Gavigudet” Attended the Public Deliberation on the Scoping Report of “Rustavi Steel” LLC

On September 21, the civil movement “Gavigudet” attended the Public Deliberation on the scoping report of a metallurgical plant – “Rustavi Steel” LLC, held in the City Hall of Rustavi Municipality.

Representatives of the company, City Hall and National Environmental Agency attended the meeting.

Traditionally, population was informed about the public deliberation by our team in advance (see the post).

The scoping report refers to changes in the exploitation conditions of the enterprise. As of today, 2 pieces of 10 tons/h electro steel furnaces are operating in the factory; and after adding a new furnace with the capacity of 35 tons/h, the total capacity of the electric steel smelting workshop will become 55 tons/h.

We would like to remind you, that the company had applied to the Ministry with the scoping report on the same project back in 2019, and prepared the EIA according to the scoping conclusion. However, after the public deliberation of the EIA report, the Ministry stopped the administrative procedure of issuing an environmental decision, due to the various errors, noted in the report. According to the requirements, defined in the “Environmental Assessment Code”, on November 25, 2021, deadline for issuing the environmental decision had expired. Therefore, it was necessary to start the scoping procedure all over again.

On September 14 our team organized a working group meeting, led by the invited trainer, in order to discuss and prepare comments/notes on the scoping report.

All our comments were submitted to the National Environmental Agency. And we would like to share with you part of our comments, we voiced during the public deliberation:

– “Bulati” LLC (same as “RSM Corp” LLC) – is spotted to be operating on the territory of “Rustavi Steel”. From June 13, 2019, the company holds an environmental decision upon the production of ferroalloys. This enterprise is not mentioned in the presented scoping report, therefore, this matter needs to be clarified. On top of that, it should be taken into account, while calculating the cumulative impact as it also operates with violations (see the photos):

Moreover, the road from “Bulati” LLC to “Rustavi Steel” LLC is not properly arranged and becomes a significant source of dust spreading during the transportation processes. This issue should appropriately be discussed during the EIA procedure.

– It is mentioned in th escoping report, that the new, 35 t/h capacity furncae is already installed and operates in a test mode. We would like to remind you, that about a year ago, during the EIA procedure of the very same project, mentioned furnace was already installed and functioning; the company management noted, that the furnace was operating in a test mode. Therefore, information, given in thepresented scoping report does not reflect truth, as it is unjustified to operate the device with the mentioned reason for one year. This means, that the company operates furnace during this entire period without the environmental decision and calls it test mode. Besides, over the last few days, our group has observed a number of violations from the enterprise, the facts of which can be found on the link and photos:

Taken on September 2, 2022:

Taken on September 7, 2022:

Considering the fact, that the new furnace is already launched and operates without any environmental decision, we would like to know, why the exhaust system is not put into operation?

– According to the scoping report, the environmental section of the factory is equipped with the proper equipment. What kind of equipment are we talking about and what is the environmental purpose for using them?

– According to the scoping report, technological processes, taking place in the factory, are being completed in the closed building. However, the Department of Environmental Supervision inspected, that emissions of harmful substances occurred from the opening in the roof of the building. Consequently, the issue of hermetical protection of the buildings is under question.

– The EIA report should reflect the detailed information about installing and launching of the self-monitoring system. Including, indicating emission sources; components, subjected to monitoring; information about selected method/device and standard for the self-monitoring; Dates, when the company plans to purchase and install the device and when it will be able to join the unified electronic system of the Ministry.

The informational material is prepared by “Eco Centre” in the framework of USAID civil society Engagement Program, funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The content of this material is the sole responsibility of the “Eco Centre” and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the United States government, or EWMI.