Sienkevych reported that the municipal services had helped to tackle the sludge build-up at the MGZ

After the wind stirred up dust from the sludge fields, the city called in the municipal enterprise ‘Parks’ and sent out water tankers to water the area near the alumina plant.

This was reported by the mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych, in a comment to NikVesti.

As a reminder, on 26 April 2026, storm-force winds began to scatter sludge from the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant (MAP) sludge storage facilities across the outskirts of Mykolaiv — waste left over after processing bauxite into alumina. That evening, the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration assured the public that the situation at the MAP’s sludge fields had been brought under control.

The streets of the village of Lymani near Mykolaiv, shrouded in dust from the MGA’s sludge fields. Photo from social media

According to him, on the day after the storm, water tankers from the municipal enterprise ‘Parks’ were sent to the plant’s premises to reduce dust levels.

“We sent water tankers from the ‘Parks’ municipal enterprise there to spray these sludge fields with water,” said the mayor.

Also, according to Oleksandr Sienkevych, the plant’s interim management responded to the situation. The very next day, the plant reported that operations had been restored and the city’s assistance was no longer required.

Advertising

«The regional military administration took notice, and they are now working on flooding the areas. I don’t know exactly who they approached regarding the plant itself—perhaps the army or the State Property Fund—but they are currently working on this issue. We asked if our help was needed, and they said: That’s it, we’ve sorted things out, we no longer need your help,» he said.

It should be noted that the State Property Fund commented on the situation regarding the leakage of red sludge from the sludge storage facilities of the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant. They stated that they were aware of the problem and were monitoring the situation. The Fund’s Deputy Chairman, Vitalii Kovalenko, described the incident as an «extreme climatic emergency».

The Mykolaiv Alumina Plant — a slow-acting environmental «time bomb»

The plant, which has been out of operation for five years now, has become far more dangerous to the environment than it was when operating at full capacity. This view was expressed by the head of the State Environmental Inspectorate, Ihor Zubovych, in response to an information request from NikVesti regarding the situation at the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant since the start of the full-scale war.

According to the information that NikVesti received from the State Environmental Inspectorate, on 19 July 2022, the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant reported that, due to shelling in the vicinity of sludge storage facility №2, the processing of the surface of the deposited red sludge in the facility’s basins had been hampered, giving rise to risks of red sludge dusting.

Consequently, the plant is only treating a third of the area of sludge storage facility №2: «hostilities in the vicinity of sludge storage facility №2 and damage to the dust suppression system’s lines, making their repair difficult; the inability to maintain the dust suppression system due to the freezing of the plant’s accounts. At the same time, maintenance of sludge storage facility №1 is being carried out in full by wetting the area using the company’s own resources».

Twice in August 2022, once in September 2022 and once in January 2023, MAP reported that, due to increased wind speeds, uncontrolled dust emissions were observed from one of the slurry ponds, which could have caused contamination of land plots outside their sanitary protection zone. The company then activated the dust suppression system at sludge storage facility №2.

However, due to a shortage of staff, the company was unable to carry out dust suppression work on the slopes of sludge storage facility №1.

Sludge fields must be constantly moistened and the water beneath the sludge pumped out to avoid an environmental disaster, archive photo NikVesti

Uncontrolled dusting of sludge from the company’s sludge fields continued throughout 2023: in May, July, August (twice) and September (four times).

Until July 2022, maintenance work on the dust suppression systems at sludge storage facility №2, including the restoration of the system following shelling, was carried out by a contractor, which ceased providing services because MAP had not paid them for their work for almost six months.

In the spring of 2023, operations at the company’s sludge storage facilities became critical:

1. the level of slurry water in the working basin of sludge storage facility №1 exceeded the permissible limit, posing a risk of pollution to the waters of the Bug Estuary, located 300 metres from the sludge field.
2. The accumulation of sludge at sludge storage facility №2 has reached a critical level, with a higher alkalinity than at sludge storage facility №1. Overflowing of this storage facility will lead to the contamination of the agricultural land adjacent to it.
3. The problem of significant dusting from the sludge in Field №2 persists, which may cause air pollution. This is due to the fact that a «dry» storage method is used there, which requires constant monitoring and moistening of the surface.
4. The sprinkler system for dust suppression (necessary for moistening the sludge), which was in operation at the plant, was damaged and rendered inoperable during the hostilities.

In July 2025, the State Environmental Inspectorate of the South-Western District informed the Minister of Economy and Environment that the waste situation at the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant was deteriorating. Environmentalists warned of the risk of a sludge storage breach and pollution of the Bug Estuary.

On 26 April 2026, storm winds began to scatter sludge from the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant’s sludge storage facilities across the outskirts of Mykolaiv — waste left over from the processing of bauxite into alumina.

That evening, the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration assured the public that the situation at the plant’s sludge fields had been brought under control.

The streets of the village of Lymany near Mykolaiv, shrouded in dust from the MMA’s sludge fields. Photo from social media

The State Property Fund commented on the situation regarding the red sludge dust from the sludge storage facilities of the «Mykolaiv Alumina Plant». They noted that they were aware of the problem and were monitoring it.

The Fund’s deputy head, Vitalii Kovalenko, described the incident as an «extreme emergency weather situation».