MOSCOW, July 18 (UPI) -- A pump failed in the sulfuric acid workshop of a zinc factory in North Ossetia, Russia, Sunday, causing an emission into the atmosphere, officials said.
But factory officials in the Ossetian capital of Vladikavkaz said the harmful substances emission posed no threat to the local population, RIA Novosti reported.
A group of experts from the Emergencies Ministry was sent to the factory to investigate the incident, the ministry told Novosti. The results will be announced later.
The factory has been discharging harmful substances into the atmosphere periodically since October 2009, Novosti said.
On Oct. 28, 2009, emissions exceeded permissible concentrations of sulfur dioxide by 10 times, data from the factory's administration indicated, Novosti said.
