Environment

Siberia, Russia Blanketed With Black Snow in Coal-Mining Region, Raising Health Concerns

At a Glance

Images posted to social media show unsightly winter scenes of black snow in the cities of Prokopyevsk, Kiselyovsk and Leninsk-Kuznetsky.
Local authorities partially attribute the tainted snow to coal-processing plants in the region.
The director of a plant in Prokopyevsk said a shield had failed at the factory, allowing soot to be released into the air.

Black snow blanketed three Russian cities last week in the coal-mining Kuzbass region of Siberia, raising pollution and health concerns.

Images posted to social media show unsightly winter scenes of black snow covering cars, buildings and statues in the cities of Prokopyevsk, Kiselyovsk and Leninsk-Kuznetsky.

Local authorities attribute the tainted snow to coal-processing plants in the region. The director of a plant in Prokopyevsk said a shield that prevents coal powder from escaping out of the factory had failed, allowing soot to be released into the air where it mingled with snow, the Siberian Times reported.

The snow was also captured in Satellite images.

Andrei Panov, deputy governor of the Kemerovo region, suggested that other factors, including car exhaust, coal boilers and other coal plants, contributed to the black snow. Much of the problem also stems from the country's lack of environmental regulations.

Sadly, the black snow is not a rare occurrence in the region.

"It’s harder to find white snow than black snow during the winter,” Vladimir Slivyak, a member of the non-profit environmental group Ecodefense, told the Guardian. "There is a lot of coal dust in the air all the time. When snow falls, it just becomes visible. You can’t see it the rest of the year, but it is still there."

In December, regional authorities allegedly tried to hide the toxic black snow by literally painting over it, the Moscow Times reported.

The Kuzbass, or Kuznetsk, coal basin is one of the largest open pit coal fields in the world at 10,000 square miles. It is also home to 2.6 million people, according to Brittanica.com.

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A 2015 report from Ecodefense noted that the life expectancy in the region is three to four years shorter than the Russian national average, while cases of tuberculosis and childhood mental disorders are double the national average.

Comments by locals on social media pointed to the health concerns related to the toxic snow.

"The government bans smoking in public," one person commented. "But let us inhale coal dust all together and let it reside in our lungs," the Times reported.

Another commented: "Is this what snow looks like in hell?" StrangeSounds.org reported.