The Volga coast will be freed from 100 hectares of dangerous sewage sludge
The Republic of Tatarstan will start recultivation of silt fields of sewage treatment plants in Kazan ahead of schedule. Decree No. 3381-ro on financing activities within the framework of the federal project "Improving the Volga River" of the national project "Ecology" was signed by the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation reports.
Silt fields of Kazan municipal sewage treatment plants have been operating since 1974 and occupy an area of about 100 hectares in the water protection zone of the Kuibyshev reservoir. The fields are designed for drying raw sediment and stabilizing the sewage sludge of the treatment facilities of Kazan. For almost half a century of existence, the actual filling of silt fields has exceeded the design capacity. And now, according to the examination conducted in 2020, there is a high content of dangerous pathogens in the sludge, and in some maps there is an excess of permissible concentrations of heavy metals. Given the proximity of the reservoir, this is a real threat to both the multi–purpose river and the environment as a whole.
"Not only Kazan, but several regions of the Volga region depend on the well-being of the Kuibyshev reservoir. It is fundamentally important for us to protect the source of drinking water from surface water intakes from the risks of pollution. Procrastination in environmental issues can be expensive," Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Alexander Shadrikov noted that silt fields are an object of accumulated harm, the impact of which is primarily felt by Kazan residents. A pilot project within the framework of the federal project "Improving the Volga" of the national project "Ecology" will help to close this environmental problem. We remind, by decree of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, since 2019, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan has been selecting technologies for the field reclamation project. This topic was also discussed at the working meeting of the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Alexander Kozlov and the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov.
Work on the reclamation of silt fields within the framework of the national project "Ecology" will begin this year and will be completed in 2024. The total cost of the project is more than 8.1 billion rubles, 548 million rubles were received from the federal budget this year.