Date
Author
Илья СЕРГЕЕВ; Хабаровский край
Source
Preserved copy
Translated material
Publicly available cyanide
The deadly poison was stored in the port of Vanino in an open area
440 tons of sodium cyanide were discovered in the port of Vanino in the Khabarovsk Territory. As reported by the acting district transport prosecutor Roman Azarov, this fact was revealed during a scheduled inspection.In the open area of one of the piers, employees of the transport prosecutor's office and Rospotrebnadzor discovered dozens of containers with deadly poison in the pouring rain. As experts note, cyanide is one of the most dangerous poisons for humans. The presence of 0.03 milligrams of this substance in one cubic meter of air causes death. Cyanide binds to tissue enzymes responsible for cellular respiration, and therefore can cause the death of living organisms almost instantly. At the same time, according to Mr. Azarov, the port of Vanino has no conditions at all for storing and transshipping dangerous goods.
During the inspection, it was established that these four hundred plus tons of cyanide were intended for gold miners from the Magadan region. On June 13, the dangerous cargo was delivered to the port of Vanino by the motor ship "Paromai" - a very old ship and not intended for transporting highly toxic substances. Moreover, during the unloading of cyanide containers, the loaders worked without any chemical protective equipment. So far, fortunately, no traces of cyanide entering the environment have been found. The Transport Prosecutor's Office is conducting an investigation, the results of which will determine whether to initiate a criminal case. Meanwhile, as prosecutor Azarov reported yesterday, tons of poison from the Vanino pier disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.
Acting General Director of the Vanino port Tatyana Shelovskikh called information about the incident with sodium cyanide “unnecessary whipping up of hysteria.” According to the port management, there is nothing illegal either in the actions of the ship’s crew or in the actions of the consignee. The cargo successfully passed customs clearance (it was delivered to Russia from South Korea). The containers were hermetically sealed, and all necessary safety measures were observed when reloading them. The poison was packaged in multi-layer protective bags, so that in case of possible damage to the casing, the release of chemicals into the environment was avoided. Moreover, the containers with cyanide spent a little more than a day in Vanino.
Currently, as reported by the Vanino port administration, the dangerous cargo is on its way to the port of Magadan. The consignee of 400 tons of sodium cyanide is the Kolyma enterprise VMA LLC. Despite the statements of the management of the Vanino port, the transport prosecutor's office of the port sent a corresponding representation to the gold miners.