OREANDA-NEWS. February 14, 2008. A visiting session of the plenary committee of the Zaporozhye city council on ecology problems took place at Zaporizhstal JSC. The deputies got familiarized with the environmental protection work carried out at the Works and also the prospects for the near future.

For many years running Zaporizhstal JSC has been one of the leaders in the field of environmental protection. A long-term programme on large-scale revamping and modernization has been adopted at Zaporizhstal JSC. The realization of this programme makes it possible for the metallurgists not only to reduce the amount of emissions but also save power resources. In the last couple of years reconstruction of 2 blast furnaces has been carried out. Last year the aspiration unit was put into operation in the sintering plant. As a result in seven years the specific emissions into atmosphere at the Works has decreased from 22 to 17 kg of noxious agents per ton of produced steel. This is the best index among all the ferrous metallurgy enterprises of Ukraine. At present the main goal of the metallurgists is the transfer from open-hearth furnace method of steel production to the oxygen-converter method.

The First Deputy Chairman of the Board, Technical Director of Zaporizhstal JSC, A.Yu. Putnoki, stated, that the most probable date of commissioning of the converter shop is 2012. The ecological efficiency is approximately a 20% reduction of emissions. Today the deputies of the city council inspected the new oxygen unit and the aspiration unit at the sintering plant. They could not but state that the air in this area has become much cleaner.

- It has become much cleaner in the sintering shop. There is no denying the truth. The metallurgists have accomplished everything as has been planned earlier. Well done! Keep it up! The cause of the Works is to fulfill the ecological programme and I think that this important matter should be supported by the deputies at all levels, — noted the chairman of the committee on ecology problems of the Zaporozhye city council, Lyudmila Zavgorodnyaya, during her visit to the Works.

Not only the deputies of the city council mentioned the fact, that the environmental protection work at Zaporizhstal JSC is organized at the highest level. In particular, according to the information of the sanitation station, last year not a single inspection out of more than a hundred of such inspections has found gross or systematic disturbances in the environmental protection activity of the Works. According to the information of the regional department on ecology the Works’ emissions correspond to the approved norms. Only the law can qualitatively improve the work connected with environmental protection. Zaporizhstal specialists and people’s deputies participated in the preparation of the draft law. It has already been registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The main idea is to keep the largest part of the taxes at the disposal of the Works for investment in ecological programmes.