Dzerzhinsk, Russia
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Dzerzhinsk (Дзержинск) is a city of the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia along the Oka River, about 240km east of Moscow.
It is named after Felix Dzerzhinsky.
Modern-day Dzerzhinsk is a large center of the Russian chemical industry. In the past, the city was also among Russia's principal production sites of chemical weapons. Owing to its strategic significance, this city was until recently officially closed off to foreign visitors.
Manufacture of a number of chemical weapons started in 1941, particularly concentrating on the production of lewisite - the poisonous effects of which is owed to its arsenic trioxide content - and yperite (mustard gas). The factory producing these substances was called the Kaprolactam (or Caprolaktam) Organic Glass Factory, and in addition to its arsenic-based weapons, also produced prussic acid and phosgene.
Chemical weapons production at Dzerzhinsk ceased in 1945. Some materials were transferred to storage units, while large amounts of waste material - frequently containing high concentrations of arsenic - were buried in dumps on the site of the factory. Full dismantling of the yperite facility was commenced in 1994. In 1998 the lewisite production unit was still not completely disassembled.
The Kaprolactam joint-stock company has been transformed into a producer of chemicals equipment, hydrochloric acid, ethylene oxide, polymer pellicle, and plastic products and is associated with NORSI (Nizhny Novgorod Orgsintes) Orgsteclo group. Western Investment into a joint venture manufacturing facility was carried out by Wella AG, a German personal care products company, to a value of more than $15 million.
The city itself is today considered amongst the worst polluted in Russia.
There is a city of Dzyarzhynsk in Belarus (the birthplace of Felix Dzerzhinsky) with the identical Russian name. Population: 285000 Founded: 1920-е гг., Town from: 1930, old name: village Rastiapino (Растяпино) 1929