THE NURA RIVER CLEAN-UP FROM MERCURY

Abstract

Mercury is an extremely hazardous chemical according to the World Health Organization. Mercury contamination of the Nura River remains an urgent problem. The Nura is the largest river of the Nura-Sarysuysky basin. One of the main sources of mercury pollution in the Nura river was a factory located in Temirtau. This study seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of the Nura River clean-up project, i.e. assessment of effective in reducing the impacts of
mercury pollution. According to the report of the World Bank, the contaminated sediment was removed and the levels of mercury in the sediment declined to a safe level but other research demonstrated that the concentration of mercury in the river sediment exceeded the standard safe limit.