International Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Proliferation

Environmental Problems in North-West Russia

Alexey V. Yablokov

Excerpts from: Environmental Security: The Problems of Northwestern Russia, Background Document, 47th Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affair, "Remember Your Humanity", Lillehammer, Norway, 1 - 7 August 1997.

The Russian North-West for this review includes Karelia and Komi Republics, Yamalo- Nenetzk autonomous region, Murmansk, Archangelsk, Leningrad (partly) and Vologda (partly) regions, the White Sea, southern and eastern parts of Barents Sea, eastern part of Kara Sea, and eastern part of Baltic (Finnish Bay).

This territory is overcrowded by different scales and types of environmental problems. Some of these problems make this region highly environmentally unsafe both as much for Russia as for the neighboring parts of Scandinavia and whole Arctic. Many of North-West Russia's environmental problems are connected with past military activities. Some are mentioned in the following:

I. Radioactive pollution from nuclear weapons and nuclear energy: previous Soviet nuclear weapons tests at Novaya Zemlja Island; dumping of radioactive wastes from the Soviet military, including several nuclear reactors (near the main dumping places in the Kara Sea the level of radioactivity is up to 109,000 Bequerel/kg dry weight for Cz-137); nuclear waste from Soviet/Russian navy bases on Kola peninsula (e.g. about 250 nuclear reactors, leaking radioactive waste); from Severodvinsk military area at the White Sea (the world biggest nuclear shipbuilding factory); the Kola nuclear plant (one of the worst, even for Russian standards); the two so-called "peaceful" underground nuclear explosions on Kola peninsula; nuclear wastes from the French (La Hague) and British (Sellafield) nuclear reprocessing plants (dispersed through sea currents all over Barents Sea and reaching White and Kara Seas).

II. Atmospheric pollution, visualized as the "Arctic Haze" phenomenon. The main sources of atmospheric pollution in the Russian North-West are: the Norilsk metallurgical plant on Taimyr peninsula (up to 2,000,000 t atmospheric pollutants annually ^__the world's biggest single source of atmospheric pollution); the PechengaNickel (260,000 t) and the SeveroNickel (140,000 t annually) metallurgical plants on Kola peninsula; the Tiumen oil fields with numerous gas torches; the Vorcuta coal-burning plant (300,000 t annually), one of the biggest in Europe; the Tcherepovetz metallurgic plant "Severstal" (about 400,000 t atmospheric pollutants annually); 6 pulp factories in the Archangelsk, Karelian and Komi regions (about 125,000 t pollutants annually).

Among the 45 most polluted Russian cities there are several ones situated in the North-West: Archangelsk (metilmercaptan, benz-a-pyren, formaldehyd); Novodvinsk (metylmercaptan, sulfur, formaldehyd); Sycktyvkaar (metylmer-captan, formaldehyde). The maximum permissible concentration of various harmful substances is exceeded at least 5 times in the following regions (as of 1995): in Archangelsk (metylmercap-tan), Vyborg (NOx), Koryazhma (metylmercap-tan); Novodvinsk (metylmercaptan); Sycktyvkaar (metilmercaptan); Tcherepovetz (benz-a-pyren).

III. Destruction of the tundra and forest ecosystems due to oil and gas exploitation in the Yamal peninsula and Komi. The Komi oil leak was named by TIME magazine as the No.1 globe environmental catastrophe for 1994; only in the Komi region we have had more than 1000 small and medium oil leaks in 1995; A major problem is the environmentally unfriendly exploitation of the forests (clear cutting in Karelia and Komi areas).

IV. Inland and sea water pollution: large amounts of untreated and heavy polluted waters in North Dvina river basin (about 1 km³); Petchora river basin (about 0.5 km³); Kola peninsula rivers (0.2 km²); the "Severstal"(Tcherepovetz) (0.065 km³); the Kovdor mining complex (Murmansk area) (0.04 km³); the "PechengaNickel" (0.026 km³); the "Severonickel" (0.033 km³); the 6 pulp factories (0,515 km³). There is a lot of mercury in the North Dvina river (up to 740 times above sanitary level in 1995) and dioxins (mostly from the pulp industry).

All of the rivers on Kola peninsula near Zapolyarny, Nickel and Montchegorsk and Murmansk towns are heavy polluted (mostly from the Nickel melting factory). Near Monchegorsk town Russia's biggest place of underground water pollution in the 1990s has been discovered (up to 40 km²). The second largest is near Tcherepovets. The Kola bay is the most polluted place in the Barents Sea (up to factor 54 above sanitary level of oil, factor 17 of phenols, factor 100 of nitrogen).

V. Consequences of the space activities from the Plesetsk kosmodrome because waste territories here are polluted by satellite liquid fuel (asymmetrical dimethyl-hydrazine and dimetylamine); in some places in the Archangelsk region soil pollution has been found up to 2684 time above permissible level, and up to 1200 times above the permissible level in the underground water.

VI. Overfishing in the Barents and White Seas: Up to 90% all fisheries here during the 1990-ies were illegal (which makes the normal management of the fish populations practically impossible). The Inland fisheries are now 2-3 times less productive than in the 1950s.

VII. Consequences of the previous chemical warfare preparation (the dumping in the White and Barents Seas and several places with the old storage along Finnish-Norway borders).

There are several industrial and other activities which can be especially dangerous for North-West Russia in the near future. Among them are:

1. The oil and gas development on the Barents and Kara shelves (especially Stockman and Bovanenkovsk gas fields);

2. The diamond industry (Archangelsk region and northern part of White Sea);

3. The year-round exploitation of the Northern Sea Pass;

4. Creation of the national nuclear "graveyard" on Novaya Zemlja Island.

The Federal Government has not enough money (and even more important -willingness!) for solving abovementioned environmental problems. Sometimes instead of real solutions of these problems the officials are trying to classify them to avoid public critique (the Nikitin case give us a visible example).

About the author: Alexey V. Yablokov served as a chairman of the special Presidential Commission on the radioactive dumping problem in 1992. Address: Center for Russian Environmental Policy, Vavilov str.26, Moscow, W-333, Russia,117808; tel/fax +(095) 952 - 30 07; email: anzus@glas.apc.org.