Penza, 29 October 2014. PenzaNews. The activists of “Green patrol” society, a city-wide subdivision of Lavrenty Zagoskin youth center “Russian Geographic Society Pathfinders,” have located an illegal trash dump by the house No. 10 on Mebelnaya street in Penza.

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The raid uncovered large heaps of household and construction waste in a gulley by the private sector, with smaller trash concentrations on the road leading to the houses.

As Oleg Avdeev, deputy chairman of the Penza Russian Geographic Society department, told PenzaNews agency, the trash dump formed up by the waterbed of Moyka river.

“It flows from Yuzhnaya Polyana, but you can’t see it from here behind the trash. This river enters Sura by Peski island. There are no filters, so everything here ends up there. It seems that the locals throw away rubbish without bothering to move or utilize it in a more civilized manner. Here we can see the road to the dump, people made a path, laid down several two-by-fours. There are also industrial factories on the opposite side, and they are probably dumping their trash here: there is a door in the guarded territory that leads to the dump,” he remarked.

According to the “Green patrol” activist and the head of the regional youth center “Russian Geographic Society Pathfinders” Andrei Sushkov, it were the locals who helped uncover the trashed location.

“We received an e-mail about a large dump site on Mebelnaya street. During the raid we found the area is a total pollution focus, and documented the violation of ecology laws. The notes will be submitted to the officials: the city and region administrations, and the Rosprirodnadzor department of the Penza region. We hope this will help remove the trash dump,” the agency interlocutor said.

He added that “Green patrol” representatives have already uncovered several other trash dumps this month.

“We have inspected the Leninsky area of the city earlier. It’s relatively clean, but there are dump areas in the very center of the city. The notes on this were also submitted to the administration and Rosprirodnadzor,” said the head of the youth center.

Youth center “Russian Geographic Society Pathfinders” was opened under the patronage of the Penza RGS subdivision on June 19, 2013.

The center aims to guide youth in its local lore, science and socially-oriented activities and actively participate in the RGS campaigns.

The youth center members, ranging from 10 to 25 years old, rely on the experience and traditions of their predecessors.

Currently, the activists strive to assemble ecology patrol teams formed from each education institution in Penza. Beyond that, the plans suggest that the ecology status of the region will be monitored by a joint city patrol team that will potentially employ specially prepared vehicles.

An ecology raid begins with a special briefing for the volunteers and takes place at the major pollution locations reported by the citizens. The gathered information is collected at the “Green patrol” headquarters for analysis and subsequent submission to the officials, who will take appropriate measures against those who violate the ecology laws. Afterwards, the information is published on the Internet.