Usachev V.A., Zhukov Evgeniy  Evgenievich

Donetsk University of Economics and trade named Tugan-Baranovsky

 

An ecological crisis is in Donbas

A very important factor that significantly affects the territorial organization of the entire socio-economic life and the efficiency of production, is the environmental situation. In recent decades, in Ukraine it has deteriorated significantly. One of the main factors that affect the environment, is to develop the mining and processing industries with obsolete technologies and the associated excessive urbanization in many areas, especially the Donbass.

Donbass - is a major industrial region of Ukraine, where there are thousands of large industrial enterprises, industrial, industry associations and enterprises of fuel and energy, mining, metallurgy, chemical industry, heavy industry, construction industry, and agriculture. Donbass provides most of the industrial production in Ukraine, and in the most environmentally hazardous industries.

The high concentration of industrial and agricultural production, transport infrastructure, coupled with high population density, have created an extremely high technological and human pressure on the biosphere - the highest in Ukraine and Europe. Cumulative human impacts on the region one is 4 times higher than the average for Ukraine. Donbass has reserves of almost all chemical elements. The main natural resources of the region are deposits of coal. Its reserves only in the Donetsk region are estimated at 25 billion tons, which can meet the needs of Ukraine than one decade.

Despite the recession, bringing the total number of discharges and emissions significantly reduced the load on the biosphere of Donbass is still one of the largest in Europe. Enterprises in the region emit about one-third of the total amount of pollution in the Ukraine. High speed and scale of technological processes, the huge displacement of rock masses cause large amounts of dispersion of many chemical elements (primarily carbon and heavy metals), causing accumulation in the environment of compounds of chemical elements in the unusual nature of the combination.

Makeevka Dneprodzerzhinsk, Odessa, Donetsk, Gorlovka - the dirtiest cities of Ukraine. According to the MOE, the air in these locations contains the greatest amount of harmful substances. Residents industrial centers not only breathe dust and heavy metals, phenol, hydrogen fluoride benzopirenom, nitrogen dioxide and other compounds. Central Geophysical Laboratory MOE established the most critical state of the atmosphere in the East. The biggest problems with the ecology in Donbass. Further, the "dirty" rating following cities of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, Luhansk regions, and even the Crimea. But the quality of the air in Kiev, according to experts, above the national average. In the capital city of environmental concern has taken place in the third ten, the newspaper "Delo".

Leadership Makeevka (satellite city of Donetsk) in the ranking of the most environmentally disadvantaged urban observatory specialist explains the sharp increase in the level of benzopyrene - the substance of the first class of danger. In the atmosphere of the city is 4.6 times the permissible level. "Perhaps this is due to increased emissions of enterprises may fail the prevailing weather conditions. Due to weak winds and low level drops rasseivaemosti benzopyrene accumulating in the atmosphere ", - said Irina Kolesnik, head of the information department TSGO.

Head of the Department of Ecology Makeyevka City Council Vladimir Novosad said that high pollution in the first place, provoked many industries. "We have one metallurgical plant, two coke, one truboliteyny. In addition, a huge damage to the environment causes the coal industry, especially mine, which are fully and have not been closed, "- said the official. According to him, near the mines are heaps. Some of them smoke. As a result, the dust and dirt spread throughout the city.

In the area of ​​population 4.95 million people (about 10% of the population of Ukraine). The population density is 191 people per 1 km2. 90% of the population lives in cities and towns. It contains about 2,000 industrial companies (800 of which are large) mining, metallurgy, chemical industry, energy, heavy machinery and construction materials, operates about 300 mineral deposits. The high concentration of industrial, agricultural, transportation infrastructure, combined with a significant population density places an enormous burden on the biosphere - the largest in Ukraine and Europe.

Donetsk region is one of the most ecologically intense regions of Ukraine. The current environmental situation in Donetsk can be described as threatening, formed over a long period. The economy of the city characterized by a high proportion of resource and energy-intensive technologies, implementation and capacity building undertaken without appropriate treatment facilities. This has led to significant degradation of the environment in Donetsk, excessive pollution of surface and ground water, air and land accumulation in very large quantities of harmful, including toxic waste. These processes continue for decades and have led to a deterioration in health, reduce fertility and increased mortality. One of the most pressing problems of the city is the air pollution. The atmospheric air of Donetsk defines social-industrial complex, formed in the city and is characterized by certain emissions (pollutants) in the atmosphere, as well as weather conditions have a significant effect on the transport and dispersion of pollutants. Into the air of pollutants emitted wide spectrum, including nitrogen dioxide, which is a leader. Large amounts of pollutants into the air and Donetsk region in general come with almost all businesses. So today is quite urgent issue of reducing emissions of nitrogen oxides in the stationary and mobile sources.

The most acute problems are pollution of air and water pollution, hazardous waste accumulation.

The largest volumes of pollutants into the atmosphere have the industry:

1.   Coal

2.   Electric Utilities

3.   Ferrous metallurgy

Output - reduce exposure to environmental factors and life expectancy.