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Mysterious
stinky fog descends on Moscow
10
November, 2014
Moscow
stinks.
At
least, that's what residents were reporting on Monday, after a
strange, smelly fog descended on the city.
Muscovites
took to Twitter to share accounts of a sulfur smell and a foggy haze
hanging over the Russian capital. Video purportedly taken in the
Kozhukhovo area of Moscow, which aired on several Russian news
channels, shows a thick smog hanging over city streets. The location
of this footage has not been verified, but local accounts indicate
that the fog was quite thick at times..
While many were quick to comment on the smell, these two journalists based in Moscow indicated that the fog actually made it difficult to breathe.
But where did it come from? And more importantly — what was it?
State-run
news organizations say the smog came from a leak from
a sulfur dioxide processing facility at an oil refinery in Moscow.
Local
news outlets reported that the Russian
Ministry of Emergency Situations had advised Muscovites to
stay indoors with their windows closed earlier in the day. Apparently
politicians in Moscow's government buildings, known as the Duma,
also reported the
smell.
Other
government officials were quick to reassure residents that the smog
was not harmful to their health. The head of the Department of
Natural Resources said that the smog was not
dangerous. By the evening, the Ministry of Emergency Situations
told state-run news organization ITAR-Tass that
the smell came from a Moscow refinery which had temporarily stopped
operations.
However
GazProm Neft, which owns the refinery, said that the information is
not true. The company denied that their refinery was the source of
the smell and indicated that the operation was up and running as
usual.
"The
plant is operating normally, according to the production plan, "
GazProm Neft said in a statement, quoted by the local news source.
The
location of the plant in the southeast of the city can be seen on the
map below.
The
Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations was quick to reassure
residents that while the smell was quite alarming, it was not unsafe.
However the Environmental Agency seemed to directly contradict the
statement, advising residents to limit their time outdoors..
This story is developing...
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