[Summary translation prepared by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre].

Electrozinc's legacy in Ossetia: Unemployed workers and derelict waste, 31 May 2021
Elektrozinc, a hazard class I non-ferrous metallurgy enterprise, ceased to function in North Ossetia two and a half years ago. When it closed, it left behind a trail of problems. Former employees of the plant are still unemployed, and two sites with lead-zinc production dumps continue to pollute the ecology of Vladikavkaz....

Ivan Alborov, a professor and honoured ecologist of Russia, told Kavkaz.Reality that exactly what he had warned about when he said that the plant's operations could not be stopped before it undertook to repair all the damage caused by its activities had happened.
"Now who is to be asked? Who will reanimate the soil? Heavy metals migrate into the water environment and end up in the Terek River basin. From there, agricultural enterprises take water for irrigation of fruits and vegetables, which we then buy and eat. Consequently, due to this chain, the very heavy metals get into our bodies. As a result, we have a very high child mortality rate and oncological morbidity. Supervisory bodies do not monitor this normally. We can only rely on the help of the federal centre," says the interlocutor....