Achema is the largest fertilizer producer in the Baltic states

Baltic states

The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...

. It is located in the city of Jonava

Jonava

Jonava is the ninth largest city in Lithuania with a population of ca 35,000.It is located in Kaunas County in central Lithuania, north east of Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. It is served by Kaunas International Airport. The largest fertilizer factory in the Baltic states is...

 in central Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

. Achema employs about 1700 workers. The current managing director is Arūnas Laurinaitis.

History

The factory construction began in 1962 as one of the state-owned enterprises of the Lithuanian SSR

Lithuanian SSR

The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union...

.

Environmental catastrophe

An explosion occurred in the chemical fertilizers factory on 20 March 1989, causing a leak of nearly 7,500 tonnes of liquid ammonia. The catastrophe developed further into a fire of nitrophoska and fertilizers

Fertilizer

Fertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...

 storehouses polluting the atmosphere with products of their decomposition

Decomposition

Decomposition is the process by which organic material is broken down into simpler forms of matter. The process is essential for recycling the finite matter that occupies physical space in the biome. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death...

: nitrous oxide

Nitrous oxide

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas or sweet air, is a chemical compound with the formula . It is an oxide of nitrogen. At room temperature, it is a colorless non-flammable gas, with a slightly sweet odor and taste. It is used in surgery and dentistry for its anesthetic and analgesic...

, chlorine gas, etc. The toxic cloud moved towards Ukmergė

Ukmerge

-Early history:Ukmergė was first mentioned as a settlement in 1333. It was essentially a wooden fortress that stood on a hill, near the confluence of the Vilkmergė River and the Šventoji River. Ukmergė was attacked by the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order in 1333, 1365, 1378, 1386, and even...

, Širvintos

Širvintos

Širvintos is a city in Vilnius County in the eastern part of Lithuania. It is the administrative center of the Širvintos district municipality.The word Širvintos is the plural form of the name of the Širvinta River, which flows through the city....

, Kėdainiai

Kedainiai

Kėdainiai is one of the oldest cities in Lithuania. It is located on the Nevėžis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population as of 2008 was 30,214. Its old town dates to the 17th century....

. The concentration of ammonia surpassed the permissible level

Permissible Exposure Limit

The permissible exposure limit is a legal limit in the United States for exposure of an employee to a chemical substance or physical agent. For chemicals, the chemical regulation is usually expressed in parts per million , or sometimes in milligrams per cubic metre . Units of measure for physical...

 150 times in Upninkai

Upninkai

Upninkai is the largest village in Jonava district, Lithuania. It is situated 8 km southwest of Vepriai on the left bank of the Šventoji River. According to the 2001 census, it had population of 1019.-History:...

, located 10 km from the enterprise. One day after the accident, a toxic cloud 7 km wide and 50 km long was recorded between Jonava and Kėdainiai

Kedainiai

Kėdainiai is one of the oldest cities in Lithuania. It is located on the Nevėžis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population as of 2008 was 30,214. Its old town dates to the 17th century....

. Seven persons died during the fire and leakage of ammonia, 29 became handicapped, and more people suffered from acute respiratory and cardiac attacks.