Catching Smoke: How Chita Hunts Air Polluters

Chita in winter is always smog. Thousands of pipes release coal soot into the sky, which settles on cars, windowsills, and dots the white snow. The scale of smoke can be seen from any hill — from above, the streets are wrapped in smog like gray cotton wool.

Residents« complaints seem useless, because giving up boiler houses and stoves in Transbaikalia winter is unrealistic. But reports about particularly smoky facilities reach the Ministry of Natural Resources of Transbaikalia, and then an »atmospheric landing party« is sent to the boiler houses to check »hot spots« that make eyes water and throats scratchy.

One such target on 3 February was a boiler house on Traktovaya Street, which heats the Cardinal shopping center. Around the pipe of the small boiler house, the snow is covered with black flakes of soot. It is an unpleasant sight, but far from an indicator of dirty work. Specialists rely on other data.

Artyom Dneprovsky, head of the environmental oversight department of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Transbaikalia, explained that specialists will take samples of industrial emissions at the boiler house owned by Vostok LLC.

The company Vostok, registered at 54 Traktovaya, is engaged in property management. It is owned by Olga Xiao and Maosen Xiao. At the same address, several other companies are registered, including with characteristic names: Jiulong, Minxi+, Baihe, Xinda, Jinxin. These are engaged in mining and beneficiation of iron ores.

We are conducting a joint inspection with the prosecutor«s office of the Zheleznodorozhny district. Last week we already came here, studied documents, got acquainted with the enterprise, inspected the territory. The enterprise is classified as the third category of negative impact. In this regard, a large set of environmental documents should be developed, including an action plan under adverse meteorological conditions, that is, in the absence of wind. As far as we know, they have not developed the document. But now they have provided us with information about a contract with an organization to create and approve such a plan,» he said.

According to Dneprovsky, the organization has a package of environmental documents, and specialists will compare whether the actual emissions from the boiler house match those declared.

We will look at the figures stated in the documents and compare them with the readings of our instruments. If they do not match, the enterprise faces a fine. Preliminary we have already established that the boiler house lacks gas treatment equipment. This is a violation of the law on atmospheric air protection, which provides for a fine of up to 100,000 rubles (about $1,100 at current rates),« added the head of the department.

Two Chinese men appeared at the site. One of them, in a dusty respirator, brought a small welding machine and burned a small hole in the pipe. Employees of the Center for Laboratory Analysis and Technical Measurements noted with displeasure that such a «peephole» should always be present for inspections.

Sensors with complex names are immersed into the pipe. First, temperature and carbon dioxide content are measured, then another device measures the flow velocity coming out of the boilers. This is needed to determine how long the filters installed on another device were used.

Specialists explain that a certain volume must be passed through the filters. There are also several filters that capture soot, chemicals and compounds such as benzo[a]pyrene and so on. Then, during calculations, it will be determined how much the boiler house pollutes the atmosphere. This depends on various factors: the fuel used, the presence of filters, the temperature in the boilers and the outside temperature.

This work is not quick. Just taking samples takes about an hour, and obtaining results takes even longer.

Artyom Dneprovsky explains that the boiler house has caused discontent among local residents and, moreover, was on the prosecutor«s office work plan.

Complaints, according to him, have increased since the appearance of the «Ecobot». In December 2025, the ministry received about 50 complaints about air pollution, a year earlier such complaints were 20.

The «Ecobot of Transbaikalia» @ecobot_75_bot launched in November 2025. In the Telegram messenger, you can complain about atmospheric air pollution and untimely garbage removal. To submit a request, simply send a message in photo or video format, indicate the address and a brief description.

Requests on this topic are seasonal. The peak is the coldest months – December and January. In February, smoke becomes less, and in spring it almost does not disturb residents.

But what happens after an inspection reveals violations at the boiler house? Will its owners pay a fine and then continue to sprinkle the area with soot? Dneprovsky says that then it is up to the prosecutor«s office. The supervisory authority issues a presentation, demanding that the company install gas treatment equipment. Later, prosecutors may go to court to oblige the enterprise to equip the boiler house with the necessary filters. In Chita, such experience already exists: district prosecutor»s offices forced owners of several boiler houses to install the necessary equipment.