Mass pickets against environmental pollution took place in the village of Novikbozh and the village of Ust-Usa of Usinsky district on May 31. Local residents are outraged by the fact that work continues after the fire at the Alabushinskoye field in the floodplain of the river. According to a local resident Dyachkova, they have already installed a tower, which can be clearly seen from the village.
In Novikbozh, 30 participants applied for the picket. People gathered at the site near the church under construction.
During the action, participants agreed to spread the news about it in social networks as widely as possible.
'Our neighbors in the village of Shchelyabozh suffered of the blazing wells of the Alabushinskoye field for a month: every day they watched where the wind was blowing and listened to the roar of burning earth depth,' Ekaterina Dyachkova wrote in the letter to «7x7». 'They watched the glow above the forest beyond the river, and we were next. Is it possible to trust those who put drilling rigs in the floodplain of rivers? Is it possible to trust those who conduct environmental hearings far away from populated areas, alongside which they develop prospective areas? Is it possible to trust those who save on elementary measures of safety of the indigenous population? Is it possible to trust those who organized the 'Alabushinsky horror', calling it an incident and coincidence?'
67 people came to picket on the bank of the Pechora River in Ust-Usa on the same day.
On April 10 a well burnt in the Usinsky district. On April 12, the fire spread to the second well. Finally, the fire was extinguished only by May 12. A whole month burnt settled in the vicinity. Residents of the nearest village of Shchelyabozh claimed that they only took samples of air when there was no wind from the well.
Several protest actions took place in the Usinsky district. On May 11, local residents met with the head of the energy programs of Greenpeace Russia Vladimir Chuprov. The conversation had to be conducted on the street, because people were not allowed into the village club by order of the administration of Usinsk. On May 14, the police tried to disperse the people's assembly in Novikbozh. On May 17, residents of the village of Shchelyabozh demanded an apology from the president of Lukoil Vagit Alekperov at a rally for the fact that gas analyzers installed in the village were unsuitable for measuring the level of hydrogen sulfide in the open air. On May 22, residents of the villages of Mutnyy Materik and Ust-Lyzha demanded to stop the development of the deposit Alabushinskoye and prospecting in the floodplain of the Pechora River. On May 28, meetings against the pollution of nature were held in the villages of Shchelyabozh, Ust-Usa and Novikbozh. Residents of Kolva on the same day discussed the possible consequences of the flood.
Elena Solovyova, photo: Ekaterina Dyachkova, «7x7
