The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) announced that, together with the EC, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Blacksmith Institute, they have neutralized explosives and toxic substances at an abandoned chemicals and explosives factory in the Ukraine.
28 March 2014: The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) announced that, together with the EC, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the Blacksmith Institute, they have neutralized explosives and toxic substances at an abandoned chemicals and explosives factory in the Ukraine.
The facility, in the Horlivka, Ukraine, contained thousands of tons of poorly stored mononitrochlorobenzene (MNCB), and 30 tons of trinitrotoluene (TNT). The TNT was in machinery, pipes and flooded underground tanks, and was contaminating soil and groundwater, threatening the local population.
At the request of the Ukrainian Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, a project was developed to remove and neutralize the chemicals. Experts reportedly took two years to dismantle TNT-filled equipment. TNT was extracted and stored in plastic drums, while acids were stabilized. All chemicals were incinerated, either on-site, or off-site, depending on the contaminant concentrations. [UNIDO Press Release] [Blacksmith Institute Project Video]