Open Joint-Stock Company Chusovoy Metallurgical Plant (OAO CMZ) is actively and extensively engaged in target-oriented ecological activities aimed at reducing development pressure on the environment and introducing new elements of industrial ecological culture into practical operation of the plant.

Ecological activities of the plant are focused within its Environmental Protection Laboratory (Certificate dated 02.12.02, License No. 75 dated 02.06.03).

Specialists of the laboratory:

• monitor discharge of the pollutants in the Chusovaya and Usva rivers;
• monitor atmospheric emissions of pollutants;
• monitor movement of metal industry wastes;
• take instrument measurements of operating efficiency of dust and gas cleaning facilities and ventilation systems;
• conduct laboratory and instrumental examination of the concentration of air pollutants (up to 30 harmful substances) in operating areas of the plant workshops;
• measure operating efficiency of plenum and exhaust ventilation systems;
• take instrument measurement of noise, vibration and illumination levels at work places in the plant workshops;
• keep all technical documents and statistical reports regarding environmental activities of the plant.

The laboratory is furnished with all necessary and modern equipment.

The plant has a certified monitoring station that permanently does departmental monitoring of the outside air in urban residential areas. The station, operating in automatic mode, is able to monitor seven main components in the ambient air.

ОАО CMZ has all necessary environmental permits required for its industrial operations: Industrial Waste Handling License, Special Water-Use License, norms of maximum permissible discharge and emission of pollutants, and permits for discharge and emission of pollutants.

In order to systematically reduce it environmental impact, ОАО CMZ draws up annual environmental programs, further approved by the plant management and agreed upon with environmental inspection agencies.

Annual expenditures on the environmental program activities are from 7 to 13 million rubles.

Actual environmental costs during the last four years amounted to 42 million rubles.

Among the main environmental improvements are the following:

• commissioning of ferroalloy production effluent neutralization unit, with sedimentation of  vanadium and manganese compounds;
• construction of current and dump blast-furnace slag processing facility;
• major and periodic maintenance of dust and gas cleaning facilities.

Owing to the above-mentioned and other activities carried out by ОАО CMZ, during the last four years the amount of pollutant atmospheric emissions has been reduced by 21.6%, discharge of vanadium and manganese compounds – by 79.8% and 95.9% respectively, all the current blast-furnace slag and up to 100 thousand tons of dump slag is annually reprocessed.