TECHNOLOGY, SOCIETY, ENVIRONMENT 5/2003 19
Overview of Environmental Problems in North-West Russia
OLEG A. ANDREEV* AND MATS-OLOV OLSSON**
1. SOME BASIC FACTS ABOUT Oblast are centers for mechanical engi- NORTH-WEST RUSSIA neering, electro-technical and construc- tion, for transport and agriculture. It has The north-west of Russia occupies 1.7 a well-developed fishing industry, ferrous thousand sq. km and it has a population and non-ferrous metallurgy, sea- of 14 million people. The area includes transport, and electric power production. two large administrative regions; the Reindeer-breeding is also of some impor- North Economic Region (the Ark- tance in Murmansk Oblast. Arkhangelsk hangelsk, Vologda, and Murmansk Oblast is a center for the forest, fishing oblasts, the Karelia and Komi republics) and chemical industries; there is also a and the North-West Economic Region space-rocket launching site in Plesetsk. (Saint-Petersburg city, the Leningrad, Vologda Oblast has a prominent ferrous Kaliningrad, Pskov, and Novgorod metalurgical industry, forest industry and oblasts). The area borders on Norway, agriculture. In the Novgorod and Pskov Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Byelorussia. oblasts there are large-scale mechanical Inside Russia it borders on the Tver, engineering, electro-technical, chemical Jaroslavl, Kostroma, Kirov, Perm, and and woodworking enterprises. Forestry, Tjumen oblasts. The area is surrounded by pulp and paper, iron-ore and fishing are the Barents Sea, the White Sea, the Kara key industries in the Republic of Karelia. Sea and the Baltic Sea. In the Komi Republic there are rich re- serves of timber, bituminous coal, oil, gas The North and the North-West Economic and other minerals. Due to the intensive Regions together form the North-West economic exploitation the environmental Federal Okrug, an area of Russia that situation in north-west Russia is ex- means a lot to the country’s economy. The tremely severe. City of Saint-Petersburg and Leningrad
* Oleg A. Andreev, PhD, Barents Centre for Social Research, Murmansk, Russia. Email: [email protected]. ** Mats-Olov Olsson, MA, Centre for Regional Science, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden. Email: [email protected]. 20 TECHNOLOGY, SOCIETY, ENVIRONMENT 5/2003
The Russian Federation
Murmansk Republic of Oblast Karelia Arkhangelsk Kaliningrad Leningrad Oblast Oblast Oblast Nenets Autonomous Okrug Pskov Oblast
Novgorod Oblast
Vologda The Komi Oblast Republic
2. STAGES IN THE ECONOMIC and the Uchta oilfield and oil refinery
DEVELOPMENT OF THE RUSSIAN (1930–1934) in the Komi Republic. An intensive forest exploitation was initiated NORTH-WEST in Arkhangelsk Oblast, the Karelian and Komi Republics. The Kondopoga Pulp and In 1920, the Bolsheviks adopted the Paper Mill (1929) and the Segezha Pulp GOELRO Plan (state governed electrifica- and Paper Mill (1936) were constructed tion of the Soviet Union) proposed by in the Karelian Republic, and in Ark- Vladimir Lenin as the basis for an exten- hangelsk Oblast the Archangelsk Pulp and sive economic development of the newly Paper Mill (1940) was built. Huge state established Soviet Union. In accordance fishing companies were established in the with this plan the Volkhov and Svir’ Hy- Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Leningrad dro Power stations and the Volkhov Alu- oblasts. However, in this period several minum Plant were constructed in Lenin- nature preservation areas were also estab- grad Oblast and in the City of Leningrad lished, like the Lapland (1930) and the the Kirovsky and the Izhorsky plants were Kandalaksha (1932) nature reserves in re-constructed. the Kola Peninsula, the Kniazitsky za- kaznik in Pskov Oblast. Somewhat later, in the 1930’s, Stalin’s plan for the industrialization and In the 1940’s, during the Second World collectivization of the Soviet Union was War, the Soviet industry and agriculture adopted. In accordance with this plan were completely destroyed. Military massive investments were made in heavy wastes and deposits of chemical, biologi- industry in Russia’s north-west, such as cal and conventional weapons were the the Niva and Nizhne-Tuloma Hydro main legacy of the war for the Russian Power Stations (1934, 1937), the Seve- people. ronickel plant (1939), the Apatite Fertil- izer Refining Complex (1929) in the Kola The period from the 1950’s to the 1970’s Peninsula, the construction of the White saw a reconstruction of the Soviet indus- Sea-Baltic Canal (1933), the establish- try and the beginning and entrenchment ment of the Vorkuta Coal Mines (1931), of the Cold War. In the Kola Peninsula, TECHNOLOGY, SOCIETY, ENVIRONMENT 5/2003 21
the Kandalaksha Aluminum Plant (1951), critical ecological situation and about the Olenegorsk (1955) and Kovdor ore 300 areas in which the environment was refining enterprises (1962), the Pechenga characterized as unfavorable for living. nickel plant (1946, 1965), the Paz, The situation is still especially problem- Kovda and Verkhne-Tuloma Hydro Power atic in the north of Russia. The most de- Stations (1951–1965) were all con- graded regions from the environmental structed in this period. In the Karelian point of view are the Kola Peninsula, the republic the Nadvoizy Aluminum Plant Jamal Peninsula, the Ladoga Lake, and (1954), and in Vologda Oblast the the territories around Norilsk, Ark- Sherepovets Steel Metallurgical Plant hangelsk, and Saint-Petersburg [5:132- (1948–1955) were established. Some- 133]. what later the Syktyvkar Pulp and Paper Mill (1960) was constructed in the Komi The Kola Peninsula is one of the ecologi- Republic, and in Arkhangelsk Oblast the cal disaster areas. Here the environment Solombala and Kotlas Pulp and Paper has been gradually destroyed since the Complexes (1961) were built. The Kola end of the 1930’s, with an intensive deg- (1973, 1975) and Leningrad nuclear radation taking place during the 1960’s power stations were also constructed to- and the 1970’s. Several well-known pol- wards the end of this period [7:704-731]. luting industrial centers were established in Murmansk Oblast. The fishing industry The military also engaged heavily in con- in Murmansk, the apatite extraction in struction activities during this period. For Kirovsk and Apatity, the non-ferrous met- instance, the nuclear testing site on No- allurgy in Nikel and Zapoljarny, the iron- vaya Zemlya and the Plesetsk military ore extraction in Olenegorsk and Kovdor, space site (1960) were established in the aluminum production in Kandalaksha, Arkhangelsk Oblast. Nuclear submarines and the mining for rare metals in Revda for the Soviet Northern Fleet were built are the most significant in this respect. at the naval shipbuilding enterprises Most of the industrial centers in the re- “Zvezdochka” and “Sevmashpredpriatie” gion are surrounded by belts of technoge- that was set up in Severodvinsk, Ark- nous deserts with no vegetation. This hangelsk Oblast (1946, 1954). Ship- wasteland occupies a large area around repairing enterprises were established in the “Pechenganickel” plant (450–500 sq. Murmansk, Poliarny, and Rosliakovo. km) and the “Severonickel” plant (300– Nuclear icebreakers were acquired 350 sq. km). Here the annual sulphur (1960) by the Murmansk Shipping Com- fall-out per sq. km is about 20–25 tons, pany in the Kola Peninsula. the non-ferrous metals fall-out is about 5– 6 tons per sq. km [1:8; 3:205; 9:6].
3. THE OUTCOME OF ECONOMIC One of the difficult international problems DEVELOPMENT: ENVIRONMENTAL facing regional governments in north-west Russia is the atmospheric transfer of pol- DEGRADATION luting substances across the national bor-
der. As a result of the sulphureous gas At the end of 1991, there were seventeen pollution emitted by the “Pechengan- so-called ecological disaster areas on the ickel” and the “Severonickel” plants territory of the Soviet Union [2:145]. many lakes have been oxidized and the There were more than 100 areas with a vegetation is dying on Norwegian and 22 TECHNOLOGY, SOCIETY, ENVIRONMENT 5/2003
Finnish territory. However, according to of northern Russia. The number of cars is the Murmansk hydro-meteorological cen- increasing; today emissions from cars ac- ter at the Russian-Norwegian border post count for 50 percent of the air pollution. Borisoglebsk, polluting substances are In addition there is the pollution from mostly transported from the west and ninety-two boiler-houses and heat and north-west to the east and south-east, power plants in Murmansk. Until recently rather than in the other direction, 24 % there were no sewage treatment facilities, compared to 16 % [4:12]. Scientists are and the facilities constructed during the seriously concerned about the transport of last years are already obsoleted. This polluting substances to the Arctic area. means that the pollution of the Kola Gulf According to observations made by Mur- is continuing. The fishing and transport mansk hydro-meteorological center on the fleets as well as the military vessels of the scientific icebreaker “Otto Schmidt” the Northern Fleet also contribute to this pol- volume of sulphureous gas and sulphur lution. that is transported from the countries of western Europe and the USA to the Arc- The bio-resources of the Barents Sea, the tic basin is twice as large as the volumes White Sea and the Norwegian Sea are originating from the territory of the for- close to disaster. Biological deformation mer Soviet Union [4:12]. of the marine ecosystem is a consequence of unrestrained fishing. Fish resources Air pollution from stationary sources in have been depleted due to the fishing the Northern Region were down by 17.5 practices of the Soviet Union, Norway percent in 1993 compared to 1988. At and other countries. Another serious the same time the region’s share of the problem is the pollution of the northern total air pollution in the Russian Federa- seas that is transported with the Golf tion increased from 8.8 to 11.1 percent, Stream. Foreign ships as well as vessels which indicates that the rate of fall-out belonging to the Russian Northern Fleet reduction in the Northern Region was and various merchant fleets continue to lower than that of other economic re- dispose sewage, scrap and oil wastes in gions. Vologda Oblast and the Komi re- the sea. On average, each fishing vessel public have severe air pollution problems throws about 500 tons of waste per year with almost equal shares (28 % and 27%) overboard, of these 10–20 tons are oil of the total air pollution in the Northern wastes and up to 2 tons is scrap of differ- Region. The share of Murmansk Oblast of ent kinds. the total industrial air pollution in this region is almost 20 percent, the share of Gas and oil extraction on the sea shelf Arkhangelsk Oblast is 17 percent, and endangers the northern seas. Gas reserves that of the Karelian republic about 8 per- on the shelf are estimated to 7 billion cent. In the North-West Region Lenin- tons; on the Kolguev Island alone grad Oblast accounts for 85 percent of all 100,000 tons of oil per year is already pollution emitted to the air. The share of being extracted. Water pollution not only Novgorod Oblast is 10.5 and that of depends on accidents on oil rigs, but also Pskov Oblast about 5 percent [6:39; on imperfect or defunct equipment. As a 10:11–12]. consequence the oil slicks around the Kol- guev Island have increased to some tens The environmental situation in Murmansk of kilometers. Oblast is typical for the regional centers TECHNOLOGY, SOCIETY, ENVIRONMENT 5/2003 23
A serious environmental danger both to (removal of wood) in Murmansk Oblast the Russian North-West and to adjacent has remained about 580,000 cub. m per regions is caused by various radioactive year. Clear-cutting is still the predomi- wastes from sources such as the nuclear nant harvesting method. Forests often die testing sites on Novaya Zemlya, marine because of fires caused by human miscon- and civilian atomic vessels (those in op- duct. Because of pollution from industrial eration as well as those waiting to be enterprises nearby forest lands are dying. dismantled), and the Kola and the Lenin- This is happening around Cherepovets in grad nuclear power stations. People in the Vologda Oblast and Vorkuta in the Komi north of Russia are seriously worried republic. [4:15] about radiation safety, even if most of the time the radiation level in the region is The environmental situation in the City of not higher than the natural level. In re- Saint-Petersburg and the Leningrad re- cent years the radioactive wastes from the gion, where the largest part of the popula- atomic icebreakers have been deposited in tion in north-west Russia lives, is severe. temporary storages on the land belonging The fall-out of radioactive cesium-137 to the state enterprise Atomflot. There after the Chernobyl tragedy in 1986 and have been fire incidents on the “Rossia” an accident in the Leningrad nuclear and the “Sibir” icebreakers. In the power station in Sosnovyi Bor in 1992 1980’s 11,000 containers with solid ra- have increased the radiation hazard. High dioactive waste material were dumped in levels of ground and air pollution caused the Barents and the Kara Seas, liquid ra- by sulphur, fluorine, nitrates, organic sub- dioactive wastes were just poured out in stances and heavy metals have been regis- the water. tered everywhere in Saint-Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast. The Russian Navy has temporary storages of radioactive waste in Andreev Bay, in The pollution of open waters, especially Motov Gulf and close to Severodvinsk in the Imandra and Ladoga lakes, and the the White Sea. These storages do not Neva, Northern Dvina, and the Pechora meet modern safety requirements. The rivers continues. Accidents with oil pipe- question of the salvaging of the “Komso- lines and oil rigs due to corrosion are the molets” atomic submarine sunk in the most important reasons for the pollution Norwegian Sea on April 7, 1989, is still of the Pechora river. According to the not resolved. Public Committee for the Rescue of the Pechora, there were 51 accidents in 1986 The forest resources mean very much to alone. In 1991, there were already about the economy of Russia’s North and North- 600 accidents, which means a more than West Regions. Forest harvesting levels tenfold frequency increase [4:16]. Rivers are still very high in the Karelian and the continue to be polluted by different kinds Komi republics as well as in the Ark- of enterprise waste, but there is still no hangelsk and Murmansk oblasts. Accord- money for purification measures and in- ing to official data, the annual allowable troduction of new low-waste technologies. cut (AAC) in Murmansk Oblast in the 1980–1990’s should be 613,000 cub. m. But in 1988, actual cuts were up to 1.2 million cub. m of wood. In 1991, cuts were just slightly smaller. Harvesting 24 TECHNOLOGY, SOCIETY, ENVIRONMENT 5/2003
4. ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS 6 % less than in the previous year. The th IN RUSSIA’S NORTH-WEST AT republic occupied the 6 place among the most polluting regions of the Russian Fed- THE TURN OF THE CENTURY eration in 1999. The industrial sector
causes 90 percent of the total air pollu- In the year 2000, in accordance with a tion in the region. The burning of gas, Decree issued by President Putin, all Rus- which is related to the oil extraction sian regions (or “Subjects of the Federa- works, causes a severe environmental tion”) were grouped together to form new problem for the republic, since large “macro-regions.” Through this reform amounts of hydrogen sulphide is released seven new so-called Federal Okrugs were to the air. Water pollution in the republic created [8:20]. The following eleven re- is mainly caused by the pulp and paper gions were merged to form the North- plant “Syktyvkar LPK” (which alone West Federal Okrug: causes up to 70 percent of the total water
pollution in the region) as well as by the The Republics of Karelia and coal and oil industrial enterprises, the Komi; housing and communal services in the cit- The seven obl a st s of Arkhangelsk, ies of Vorkuta and Syktyvkar. A priority Vologda, Kaliningrad, Leningrad, task is to reduce the industrial and mu- Novgorod, Murmansk, and Pskov; nicipal waste, which is mainly produced in The City of Saint-Petersburg the cities of Syktyvkar, Vorkuta, Inta, (which has the status of federal and Ukhta [10:12]. city); and