Navoi city was covered with thick smoke on Saturday, prompting a wave of complaints by among residents who described the air as acrid and irritating. Many said the fumes caused coughing and complicated breathing. The Navoi province environmental protection department said the situation had been due to the Navoiyazot chemical plant, while the company claimed the smoke originated from western areas outside its facility.
“The smell is extremely pungent, it’s causing people to cough, and it’s almost impossible to breathe. Lately, this has been happening repeatedly. We’re genuinely worried about our children’s health. We don’t know how much longer we’ll have to live in this toxic air,” said one of the complainants.
In response, Navoiyazot JSC issued an official statement denying any responsibility. According to the company, the smoke was a fine particulate haze that settled over the city during the early hours of July 19. A similar occurrence was observed on July 13.
“There are false and unproven claims among the public linking this situation to the operations of JSC. To monitor emissions and ensure they remain within permissible limits, three automatic gas analyzers have been installed in production shops, as well as at the company’s health resort and headquarters. A total of UZS 6.186 billion was contriubted on these measures,” the statement read.
The company also reported installing more than 500 modern surveillance cameras around the plant and nearby areas. Footage from these cameras – capable of observing a 10–15 km radius from a height of 120 meters – reportedly shows that the pollution observed on July 13 and July 19 did not originate from Navoiyazot.
“The dust haze rose from the west, passed over and around the plant following wind directions, and then spread across the city,” the company added.
Meanwhile, the province environmental protection department released its own official statement. It confirmed that environmental analysis was conducted jointly by its analytical laboratory and Navoiyazot’s sanitary laboratory from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. on July 19 in the vicinity of the plant.
The tests found that ammonia concentrations were 1.4 times above the legal limit, while hydrogen sulfide levels exceeded the norm by a factor of 16.8.
Additional analysis by the provincial hydrometeorological authority found elevated levels of carbon monoxide (1.04 times), ammonia (1.1 times), and at a second observation post, ammonia was measured at 1.2 times the acceptable limit.
An official from the ecology department said that the specific chemical compounds found in the air are characteristic of emissions from Navoiyazot and are not typically found in local lime production facilities.
