty, they say. But we can assume that smaller companies may be responsible for this. These companies do not want to spend extra for the recycling of lamps – why pay more. The snow will start melting by the end of March and we will have something more to collect, not just snowdrops. But there is another question: is it possible that R&D Mercury, LLC do not have enough production capacities to recycle all the mercury containing lamps rejects on providing this kind of services to some companies? On the other hand, maybe one more mercury containing lamps and equipment processing plant should be built?

Commenting this issue, the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology put it quite straight: R&D Mercury, LLC does its best and the construction of a new plant is not necessary. And the cost will not be very cheap, as each technological installation will cost 1.5 million rubles. Than environmental protection measures should be taken.

The canalization system of a company should be equipped with mercury traps; workshops should be equipped with combined suction-and-exhaust ventilation protecting the atmosphere from emission of contaminant gases, than a license should be obtained. These all takes time and money.

Nevertheless, in defiance of common sense, the process of creating a new processing plant for the mercury containing is already going on. But it is not the initiative of the state, but private initiative. Ex-president of R&D Mercury, LLC Sergey Shemanaev, who was voluntarily shifted to the position of vice president, decided to get to work with double energy.

Business is a delicate matter.

For this purpose Shemanaev, while working at R&D Mercury, LLC registers his own company Ecolog-Ch, LLC and makes his son, Alexey Shemanaev, a president. This way Shemanaev senior continues his work as a vice president of R&D Mercury, LLC and also as one of the company founders, and Shemanaev junior is a lawyer at this company.

Today's business functions by whatever means necessary. S. Shemanaev persuades some of the clients of R&D Mercury, LLC to address to Ecolog-Ch, LLC for lamp recycling services. Partners know him well and that is why they trust his words. Therefore, the first contracts for recycling of mercury containing lamps and equipment were signed at Ecolog-Ch, LLC. During an inspection carried out by the Interior Ministry's Economic-Crimes Department it was revealed that the following companies transferred mercury containing lamps to Ecolog-Ch, LLC: Gorsvet, OJSC – 2712 pieces, IZVA, LLC – 1300 pieces, Customs of the Chuvash Republic – 1030 pieces, administration of Mariinsky Posad District – 600 pieces, Everest, CJSC – 5850 pieces.

This happened in 2006. The inspection also revealed a fact of illegal entrepreneurial activities and the violation of item 3 of article 4 of the Federal law "On Production and Consumption Wastes". After all, Ecolog-Ch, LLC does not have a license for this kind of strictly monitored activity. However, the most interesting fact is that the company does not have the equipment necessary for the recycling of mercury-containing lamps.

Leased warehouse space of Trest-5, OJSC are quite unsuitable for such kind of works, and it's also necessary to observe at least such formalities as public hearings with the participation of all the parties concerned to mount there an installation "Ecotrom-2" for demercurization of waste. However, following the principle that the best way to defeat oneself is attack, president of Ecolog-Ch, LLC Alexey Shemanaev writes a letter to the prosecutor of the Chuvash Republic with hope that this action will sweep away all the administrative barriers on his way.

A little bit scared!

However, an inspection conducted by the procurator's office of the Lenin district could not reveal any basis for the response measures against City's Environment Protection Committee, SI R&D Institution "Ecologia" and Cheboksary City Administration, but many questions should be asked to Alexey Shemanaev. And the first one is: Where are those lamps and equipment which had been delivered to Ecolog-Ch, LLC and consequently to the capital of the Chuvash Republic?

The President of Ecolog-Ch, LLC explained that his company acted on the basis of the power of attorney received from Ekpro, LLC from Ulyanovsk. But according to Law, the activities on collecting and transportation of hazardous waste cannot be performed on the basis of a power of attorney. In addition, Mr. Shemanaev, being a lawyer should have known that perfectly. But the education was not the only problem of a young president.

A discouraging response for the request of the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology, S. Drinev, came from Russian Federal Service for Ecological, Technical and Atomic Supervision in Ulyanovsk region: "Neither in 2006 nor in 2007 Ekpro, LLC received mercury containing lamps and equipment from companies and organizations located in the Chuvash Republic". Or maybe the recycling was done by Ecoe, LLC from Kazan, to where, according to Shemanaev, fluorescent lamps were also sent from Ecolog-Ch, LLC. But this information turned out to be fake as well.

Russian Federal Service for Ecological, Technical and Atomic Supervision of the Tatarstan Republic conducted an inspection and found out that there were no relation between Ecoe Firm, LLC and Ecolog-Ch, LLC in 2006-2007. Strange situation. It is not known where 80 thousand of documented lamps, which were delivered to Ecolog-Ch, LLC, disappeared. We all would like to receive a reasonable answer for this question. Meanwhile the president of Ecolog-Ch, LLC Alexey Shemanaev was fined for the performance of the activities on collecting, using, disposal, transportation, storage of mercury containing waste without license. Being a natural person, he was fined for 2 thousand rubles..