30 April 2012: The World Bank and the Government of Kazakhstan have reported on success in cleaning up contaminated mercury sites through an initiative to reduce mercury contamination in industrial sites and the Nura’s riverbanks and flood plains.

With parts of the areas starting with mercury levels 150 times higher than permitted by international standards, the initiative contributed to decontamination through the demolition of a carbide factory, cleaning of sludge from wastewater treatment plants, and a better system of environmental monitoring and chemical analysis. During the factory clean up, polluted soil was excavated to a depth of two meters and transported to a safe landfill, and all the metallic mercury left in the factory was collected and immobilized in concrete as well as plastic containers. Overall, based on pollution sampling and mapping, more than 2 million tons of contaminated materials from the carbide factory, sedimentation ponds, swamp, river banks, and floodplains were safely disposed.

The project works, including flood control infrastructure, benefited the Korgalzhyn wetlands ecosystem, a UNESCO World Heritage site and habitat for one of the world’s largest nesting populations of flamingos. [World Bank Press Release]