NEWS AND VIEWS: Chemical plant in Lviv Oblast poses danger to Stebnyk region (07/14/02)

NEWS AND VIEWS

Chemical plant in Lviv Oblast poses danger to Stebnyk region

by Danylo Kulyniak

STEBNYK, Ukraine - It was not so long ago that the Polymineral State Chemical Plant in Stebnyk, Lviv Oblast, was among the largest in the world. Yearly about 1 million tons of kainite ore, a natural salt used in the manufacture of potassium fertilizers, is taken out of the earth.

During the course of several decades 30 million cubic meters was removed, leaving a network of gaping tunnels 40 to 650 meters below the surface that snake through the earth for dozens of kilometers.

The tunnels and caverns extend to the neighboring towns, Truskavets and Boryslav, beneath which there are vast holes filled with combustible gas, the result of extensive oil extraction in the past.

Today the danger exists that the towns of Stebnyk and Truskavets, and a series of other small towns and villages in the area, could simply collapse into the earth. The danger, which is quite real, could be alleviated relatively easily. But what is needed is what is too often lacking in Ukraine: financing, motivation and a transparent economic playing field.

Back in February 1994 a hole more than 20 meters in diameter and 30 meters deep opened up suddenly near a mineshaft opening owned by Polymineral. Since then smaller cavities have regularly appeared in the area, swallowing buildings and pieces of roadway.

The problem stems from 1978 when the appearance of underground waters in the chasms destabilized the existing shafts by washing away veins of mineral salts still left in the earth. To stabilize the situation, large water pumps were utilized to empty the cavities. As long as Polymineral remained solvent, it had the money to pump out the water and take care of the problem.

In 1992, when Ukraine's economic slide began, the situation slowly turned catastrophic, because money to run the pumps evaporated. With no extraction devices working to keep the underground holes dry, the underground water could eventually erode the subcutaneous layers to the extent that major movements in the earth's crust could occur and end in an earthquake that some predict could reach 8 points on the Richter scale.

A domino effect could take place, causing the collapse of the tunnels to Boryslav and the explosion of the unstable gas mixtures beneath the town. It would be a catastrophe affecting all of Europe.

In order to avoid this, the area must be transformed into an ecological disaster zone, and funds must be gathered to stabilize the region. It is also important to re-start the Polymineral plant and resume mining of kainite ore. The earth extracted in the mining process could be used to fill the unstable voids beneath the surface from Stebnyk to Truskavets.

For Polymineral to become profitable, it needs to sell approximately 300 thousand tons of kainite annually. While the plant's directors are asking for Kyiv to extend 1 million hrv in finances to the facility, the central government has responded that there is no money.

The irony here is that last year the state fund for maintaining the environment failed to spend 14 million hrv of its budget money that was appropriated specifically for ecological catastrophes, which is what may develop in Stebnyk.

There is another paradox that exists here. Even during economically difficult times, Ukraine's agricultural sector has continued to purchase 2 million tons of kainite-based fertilizers in Belarus at $75 a ton, even while the kainite mined for the Polymineral plant goes for $11 a ton. Cozy links between Belarus and Ukrainian politicians and businessmen make it more lucrative for Ukraine to continue the current situation than for it to purchase the cheaper fertilizer made by its own plant.

Mykola Yakovlev, the director of Polymineral, said that if he were to receive orders for 80,000 tons of kainite annually, with advance payment, he could easily get the plant up and running. He explained that the plant could become profitable with a demand of 7,000 tons a month, which would also guarantee jobs for thousands.

In the end, the government must shoulder the blame for the current bankrupt state of affairs at Polymineral. In effect, it brought about the demise of the chemical enterprise by failing to pay for minerals it took on credit for Ukraine's agricultural sector. In 1994, a total of 94,000 tons of kainite was given to the country's agricultural sector under government guarantees; in 1995 the government took another 173,000 tons valued at 1.8 million hrv. To date nothing has been paid for.

The unreturned credit proved fatal to Polymineral, and the plant has ceased production. Today there is no money even for the electricity needed to keep the pumps working to remove the water that has accumulated in the vast chasms beneath the surface.

The Lviv Oblast energy company Lvivoblenerho regularly shuts down electrical supplies to Polymineral and has threatened to turn off the power for a full day, which could lead to the flooding of the current kainite reserves, thought to number 2 billion tons, not to mention a steep increase in the risk of a regional calamity. And while no threats have been executed to date, neither has anyone discovered a way out of the predicament and the danger that confronts the Stebnyk region today.

Danylo Kulyniak is a freelance writer from Ukraine who has written for The Weekly about notable Ukrainians.

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