DUNAIVTSI, Khmelnytska region – In a beautiful courtyard with flowers and fruit trees in this small western town, anger and fear linger in the air as a group of neighbors gather to discuss how to tackle a problem that they say is harming their health.
A plant producing polystyrene foam panels opened 50 meters from their apartment block three years ago, and since then locals have complained of health problems, including breathing difficulties and increased cases of cancer.
Lyudmila Zinzuk’s one-year-old son was born with a congenital disorder and can breathe only with a pipe, which doctors put down to “environmental influence.” She lived next to the plant and worked in a nearby vegetable garden during pregnancy.
But rather than suffering in silence, this group of around 50 people has come together to fight the plant. They were supported by some 4,000 Dunaivtsi citizens, who signed a petition in favor of closing the plant.
“Is this polystyrene really more valuable that our children?” asked 68-year old Emilya Myslavska, who believes that three generations of her family are having health problems because of plant.
Dunaivtsi residents gathered in a courtyard to discuss how to fight toxic production / Photo by Alex Furman
The decision to fight the plant is unusual in a country where people are known for their forbearance. “Normally Ukrainians would not take any action. As a nation, they do not have a critical mass of discontent, are very patient, avoid responsibility – even for their own health – and would prefer to rely on a Tsar,” said Tetyana Miheyenko, a psychologist.
The movement of Dunaivtsi residents is led by unemployed construction worker Vasyl Gandziuk and his retired friend Nikolai Milkevych. They say that official documents show that neither the town council nor local health inspectors gave the plant permits needed to operate. The Environment Ministry said in a written response to the Kyiv Post that it checked the plant and discovered that it used no filters and violated several environmental laws. Production at the plant stopped when the local prosecutor opened an investigation, but soon restarted again.
Sitting in a café surrounded by piles of documents one recent morning, Gandzyuk and Milkevych said they are finding it tough to compete with the professional lawyers hired by the plant and have taken to direct protest action.
“When we blocked a road to protest against the plant, I got a lawsuit for hooliganism,” Gandzyuk said.
Volodymyr Boreyko, a Kyiv ecologist, said it is a fight they need to press on with, as the production of polystyrene foam panels, used as insulation for houses, is toxic. “There should be a kilometer sanitary zone around [the plant], not a residential block,” he said.
Alexandr Bartysyak, the Kyiv-based technical director of the company that owns the plant, said courts had ruled in its favor. “All this [campaign] is ordered by some individuals who have some interest in our plant,” he added.
Local officials, meanwhile, complain that state rulings are being ignored. “They destroy our seals and ignore our orders. We cannot enforce the rulings because of problems in legislation,” said Svyatoslav Savytsky, deputy head of the Khmelnitska Oblast Ecology Inspectorate.
“Sluggish court fighting is to the advantage of the owners of harmful plants, as paying a fine is cheaper than installing anti-pollution devices,” said Boreyko, the ecologist. “And the government is happy – it receives fines and punishes the violators. However, the unhappy ones are people who are poisoned.”
