"The situation will be no less catastrophic than the Black Sea oil spill": Residents of the Tuapse District are protesting the construction of a landfill 150 meters from the Shapsukho River.
Construction of the "Yug" waste processing facility with a capacity of 350 tons per year is planned near the village of Defanovka. Only 10% of the waste is planned to be sorted; the rest is planned for landfill. The site chosen for the facility is located near the Shapsukho River and the M4 Don highway. Tuapse resident Olga Feoktistova spoke about this at the "Russia Shaping the Future" congress in Moscow.
The threat of a water disaster and expert opinions
"A water disaster is inevitable. The site is located just 150 meters from the Shapsukho River. <…> The Shapsukho River is the only source of drinking water for thousands of residents, not only in the village of Defanovka, but also downstream, where there are active water intakes for the villages of Tenginka and Lermontovo, which are also home to recreation centers and sanatoriums, providing water to thousands of people."
— said Olga.
According to her, in the event of a flood, no engineering structures will be able to contain the waste: the landfill's contents will be washed into the river, and from there into the Black Sea, as well as into the water supply systems of the Orlyonok and Morskaya Volna children's camps. As a result, "the situation will be no less catastrophic than the oil spill in the Black Sea."
The site's unsuitability for landfill construction was confirmed by experts from St. Petersburg three years ago, but that didn't stop officials. Moreover, Olga believes this is a systemic error: of the nine sites proposed for landfill construction by the regional Ministry of Fuel and Energy, Housing and Utilities, six are "absolutely unsuitable."
Activists fight against the landfill
A month earlier, activists from the Tuapse District spoke about their fight against the landfill at the Environmental Forum in Moscow. They said they had collected 6 signatures and submitted several applications to register their water bodies with Rosvodresursy. But in response, they received only formal replies citing procedural violations.
Activists are currently seeking to have the site removed from the territorial solid municipal waste management system.
