Coal dust turns white snow black in Siberian town

MOSCOW – A Siberian coal mining town has gotten a blanket of black snow, a regular occurrence in the region known for high industrial pollution levels.

The snow in the town of Prokopyevsk, darkened by coal dust, was featured in Sunday’s Russian state TV report. Black snow also has been seen in the nearby towns of Kiselyovsk and Leninsk-Kuznetsky in Siberia’s Kemerovo region.

Anatoly Volkov, the director of the Prokopyevskaya coal plant, said some emissions escape and “we can’t tackle coal dust in the streets.”

Local prosecutors are checking to see if the processing plant observed industry emission standards.

Kemerovo regional governor Sergey Tsivilyov says authorities have tried to tackle pollution and several mines promised to resettle residents from the most polluted areas to less impacted ones.