Movement against violence
Rainbow Keepers movement
Socio-Ecological Union of Western Caucasus
PROTEST CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE CONSTRUCTION OF AMMONIA
RELOADING TERMINAL ON TAMAN PENINSULA
<August 19, 2002>
TOGLYATTIAZOT IN TAMAN:
FREIGHT CARS CAPSIZED, TAGENT TOWER BROKEN BY A TRUCK
Once again freight cars came off the rails on the access
railroad constructed by a private Corporation "Toglyattiazot"On the night of August 17 – 18, 2002 there was a just another accident on the access railroad, one of the developments of an ammonia reloading terminal under construction, on the sector situated not far from Volna resort village. A group of four cars loaded with crushed stone run off the rails, five cars capsized. On this sector of the railroad the railway embankment collapsed, and the rails cracked. All day long August, 18 the builders tried to lift the cars by heavy machinery, but they did not succeed. In the evening it started raining and they had to get out promptly the machinery from there. The representative of Toglyattiazot Corporation asserted that the accident had been caused by the death of a car brake.
Such an accident is not the first one. It is explained by the fact that the local ground mainly consists of sand and clay, which are very unstable and easily eroded materials. The construction does not take into account the characteristics of the local ground, it is realized with poor quality and there is a great number of violations and infringements of the standards. Unfortunately, it cannot be otherwise, as soldiers of railway troops are realizing the construction. They are very well paid and boast of this to the local people, but they are not interested in their work and are doing it anyhow. For instance, they have laid the rails and suddenly realized that they should to have laid sewers. Then they take away rails, put sewers, cover them with ground and remember that they forgot to concrete and so on. If their chiefs are waited for, the soldiers cover the ground with crushed stone for the chiefs see that there is a railroad, but there is sand and clay under the crushed stone. As a result of this there is a subsidence of the rail embankment, the rails looking like waves run along Taman land. And cars stumble on those curved rails and turn over. Just imagine, what will be when they begun transporting ammonia by this railroad?
The same situation is on the other developments of the terminal. At the beginning of this summer near Volna village in the area of a future port they evened a water flow, by which water found its way to the sea during heavy rains. There are houses of the inhabitants and the builders are also constructing a hotel there. Having eliminated a water flow there means that in two or three years water will erode the coast and it will crash down with all the buildings. Especially because collapse of the coast, caused by underground waters, is very frequent on Taman peninsula.
On the 18th August in Volna village a KamAZ truck belonging to Tolgiattiazot Corporation overthrew a tagent tower, and the inhabitants were deprived of electricity all the evening.
Those facts are evidence that the prolongation of the construction is inadmissible, because operation of this dangerous industrial development, taking into consideration the disorder and culpable negligence accompanying the construction and, what is very possible, its further exploitation will inevitably bring about disaster.
Irina Romanova
(Socio-ecological Union of Western Caucasus)
Gleb Edelev
(Movement against violence)