3000 canisters of chemicals thrown into a river near Kyiv: video

Near the town of Bucha, unknown individuals threw about 3,000 canisters of unidentified chemicals into the Kizka River. Over the weekend, locals cleared the river.

Bucha Mayor Anatolii Fedoruk announced this on his Facebook page.

The dump with canisters on the border of the villages of Blystavytsia and Lubianka was found by locals in March this year, according to a story in the local newspaper Buchanski Novyny.

"Within 350-400 meters, the riverbed is almost completely filled with canisters of unknown liquid. Each canister is 20 liters. According to preliminary estimates, there are about 3,000 canisters. Most canisters, fortunately, are hermetically sealed, and this substance didn't get into the water. Some canisters are still depressurized, and there are oily stains in the water," Bucha City Council Secretary Taras Shapravskyi told the TV channel.

As a result, the Bucha Police Department opened a criminal case under Part 1 of Art. 239 of the Criminal code of Ukraine, pollution of the environment by chemical substances.

On Saturday, April 17, the Kizka River was cleared by environmental activists, rescuers from the State Emergency Service, and the police. They had to work in respirators and protective suits. Depressurized canisters were packed in bags. Special equipment helped to take out the canisters.

The canisters will be sent for storage, and after the examination, which should establish what kind of substance was in them, they'll be disposed of.

Victor Chervonyi, the first vice-president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Hunters and Users of Hunting Lands, told "Podrobytsi" that chlordezine could be the active substance in the canisters.

The Kizka flows into the Irpin river, and the latter joins the Dnieper.