Rusalloys – Functioning, Changes, Violations

General overview

Address: Rustavi city, Mari canal street N174

LLC “Rusalloys” is one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of ferroalloys in Georgia. The plant was built in 2005 and is equipped with the two open type electric-arc furnace with 9MVA power.

In addition to the production of ferroalloys, the company owns several manganese ore deposits in western Georgia and produces ore and manganese concentrate at its own concentrating plant in Terjola.

On July 18, 2008 Environmental Impact Permit for Reconstruction of a Ferroalloy Plant was issued on LLC “Rusmetal”, submitted for environmental expertise on the basis of an Environmental Impact Assessment Report. Whereas, on February 3, 2016 by the order N65 of the Ministry of Environmental and Natural Resources Protection the environmental impact permit issued to LLC “Rusmetal” was handed over to LLC “Russellois” and the enterprise was instructed to comply with the conditions set forth in the July 18, 2008 environmental expertise report.

The plant is located in industrial zone of Rustavi city and is 800 meters away from the nearest settlement.

The main sources of the pollution of atmospheric air from the plant are: raw material dumping spots and ferroalloy melting furnaces.

The main pollutants of the atmospheric air are: inorganic dust, nitrogen dioxide, aluminum oxide, calcium oxide, magnesium oxide, manganese oxide, silicon dioxide.

Waste, produced during the industrial process are following: used oil from various machinery, cinder waste generated in the technological process, hydraulic oils, oil filters, absorbents, obsolete overalls, paper, glass, cardboard, wood packaging materials and plastic waste.

Inspections

The civil movement “Gavigudet” has studied the results of the inspections carried out on LLC “Rusalloys”. Therefore, we offer the most noticeable violations, especially in regard of air pollution.

– During September 19 – 26, 2016 – the conditions of compliance with the conditions provided for in the Environmental Impact Permit №00194 (conclusion of the №30 environmental expertise of 18 July 2008) issued to LLC “Rusalloys” and the status of the norms established by the legislation in the field of environmental protection were checked.

As a result of inspection following violations were revealed:

– LLC “Rusalloys” is not completing self-monitoring plan agreed with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia; in particular, no self-monitoring of emissions of harmful substances is carried out on the basis of primary registration documentation (PAD) forms. They failed to submit the form N PAD-1 of air pollution and emissions of harmful substances from stationary sources, form N PAD-2 of the mode of operation of air catchers and technological equipment and form N PAD-3 of carrying out air protection measures, as of I-II quarter of the current year. They also do not determine the efficiency (cleaning quality) of the air trap device, which is performed only on the basis of instrumental measurements. The resolution N21 of the government of Georgia of January 3, 2014 on the approval of “technical regulation for the operation of dust collectors” article 4, paragraph 5 and chapter III, paragraph 1 of the conclusion of the ecological expertise of July 18, 2008 is violated.

– In order to reduce the emissions of inorganic dust in the vicinity of the enterprise the greenery is not arranged appropriately. Part of the trees have lost the vital signs. Chapter III, conditions paragraph 12 of the conclusion of N 30 ecological expertise.

– LLC “Rusalloys” does not have a drainage network in the industrial area. Measures to prevent contamination of water resources with wastewater generated at production sites are not defined and established (Chapter III, conditions paragraph 12 of the conclusion of N 30 ecological expertise).

After the inspection, on October 5, 2016 the violation report was drafted against LLC “Rusalloys”. The report of the violation was reviewed by the Rustavi City Court and based on the relevant evidence, the enterprise was fines with 5,000 Gel.

The enterprise was given reasonable timeframe to rectify these violations.

– On April 23, 2018 an examination was carried out on the state of execution within a reasonable period of time in order to eliminate the violations identified during the inspection of the implementation of the environmental impact permit of the enterprise.

The inspection revealed that the enterprise has fulfilled the conditions provided for the elimination of violations, namely:

– LLC “Rusalloys” presented the agreement signed on February 13, 2018 with the LLC “GAMA Consulting”, according to which, “GAMA Consulting” is obliged to carry out a production of PAD forms of emissions of harmful substances from stationary sources, according to the resolution N413 “on approval of the technical regulation on self-monitoring and reporting of emissions from stationary sources of pollution” made on December 31, 2013 by the Government of Georgia.

Besides, LLC “GAMA Consulting” is obliged to determine the effectiveness of 2 furnaces gas filters by measuring the dust content in the flue and determine the amount of harmful substances during the operation of the enterprise, once a year.

– On March 20-21, 2018 “Rusalloys” purchased 80 seedlings of Eldar pine and 20 seedlings of lime tree from the “National Cultivate Farm”, and was planted on the outer perimeter of the enterprise and a employee was assigned to take care of the plants.

– In order to avoid the pollution of the water resources from the drainage wastewater of the plant, specific measures were determined by the “Rusalloys”. During the inspection the works had already been completed at the site of preparation of combustible materials and at the site of open placement of raw materials.

Fulfilling these conditions and submitting the documents to the Ministry within a reasonable time, sounds to seem law-abiding, although right after a few months from this inspection, it turns out that all this is superficial and not as ideal as it seems on a piece of paper – Inspection on December 12, 2018 reveals, that “Rusalloys” operates without the project of “maximum permissible emission norms of harmful substances in the ambient air” from November 1 , 2018. The plant representatives declare that, this project was submitted to the Ministry to be agreed. Turns out, the project was truly submitted, but nonscheduled inspection, carried out during 18-30 September, 2019, discovered, that “Rusalloys” does not meet the requirements set by the environmental impact assessment report and current legislation; namely, the actual situation at the spot does not correspond to the information reflected in the “project of maximum allowable emissions of harmful substances into the ambient air” agreed with the Ministry on December 14, 2018; and draft norms do not reflect all the sources of air pollution, in particular:

– 13 tons capacity tank, that is used to supply vehicles with diesel;

– Mechanical workshop, where metal products are repaired, disassembled and welded;

– Crushing-sorting machine installed in the raw material storage area;

– Open product storage area near the bottling station.

– During the inspection, the received products were stored in bulk at the main entrance of the smelting receiving area. This district is not reflected in the draft norms.

The 2019 inspection revealed numerous other violations, which we will discuss in details below.

In 2019 “Rusalloys” decided to set up an additional technological line – agglomeration plant, which would lead to a change in operating conditions, accordingly, on April 5, 2019, the enterprise applied to the Ministry for a screening application, where it was noted, that the absolute source of harmful substances emitted as a result of the planned activities is the company’s already existing ferroalloy furnaces, for which an environmental impact permit has already been issued and adding the agglomeration plant wouldn’t make an essential change in regard of emit harmful substances.

The application also noted, that no direct impact on surface water quality is expected during the construction of the agglomeration plant; As for the pollution of the environment with waste, the agglomeration process is considered as wasteless production and the production of a significant amount of additional waste is not expected as a result.

The Ministry reviewed screening application and revealed following drawbacks:

– According to the screening application, in order to reduce the expected emissions into the ambient air, it is planned to install a wet dust collection system (ПВМ 20 СА – 2 pices), however, the issue of water management and wastewater management for the proper operation of this unit is not presented.

– The analysis of the submitted screening application also shows that the issue of management of remains after burning and other possible wastes generated during the operation of the agglomeration plant, including the waste generated in the dust collectors, is not specified, which needs to be clarified.

– It is also important, that many other enterprises with various profiles and functional loads are located in the vicinity of the planned enterprise, which have a significant impact on the various components of the environment. Considering the abovementioned, significant cumulative impacts on the environment are expected as a result of changes in operating conditions.

– As a result of the joint operation of the ferroalloy plant and the agglomeration plant, a significant increase in the number of emissions of harmful substances into the ambient air is expected. The resulting impacts on ambient air quality and the environment require further assessment and study.

According to the decision of the Ministry, the mentioned activity was subject to environmental impact assessment; therefore “Rusalloys” submitted a scoping report on September 16, 2019 and on November 18 received a scoping decision from the Ministry.

– During the same period, on September 18 – 30, 2019 non-scheduled inspection was carried out on LLC “Rusalloys”.

The inspection revealed following violations:

Among them, we still find the violations in the same way, worsened or only slightly corrected, which were previously revealed during the inspection in 2016 and on which the enterprise presented the “correction” points.

– Drainage wells are located only on the raw material /combustion site; Due to the relief of the enterprise area, it is impossible to fully collect the water from the precipitation in the receiving wells, consequently, no measures to prevent contamination with drainage water are defined. (2016 inspection revealed, that the plant has no drainage network).

– The service staff of the company is not equipped with special overalls and individual means of protection from dust and noise.

– The EIA report and the draft for maximum allowable emission norms of harmful substances indicate, that the nearest resident is 800 meters away from the enterprise, although inspections revealed, that the documentation does not mention the penitentiary facility near the enterprise, where people are constantly present.

– Slag granulation tanks are arranged on the territory of the enterprise, however, these tanks are not discussed in the EIA report (but only in draft norms). It’s notable, that during the granulation of slag unorganized emissions of harmful substances occurs, which is characterized by a specific odor of sulfur. This smell is not uncommon in the city, and those who have been in “Rusalloys” with us, would remember its intensity quite well.

– Emissions take place when raw materials are thrown from the furnace pipes into the furnace, when new combustible material is added to the melted mass. These gases are transferred to the air purification pipes by means of ventilation umbrellas installed at the site. The inspection revealed, that mentioned ventilation system was not functioning. (2016 inspection discovered, that they were not checking the cleaning quality of dust collectors at the enterprise).

– The sealing of the pipes at the air purification station is broken, cloth fabrics are wrapped around the pipes in several places and untreated gases are emitted.

– The enterprise has not determined a plan of measures to reduce the emission of harmful substances into the air in unfavorable meteorological conditions according to the Government’s resolution N8 approved on January 3, 2014 about “Technical Regulations for Protection of Atmospheric Air in Unfavorable Meteorological Conditions”.

– No firefighting instruction has been agreed with the relevant enterprise according to the EIA report of “Rusalloys”.

– Waste is not managed in accordance with the rules established by the current legislation.

– According to the VII condition of the conclusion of ecological expertise N30 made on July 18, 2008, the company is banned from secondary use of slag in production of construction materials, including cement, due to its high content of manganese (Mn-14,8%). The inspection revealed, that “Rusalloys” hand over a slag to LLC “Group”, which, after sorting it into fractions, sells it to companies to make building materials.

After the inspection, the violation report was drafted against “Rusalloys”. The report was sent to the Rustavi City Court for the overview.

The court recognized “Russelloys” as an administrative offender by the decision N 4-518-19 of December 9, 2019. According to the first part of Article 79⁸ of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia (except in the part of secondary use of slag), as well as in the action provided for in the second part of Article 45 of the Waste Management Code, an administrative fine with amount of GEL 5,000 was imposed.

Besides, the enterprise was given a reasonable timeframe to rectify the violations and on September 17, 2020 fulfillment performance was checked and state of fulfillment of conditions specified in the administrative letter was satisfactory.

As for the draft maximum emission norms, which did not correspond to the real situation in the plant, “Russelloys” presented an updated version of the project with changes in the operating conditions of the metallurgical plant and the arrangement-operation of the agglomeration plant, prepared on September 14, 2020, in accordance with the abovementioned scoping report (November 18, 2019). Besides, the waste management plan was updated in this EIA report; and self- monitoring plan is also presented.

The Ministry reviewed the EIA report and on the basis on expert opinion, sent a letter to “Rusalloys” dated on January 31, 2021 with issues to be clarified:

– The EIA report does not indicate the enterprises of different profiles in the vicinity of the project area and the types of their activities, the joint operation of which may lead to a cumulative effect (full or partial). Besides, the indicators in the report of emissions of harmful substances in the ambient air is only relevant for the population of Rustavi and no cumulative effect with other enterprises is considered.

– The EIA report should include a plan for monitoring of harmful substances in the ambient air, where, in addition to the requirements set by the monitoring legislation, the issue of instrumental monitoring (at least once a month) will be considered on the perimeter of the enterprise, around the penitentiary N16, as well as with the nearest resident (indication monitoring spot coordinates and the plant’s load).

– EIA report does not include the detailed description of the management of sludge removed from the dust collector, including the process of “rolling”.

– Only theoretical overview of the noise impact is provided in the EIA report (section 9.2), whereas relevant calculations are not provided.

– Passport data of noise sources (equipment) in the enterprise and relevant calculations, based on the nearest settlement and penitentiary facility, must be submitted.

– The EIA report indicates that the raw materials to be used in the production process will be stored on the open field in the project area. Nevertheless, the report does not provide information about mitigation measures to reduce dust emissions generated from open fields; “Gavigudet” often visits the surrounding territory and witnesses how the dust, generated from the open storages, spreads over hundreds of meters.

– The EIA report states, that technical conditions and cleaning efficiency of the air cleaning equipment, as well as conditions of unorganized emission sources will be periodically checked. Although, the method and frequency of checking is not specified. In addition, the passport data of dust collectors is not presented.

– The EIA report (annex 15.1 – table with the information on fulfillment of conditions determined by the administrative correspondence N001568 on April 7, 2020) indicates “Within 6 months after the submission of the administrative correspondence, to completely prevent unorganized emissions caused by equipment malfunctions in the enterprise, malfunction of ventilating and dust collecting systems and / or hermetic violation. In this regard, it is stated that “the company is carrying out technical inspection of equipment (including the tightness of ventilation and dust collecting systems) and compliance with the technical documentation. Corrective measures are being taken in case of malfunction.” The EIA report should provide detailed information on the implementation of the above issues, including the current state of the enterprise and relevant specific measures to address the deficiencies;

In addition, for metallurgical production from June 1, 2021 it is mandatory to determine the actual amount of organized emissions of harmful substances into the ambient air from stationary sources of pollution by the continuous instrumental method. Based on the abovementioned, the EIA report should reflect the issue of introduction of continuous automatic monitoring in the enterprise (indicating the sources of emissions that will be subject to automatic monitoring). Unfortunately, the enterprise does not still have the self-monitoring system and has been operating with violations for 1 year now. However, during a visit to the plant in December 2021, the head of the enterprise said that by May 2022 he would have already installed a new filtration system and self-monitoring system, which turned out not to be true.

“Rusalloys” applied to the Ministry for a further extension of the 1-month period to eliminate the deficiencies, from which it received a positive response, and on April 13, 2021, submitted information on the remarks, as well as an updated draft of maximum allowable emissions of harmful substances.

Based on the submitted information, an expert group was formed again to review the additional information presented in the EIA report, and finally, based on the expert opinion, on June 3, 2021, the Ministry issued an environmental decision on “the arrangement and operation of an additional technological line – agglomeration (change of operating conditions) plant in “Rusalloys” metallurgical enterprise, in Rustavi”.

However, that is not all, several inspections conducted in 2021 revealed a number of unfixed violations over the years:

– The company does not determine the actual number of emissions from stationary sources of pollution into the ambient air with the continuous instrumental method, for which the company was fined GEL 10,000 based on the report drawn up on June 30, 2021.

– The company does not comply with the rules of operation of dust collecting devices. As a result, the air was polluted with the combustion products of the steel furnace, which is a violation of the condition set by the environmental decision. Consequently, the company was fined GEL 5,000 based on the report drawn up on July 30, 2021.

– Violation of the rules of operation of the purification system and malfunction of the relevant equipment polluted the air with the combustion products of the steel furnace, for which the enterprise was fined GEL 10,000 on the basis of the report of August 16, 2021.

– The violation of the rules of operation of air-trapping devices and the malfunction of the relevant equipment, caused the pollution of the atmospheric air with the products of the combustion furnace, which was reported on November 24, 2021. The report was reviewed by the Rustavi City Court and the administrative case against the company was terminated by the decision N4-387-21 of December 24, 2021.

In order to eliminate the non-fulfillment of the obligations established by the decision, a letter was sent to the court requesting information about the entry into force of the decision, to which, as of today, the department has not received a response.

As a result of the inspection carried out on January 24, 2022, an administrative violation report N064387 was drawn up against the enterprise, according to which reddish-brown smoke was emitted into the air without any filtration. Besides, the smoke of a similar color emitted from all four ventilation pipes installed on the stoves. Accordingly, it was established that the conditions of the environmental decision and the requirements established by the current legislation were violated by “Rusalloys”. Namely:

Obligations set forth in paragraphs 4 and 5 of the environmental decision issued by the Order N 2-813 of the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia of June 3, 2021.
Due to the violation of the operating rules of the purification system and the malfunction of the relevant equipment in the enterprise, there was an unorganized emission of harmful substances into the ambient air. Which is a violation of Article 79², Part 1 and Article 78, Part 2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia.

The explanation for the violation was as follows: “Filters were functioning for the mentioned period, no unorganized emission took place; Brown color is associated with water filters, high humidity of the raw material and low temperature, resulting in the formation of steam.

However, during the site visit, the existing violations through the operation of the enterprise are easily visible. Consequently, the company poses a threat to the health of both its employees and the people living in and around Rustavi.

The report was prepared with the support of Heinrich Boell Foundation Tbilisi Office, in the framework of the project – “Air Pollution in Rustavi”.