While frost has halted drainage work at the Negrebivsky quarry in Zhytomyr region, a pine forest is being cut down nearby. The local community and environmentalists link this to the activities of the Dolomite company, which is associated with a former regional deputy. The company wants to extract dolomite from the quarry despite the critical threat of drinking water loss for residents of nearby villages.
According to the Golka community, hundreds of trees have already been cut down. Activists say it looks like revenge on nature.
In the EIA documents for Dolomite, the old and picturesque pine forest has miraculously turned into "maple shrubbery." This was reported by the Negrebivsky Quarry community.
Source: facebook.com/negrebivs.kij.kar.er.
Activists are raising the issue of personal responsibility for scientists and experts involved in submitting false information, which is subsequently approved by the Ministry of Economy, Environment, and Agriculture. They add: how could trees with a diameter of 80–90 cm be classified as shrubs, and did the experts even visit the site at all?
“This is EIA, Ukrainian style. What kind of responsibility do the so-called scientists bear for the so-called scientific reports that legalize the destruction of nature? Moral? Professional? Reputational? Or in our country, is the title of professor already an indulgence?” – as stated in the Facebook community for the quarry.
Mining operations as a sentence for residents
Preparatory work at the Negrebivskyi quarry began in November 2025. Dolomine LLC was actively pumping water from the flooded pit to clear the way for dolomite extraction.
The company had spent several years attempting to obtain permission, and in the summer, the Ministry of Environmental Protection finally approved the commencement of work.
However, operation of the quarry threatens not only to destroy a tourist destination visited even by residents of Kyiv Oblast. Its operation will lead to a decrease in the groundwater level, resulting in the drying up of boreholes and wells that supply water to local villages.
EcoPolitic previously reported on the threat to local residents, violations of permit conditions during the works, and the ownership of the company.
