According to Senator Olga Bulavkina, the development of the Belousovsky mine in the East Kazakhstan region has been underway for almost 200 years, reports inbusiness.kz .
At the same time, 10 thousand people now live in an area with a high potential for air pollution. The average content of pollutants in the Glubochanka River with heavy metals is 137%, suspended solids -103%. Pollutants accumulate in the soil, which adversely affects human health and plant life.
According to the deputy, the Kazakhmys company plans to flood the mines of the Belousovsky mine for liquidation. Despite the fact that the Ministry of Environment stated that they had identified reserves at the mine that would be sufficient for production for another 12 years.
“During 2023, at public hearings, local residents expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that as a result of mine flooding, ground failures will certainly occur and there may be casualties. After all, in fact, this village is located above mine workings. In addition to collapses, mine flooding will lead to the displacement of contaminated waste to the surface mine air. For several decades, there will be an accumulation of methane and carbon dioxide in the basements of residential buildings, which will cause significant harm to public health. In turn, contaminated groundwater will cause irreparable damage to agriculture,” she said.
In this regard, the deputy proposed that the government conduct an industrial safety examination and a state environmental examination of the project for the liquidation of the Belousovskoye field, and also raised the issue of improving the social infrastructure in the village, renovating schools, hospitals and building cultural facilities.
“In the absence of investors and the impossibility of reconstructing the Belousovsky mine and its further operation in the future, I ask you to instruct the government to conduct research on the development of environmentally friendly and cost-effective methods for preserving the deposit. Develop a unified program for the development of depressed areas affected by the closure of mines, with consideration of the issue of allocation funds for the resettlement of residents of houses within the boundaries of liquidated deposits,” Bulavkina summed up.
