Phosphorit Fertilizer Factory
The project, implemented by the Foundation and EuroChem, the owner of the Phosphorit fertilizer factory, directed the massive phosphorus discharges that had entered the Baltic Sea from the factory area to treatment. Moreover, the project implemented an independent expert assessment of the performance of the treatment system. Treating the discharges from the fertilizer factory reduced the annual phosphorus load of the Gulf of Finland by approximately 1,700 tonnes.
In early 2012, a major phosphorus discharge was discovered in the Luga River: the source of the phosphorus was the Phosphorit fertilizer factory in the city of Kingisepp, owned by the Russian fertilizer manufacturer EuroChem.
The Foundation made an offer to assist EuroChem management in tackling the discharge. The experts of the company were provided with an opportunity to learn more about the treatment of runoff waters in Finland, and to receive consultation from Finnish and Swedish experts on managing discharges from the fertilizer industry. The Foundation also commissioned a preliminary technical plan for a wastewater treatment system that would treat the company’s runoff waters now ending up in the Luga River.
In March 2012, Phosphorit experts built a runoff water treatment system on the factory grounds. In 2012, the Foundation and EuroChem agreed to jointly hire an independent European expert organisation to assess the effectiveness of the Phosphorit runoff water treatment system.
The assessment was completed in 2014 by the British consultancy Atkins. According to its results, the treatment system that was built at the Phosphorit factory is efficient, and sufficient to guarantee the efficient treatment of phosphorus in all circumstances.
