GORNO-ALTAISK, May 10 - RAPSI. Altai Republic's law enforcement authorities have opened a criminal case over environmental pollution caused by mercury waste left out in the open after the closure of a plant.

According to the environmental watchdog which inspected the site of Aktashsky mercury waste treatment plant, the building and the equipment had been completely dismantled and removed, while the structure which still contains toxic waste has no roof and no glass in its windows. A vast number of mercury balls can be found all over the plant site.

"The mercury content in the soil is over 400 times over the admissible limit and between three to six times over the limit in the air," the watchdog reports.

The criminal case has been filed for "hazardous waste production, radioactive, bacteriological and chemical substance transportation, storage, disposal and use" punishable by up to five years in prison.