Protesters Near Moscow Say Dump Polluting Environment

DEDENEVO, Russia — Some 300 protesters from settlements near Moscow picketed the district government building on September7 to demand the closure of a dump they say is polluting the environment, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reports.

The protesters, who live near the town of Dedenevo, want local officials to shut down the Dmitrov dump and to reverse their decision to build a facility nearby that would burn waste.

The Dmitrov dump was used until 1991 to bury military waste. But since 1996 the site has been used by Moscow city authorities as a regular garbage dump.

The demonstrators say the level of lead in the local Ikshanka River — a tributary of the Moskva River — is eight times above safe levels and the soil and groundwater have been contaminated by excessive amounts of oil and metal-based waste.

The Moskva River flows through the center of Moscow.

Dedenevo has about 6,600 people and is situated about 15 kilometers north of Moscow.

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