Hot Spots Tackling Environmental Challenges in the Barents Region

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Hot Spots Tackling environmental challenges in the Barents Region The unique and highly Contents 3 Case studies Preface sensitive natural ‘environmental hot spots’, was prepared by Preface environment of the Barents Region is ex- the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Pro- 16 posed to a multitude of threats that need to gramme of the Arctic Council (AMAP) and 4 It all depends be addressed through extensive internation- NEFCO. Over the years, the report has served Co-operation on Lake Onega al efforts. The accelerating climate change is as a frame of reference and compass for on Barents already visible in the Barents region; moreo- tangible projects and measures to address environmental 22 ver, airborne emissions and discharges from environmental issues.. hot spots More heat with less energy industrial facilities have an impact on the As we gather in Inari, Finland, for a meet- 6 ecosystem and cause health problems. En- ing of the BEAC Ministers of Environment Fund Manager’s 26 vironmental pollution transcends national in December 2013, it is time to bring it all Overview Towards a borders and therefore it is important that together and draw conclusions. What envi- 01 cleaner Komi environmental initiatives are addressed by ronmental problems have been attended to

g er 8 international co-operation. and what remains to be done to achieve a Chair’s 30 This year marks the 20th anniversary of cleaner environment in the Barents Region? Overview The hunt the establishment of the Barents Euro-Arctic We will approach these issues partly by pre- R astenber for clean water Council and the Kirkenes Declaration signed senting tangible examples in this brochure atrik P 10 by Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Ice- of successful environmental projects imple- Environmental 34 land, Russia and the EU. Environmental is- mented in the Barents Region with local ef- hot spots in Arctic Russia sues were at the core of the international co- forts and within the framework of interna- the Barents being cleaned up Thanks to operation from the very beginning. tional co-operation. In addition to this bro- Region In 1994, the Barents Region Environment chure, we will also issue a special assess- 38 joint efforts, Fresh winds in environmental Action Programme was adopted by the Min- ment providing a detailed analysis of the Archangel isters of the Environment of the countries 42 hot spots singled out in 2003. issues are today involved. In 2003, a report was released iden- International environmental co-operation 42 high on the tifying 42 acute environmental problems in in the Barents Region is not only about in- Energy out of political agenda the Barents Region requiring urgent action. vestments, statistics, emission reductions pesticides The report, which introduced the concept of and project portfolios. Thanks to joint efforts, environmental issues are today high on the political agenda. The inventory of hot spots carried out in the Barents Region has prompted similar surveys elsewhere in Russia, showing the power of leading by example. apankki MNRE RF MNRE It is our sincere hope that the examples in this brochure will encourage further en- / YHA Kuv YHA / vironmental improvements in order to upgrade the living conditions and the state of H okkanen the environment in the Barents Region. P entti

01 Sergey Donskoy Ville Niinistö The city centre Minister of Natural Minister of of Archangel with Novodvinsk Resources and the Environment, paper mill on Environment of the Finland the horizon. Russian Federation

2 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 3 01 01 KNP Co-operation Orthodox wooden chapel on Barents in the Kenozero environmental National Park. hot spots

The Barents Euro-Arctic Council The Barents Foreign (BEAC) is the forum for inter and Environment governmental and interregional Ministers have called for the implementa- co-operation in the Barents region. tion of environmental measures at all hot It gathers together the countries spots by 2013. To estimate the achievement and regional authorities in Northern of this goal, the WGE ordered an assessment Europe to promote stability and report in order to collect comprehensive in- sustainable development in the formation on the status of each of the orig- Barents Region. inal 42 hot spots. The Consultancy Agency Akvaplan-Niva carried out the assessment based on reports provided by the Regional The Working Group on Environment (WGE) Hot Spot Exclusion Groups in the Russian of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council started to Barents Region. work on environmental ‘hot spots’ in 1995 The assessment report and presented a hot spot list for the Minis- concludes that ters of the Environment in the region. Hot measures aimed at solving environmental spots are sites which are polluted and pose problems have been taken at all 42 hot spots both environmental and health risks. The identified by the original report from 2003. WGE commissioned the Nordic Environ- However, the measures are on different lev- ment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) and els. Three hot spots have been entirely ex- the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Pro- cluded from the list to date. Additional hot gramme (AMAP) to update the list of hot spots are expected to be excluded from the spots in 2003. This report evaluated the pro- list by the end of 2013. gress of the work performed during the first years and the updated list.

4 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 5 Since the early days, the Nordic Fund Environment Finance Corporation and projects at the hot spots. Over EUR 4 Manager’s (NEFCO) has played a central role million has been set off for around 70 var- in international and regional co- ious initiatives. There are also other dedi- Overview operation in the Barents Region. cated trust funds such as the Swedish Bar- ents Window. The Project Support Instru- ment (PSI) that NEFCO manages for the Arc- NEFCO is in a unique 01 position for such a task, tic Council will also be pivotal for the Bar- acting as an observer not only in the BEAC it- ents Region. self but also having similar roles in the Arctic Besides general institutional support to . K rehano v . e Council, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the the exclusion process, the BHSF has contrib- Northern Dimension Environmental Part- uted to sector studies, inventories, feasibility nership and many other fora for environ- studies, business plans and other measures mental and clean energy co-operation. related to different hot spots. They range As a Nordic financial institution, NEFCO in size and scope from small demonstra- has over 20 years’ experience in develop- tion projects, such as water and wastewa- ing and financing environmental projects ter schemes in the Kenozero National Park, in Russia and neighbouring countries. Co to multifaceted industrial challenges – as ordinating and promoting synergies be- seen at the Vorkuta Cement Plant – and ma- tween international initiatives and the jor municipal infrastructure investments funding that comes with them is a natural like the water and wastewater projects in part of NEFCO’s activities. Petrozavodsk. Already in the early 1990s, NEFCO was In order to promote visibility and en- involved in the first inventories and reports hance the experience gained, the BHSF has in the Barents Region. In 2003, they were financed the Barents Hot Spot Information followed up by the NEFCO-AMAP Report, System that will be available at the Barents which defined 42 environmental ‘hot spots’. website (beac.st). NEFCO is the leading co- NEFCO chaired the Ad-hoc Task Force that financier for the Adviser at the Internation- developed the Criteria & Procedures for the al Barents Secretariat in Kirkenes that will exclusion of hot spots that were adopted by facilitate the hot spot progress in co-ordi- the Ministers in Tromsø in 2010. nation with the BEAC’s broader priorities Since it was set up in 2004, the Barents for climate change and the environment. Hot Spot Facility (BHSF) has been NEFCO’s NEFCO is proud to have been an instru-

ää main tool for promoting progress, actions mental part of the environmental co-operation in the Barents over the last 20 years,

K ankaanp and is still looking forward to tackling the

li -Tuu challenges that lie ahead in this northern-

Suv i most part of Europe.

Henrik G. Forsström 01 Senior Adviser, Folk dance perfor- Barents Hot Spots mance in the Kenozero Facility, NEFCO National Park.

6 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 7 01

This publication illustrates a Chair’s the practical main municipal point sources of pollution.

results of environmental protection in the There are also success stories of the improve- v na z aro

Overview ‘hot spots’ in the Russian Barents Region. ments achieved via bilateral co-operation irina Promoting environmental improvements programmes. Also in these cases, the lo- and excluding hot spots from the list have cal funding and commitment has been the been among the main activities of the Bar- main driver for success in the projects. ents Euro-Arctic Council’s Working Group Our work, however, is not yet accom- on Environment (WGE). We note that dur- plished. The principle of environmental ing the last ten years, environmental mod- management is to aim towards continu- ernisation is on-going in many places such ous improvements. Companies have set tar- as in the pulp and paper sector and in the gets on emission and discharge reductions. wastewater treatment of some major towns. In addition, further efforts are needed, for In some places, the heating systems have example, to improve the quality of drink- been switched from oil or coal to natural ing water, develop environmentally sound gas. The first steps to develop comprehen- waste management, and to ensure the safe, sive waste management plans have been final destruction of hazardous wastes. Spe- taken in many regions. cial attention is also to be paid on trans- There has been significant financing in boundary impacts, such as the air pollution environmental investments by many com- from the smelters on the Kola Peninsula. panies without any external support – a fact In order to promote the environmental that we have recognized. Some of the most improvements in the hot spots, an inten- advanced companies have introduced in- sive network has been built up between the ternational environmental standards and federal and regional authorities, both with- management systems. There are also Rus- in Russia and between the environmental sian federal programmes that provide fund- pollution experts in all of the Barents coun- ing to improve the quality of drinking wa- tries. This network has facilitated the com- ter and to clean up the accumulated envi- munication between the hot spot owners ronmental damage from the past, for in- and authorities as well as advancing the su- stance. International financial institutions, pervision activities. All stakeholders (work- like the Northern Dimension Environmen- ing group members, federal and regional

A honen tal Partnership and NEFCO, have eased the authorities, hot spot owners) have shared

Ulla financing arrangements for some of the a great deal of information, which has in- creased the knowledge of the environmental problems and solutions, as well as en- hanced the capacity to introduce best environmental practices and best available technologies. It has been once again proved that the main driving forces for environmental Henna Haapala improvements are raising awareness; creat- Ministerial Adviser, ing effective legislation, its implementation 01 Ministry of the Environ Various trust and control; and taking a proactive approach ment of Finland funds at NEFCO by all stakeholders, including civil society. have been used — for wastewater Chair of the BEAC treatment projects Working Group on in the Russian Environment 2012–2013 Barents Region.

8 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 9 Environmental hot spots in the Barents Region

The map illustrates the geographical locations of the 42 environmental hot spots identified and assessed in 2003.

Hot spot

Hot spot, status: excluded

Barents Euro-Arctic Region

10 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 11 Abbreviations AE industrial air emissions Environmental VD wastewater discharges WM waste management hot spots in DV drinking water supply PD past environmental damage the Barents Region EE energy efficiency issues

Hot spot Name Measures taken 2013 status Hot spot Name Measures taken 2013 status

M1 Pechenganickel MMC of Kola Reconstruction with the aim to reduce industrial emissions AE – in progress K4 Drinking water quality in water Launch of a joint long-term investment project on DV – solved GMK, Nickel and Zapolyarny discharge of contaminants. VD – in progress supply system of Petrozavodsk reconstruction of water treatment facilities.

M2 Monchegorsk industrial site Reconstruction with the aim to reduce industrial emissions AE – solved K5 Sewage treatment in Launch of a joint investment project on reconstruction VD – in progress of Kola GMK, Monchegorsk of contaminants. Petrozavodsk of sewage treatment facilities.

M3 Apatit JSC, Kirovsk Reconstruction with the aim to reduce industrial AE – in progress K6 Sewage treatment in small Elaboration of the long-term republican programme. VD – in progress air emissions. VD – in progress towns and settlements in the Republic of Karelia M4 Apatity HPP of TGK-1, Modernisation with a reduction in air emissions AE – solved Apatity of contaminants. K7 HPP burning fuel oil and coal Conversion of boilers from heavy fuel oil to natural gas AE – in progress in the Republic of Karelia at Petrozavodskmash. Conversion of boiler to biofuel EE – in progress M5 Kovdorsky GOK of Eurochem, Organisational and technical measures to reduce VD – in progress in Ledmozero. Development of a regional programme for Kovdor water use and wastewater discharge. local biofuel production.

M6 Water quality in the Launch of joint long-term investment programme VD – in progress K8 Waste management Elaboration of the long-term regional investment WM – in progress Kola River and Bolshoye Lake for drinking water supply in Murmansk. DV – partly solved in the Republic of Karelia programme.

M7 Drinking water supply in Reconstruction of water supply pipelines. DV – partly solved K9 Waste dumping ground Launch of a project on the restoration of Gorelaya Zemlya WM – in progress Zelenoborsky-1 Gorelaya Zemlya in north waste dumping ground. PD – partly solved Petrozavodsk M8 Mercury-containing waste Upgrade of equipment for the recycling of WM – excluded management luminescent lamps. K10 Stocks of obsolete pesticides Removal and incineration of 22.1 tonnes of obsolete and WM – excluded unused pesticides. PD – excluded M9 Sunken and abandoned ships Dump site near Lavna was partly cleaned (20 ships removed). WM – partly solved in the Kola Bay A1 Solombala PPM of Solombalales, Reconstruction with the aim to reduce industrial air AE – partly solved Archangel emissions of contaminants. VD – urgent M10 Oil-containing waste Elaboration of the long-term target regional programme. WM – in progress management A2 Archangel HPP of TGC-2, Reconstruction and conversion of boilers from heavy fuel AE – solved Archangel oil to natural gas with the aim of reducing air emissions K1 Kondopoga JSC, Reconstruction of HPP with conversion to natural gas, AE – solved of contaminants. Kondopoga reduction of air emission of contaminants. A3 Severodvinsk HPPs of TGC-2, Reconstruction at SHHP-1 and 2 with the aim of reducing AE – solved K2 NAZ-SUAL branch, Reconstruction and modernisation of production with the AE – partly solved Severodvinsk air emissions of contaminants. Conversion of SHPP-2 Nadvoitsy reduction of industrial air emission of contaminants. to burning natural gas. K3 Drinking water supply in Elaboration and launch of the long-term republican DV – in progress towns and settlements of programme. Launch of a join project in Sortavala. the Republic of Karelia

12 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 13 Abbreviations AE industrial air emissions VD wastewater discharges WM waste management DV drinking water supply PD past environmental damage EE energy efficiency issues

Hot spot Name Measures taken 2013 status Hot spot Name Measures taken 2013 status

A4 Archangel PPM, Reconstruction of boilers, SRB and wastewater treatment AE – solved Ko1 Vorkutaugol JSC coal mines, Installation of equipment for methane utilisation with the AE – in progress Novodvinsk facilities with the aim of reducing air emissions and water VD – solved Vorkuta aim of reducing air emissions of methane and using methane EE – in progress discharges of contaminants. as an energy source.

A5 Koryazhma branch Reconstruction of SRB and wastewater treatment facilities AE – solved Ko2 Cement Northern Company Elaboration of the action plan for the cement plant and AE – partly solved, of Ilim Group, Koryazhma with the aim of reducing air emissions and water discharge VD – solved and Vorkuta HPP, Vorkuta reconstruction of the boiler unit at HPP with the aim of in progress of contaminants. reducing air emissions of contaminants.

A6 Waste management Elaboration of the long-term target regional programme. WM – in progress Ko3 Mondi Syktyvkar JSC, Launch and implementation of the large-scale reconstruction AE – solved in the Archangel region Syktyvkar and modernisation project (STEP) with the aim of reducing VD – in progress air emissions and water discharges of contaminants. A7 Areas of past environmental Launch of the long-term federal programme on PD – in progress damage in the Archangel region the clean-up of the Arctic. Clean-up of Alexandra Land Ko4 Sewage treatment in small Elaboration and launch of the long-term republican target VD – in progress and the Hooker islands at FJL. settlements in the Republic programme. of Komi A8 Spent motor oil management Elaboration of long-term regional programme on WM – partly solved in the Archangel region waste management. Signing agreement on handling spent Ko5 Drinking water supply Elaboration and launch of the long-term republican target DV – in progress motor oil. in the Republic of Komi programme.

A9 Dioxin pollution in the Change of production processes. WM – solved Ko6 Waste management Elaboration of the long-term republican target programme, WM – in progress Archangel region Clean-up of dumping grounds. in the Republic of Komi regional concept, and municipal plans.

A10 Stocks of obsolete pesticides Removal of 67.53 tonnes of pesticides from the WM – excluded Ko7 Wood processing industry Elaboration and launch of the republican programme. WM – in progress in the Archangel region Archangel region. PD – excluded waste management Construction of HPP burning wood waste. EE – in progress

N1 Kumzhinskoye gas Restoration and clean-up of polluted area. PD – in progress Ko8 Coal mining industry Elaboration of the long-term republican target programme WM – in progress and condensate field Decision to start-up gas and condensate production. waste management and concept on waste management. EE – to be launched

N2 Drinking water supply Elaboration and launch of the long-term regional DV – in progress in the Nenets programme. Geological research in 17 settlements. Autonomous District Construction of two water intakes.

N3 Wastewater treatment Reconstruction of sewage treatment facilities in Naryan-Mar. VD – in progress in Naryan-Mar in the Nenets Elaboration of projects and start of construction of sewage Autonomous District treatment facilities in Kachgort and Bondarka.

N4 Mercury-containing waste Collection of used luminescent lamps. WM – solved management Installation and launch of demercuration equipment.

Footnote: This table has been derived from the Assessment of the Barents Hot Spot report prepared by the Consulting 14 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots Agency Akvaplan-Niva. 15 01

CASE STUDY a

It all depends v na z aro on Lake Onega irina

The residents of Petrozavodsk in the Republic of Karelia enjoy pure which the city draws its drinking water. But drinking water at the same time as the water has always been rich in humic Lake Onega continues to be plagued substances (rotting plants) and it contains by unclean wastewater. high levels of copper, nitrogen oxides, bacteria and iron. Moreover, the humus con- dition of the River Shuya has deteriorated A stroll along the waterfront in Petroza- in recent years. In winter, the river’s water vodsk is dangerously idyllic. Lake Onega, the clarity index may increase up to 250. second largest in Europe, spreads out as an “The drinking water was simply dirty,” impressive mirror of silver with soft-lined says Yuriy Kachamin, Head of the facility. trees swaying in the background, but murk- “Government regulations stipulate that ier waters lurk under its surface. water boards should deliver drinking wa- “I consider myself lucky as an engineer ter with a colour index of 20, but in the past to be involved in this modernisation pro- the ratio used to be 80.” ject. When it started, we sometimes used “It used to be scary to draw a bath at home,” to sleep here at the plant, just to be able to adds Bobkov. “The water smelled bad and it tackle all the challenges.” was impossible to see the bottom of the tub.” Deputy Chief Engineer Yuriy Bobkov is At that time, raw water underwent only standing in front of a large PI diagram in one purification stage. Now, ten years and the city water purification plant. He ges- EUR 30 million later, the situation is com- tures excitedly as he explains how the plant pletely different. has been modernised over the past ten years. Work to modernise the facility com- Located in the western district of the city, menced in 2006 when PKS, a private com- 01 the purification plant stands on a large lake- pany, took over water supply in the city. New Lake Onega is side site where the old brick buildings blend pumps, an additional purification cycle with the second largest in nicely with the new white-grey halls. carbon filtering, disinfection with UV light lake in Europe covering some 9,700 Petrozavodsk, the capital of Karelia with and automatic dosing of additives were in- square kilometres. a population of 270,000, lies in a bay from stalled in quick succession.

16 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 17 03 a “It was difficult to upgrade the facility “The first of June 2010 was a fantastic

because we couldn’t just close it down,” ex- day,” exclaims Bobkov. “That’s when our Re- v na z aro

The international plains Bobkov. public of Karelia celebrated its 90th anniver- irina co-operation “We took one step at a time,” continues sary and on the very same day we started Kachamin. “For many years, the pace of work supplying clean drinking water to Petroza- has been a highly was excruciating, but happily things are less vodsk. You can imagine what a celebration rewarding process, hectic now.” we had in town.” says Development Both Bobkov and Kachamin are veter- When 41.5% of the drinking water failed to Director Natalia ans at the facility. They have worked here meet the hygienic standard in 2003, the cor- for over 15 years and are known as ‘heroes responding figure for 2011 was down to 2.4%. Klemesyeva. of labour’ among their colleagues. The Smirnov family The investment programme was launched lives on the first floor as part of an international co-operation of a modern high-rise building just outside that continues up to the present day. The the city centre. On the opposite side of the main goals of the project are to upgrade the street old wooden houses are giving way to wastewater treatment plant, construct a fa- new shopping centres. cility for recycling and dewatering sludge, “You must understand that we Russians and install equipment for the chemical re- love baths,” declares Anna Smirnova. Her moval of phosphorus. 12-year-old daughter Liliyana, sitting next “The international co-operation has been to her on the sofa, nods in agreement. a highly rewarding process,” observes Devel- When the family moved in two years ago, opment Director Natalia Klemesyeva. “We’ve it was clear that the bathroom would be fit- had the opportunity to draw upon the ex- ted with a bathtub instead of a shower cabin. periences gained in Europe and learn about “But it used to be a tragedy because the the available technologies.” water was so dirty,” admits Anna. “You wanted to have a bath but the water was so murky…and it smelled!” Back then, people worked out various strategies to be able to bathe. Some poured bath salts into the water; others tried aro- mas, while many relied on lemon.

01 02 a a v na z aro v na z aro irina irina

01 Deputy Chief 03 Engineer Yuriy The pumping Bobkov at PKS. house at PKS has 02 been refurbished Development as a result of Director Natalia the investment Klemesyeva package agreed at PKS. upon in 2012.

18 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 19 01 02 03 a a a The narrow asphalt-paved road leading the Russian Government, the Republic of v na z aro v na z aro v na z aro up to the facility has seen better days. Karelia and PKS itself. The investment is irina irina Thanks to irina “We’ve done well with the drinking water,” co-ordinated by the Nordic Environment cleaner water, says Klemesyeva as the car zigzags to avoid Finance Corporation NEFCO. potholes. “But wastewater is a different story.” “We're receiving offers for modern equip- people nowadays ment and are planning to start building next The plant management have fewer receives us in front summer,” says Maksimov. illnesses here of a grey brick building dating back to 1979. According to the plan, the plant is to have in the city. “The treatment plant is in bad need of re- a chemical phosphorus removal system and pair,” admits Chief Engineer Svetlana Gori- the construction work is scheduled to be na. “Our equipment is seriously outdated completed in three years, by which time the and radical modifications are required.” facility will meet the requirements specified The plant has a capacity of 124,000 m3 by HELCOM for wastewater quality. Here in per 24 hours. At present, the plant receives Petrozavodsk, the amount of phosphorus is 80,000 m3 per day. Since the plant is only to be cut by 60 tonnes per year. equipped with a biological treatment sys- A row of large basins leads down to Lake tem, 208 tonnes of phosphorus is discharged Onega. The concrete is cracked and the met- directly into Lake Onega every year. al surfaces corroded. More than anything We are given a guided tour of the over- else, the plant brings to mind a museum. grown plot dotted with isolated firs in sharp Way down on the beach, seagulls flock contrast to the run-down brick buildings. In around a small basin, one in which chlo- “And it took a real effort to wash the bath- “Thanks to cleaner water, people nowa- the building where the first stage of treat- rine is added to kill bacteria. tub,” sighs Anna. “You just couldn’t get it days have fewer illnesses here in the city," ment takes place, Plant Manager Vladimir “I avoid adding chlorine unless lab tests clean. But thank heaven it's history now.” notes Kachamin. “It’s with a clear con- The plant Borisov points to a row of intake pumps: show that it’s necessary,” concludes Chief We walk into the family’s spacious bath- science that we pump this water to day- is to have a “Almost all of them are 30 years old and Engineer Gorina. “I prefer to protect the en- room. To show how clean the water is now, care centres and schools. chemical it’s a miracle they’re still running. And it’s vironment and our Lake Onega.” Anna turns on the tap to fill the large bathtub. When we started supplying pure water, the same with the pipes.” Sure enough, you can see the bottom now. people used to ring to thank us,” says Bobkov. phosphorus “It took us a long time to raise the mon- But do they also drink tap water? Vivid in his memory is a call from an removal system. ey required for the modernisation,” declares “Many people still cook the water before amazed lady who wondered what exactly they Viktor Maksimov, a member of the compa- drinking it, from force of habit," explains An- had done with the water – she was shocked to ny’s management team. “And when NEFCO na. “Others have installed filters in the kitch- see her whole body when sitting in the bath! came with its proposal, it was easy to take en – something we’re also planning to do.” Development Director Klemesyeva as- them up on the offer.” The quality of water is not maintained sures that the company has done a lot to 01 The financial package for the project pro- Liliyana Smirnova high all the way from the purification fa- inform the local residents of how the puri- vides an infusion of EUR 32 million from enjoys a glass of tap cility to homes as it is affected by the city’s fication process has been modified, and how water. the Nordic Investment Bank, NEFCO, NDEP, old and worn-out pipes. it works in reality. As part of these efforts, the Finnish Ministry of the Environment, 02 the company has overhauled its website to The brown water “Before, the water bubbles as if in a Jacuzzi. provide extensive information. used to be dirty and We are standing in a big hall where water is Petrozavodsk is dominated by Lake Onega. smelly, but now it’s filtered in a long row of basins. All in all, the Sooner or later, all the roads in the city will clean”, says Anna Smirnova purification plant has 22 filters in two halls. lead down to the idyllic waterfront – a route The plant is capable of processing 145,000 that the city’s wastewater pipes also take. 03 m3 of water in 24 hours. In reality, the dai- The wastewater treatment plant is locat- Bubbling water in one of the filtering ly volume is 80,000 to 110,000 depending ed in a run-down industrial estate in the basins at PKS. on the season. southern district of the city.

20 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 21 01

a CASE STUDY

v na z aro More heat with irina less energy

For the past decade, energy- At long last, do everything it takes, and then some more!” the temperature efficiency programmes have been a topical theme in the Republic of The Lyceum is a four-storied grey-red inside the school Karelia. And the results have not building made of brick. The school special- is stable. been late in coming. ises in biology and information technology and has 559 pupils. It is pretty quiet in the school this Friday “This here is the heat distributor. Every- afternoon. Most of the pupils have already thing works automatically.” gone home but three boys with guitars are Galina Mokeykova has worked in the Der- standing in the corridor: “We’re celebrat- zyavikiy Lyceum in central Petrozavodsk ing the school’s 21st anniversary tomorrow for 40 years, first as a teacher and now as with a concert and a theatre performance," the administrator responsible for proper- clarifies Mokeykova. ty maintenance. But the school has been operating on Standing on the ground floor, we admire the property much longer than this. The old the school’s heating system installed eight school building was inaugurated as early as years ago. A hotchpotch of pipes, gauges and 1940 and the new brick edifice in 1986. Earli- taps fill the little room to capacity. er, there used to be big differences in temper- “At long last, the temperature inside the ature between the two buildings. While pu- school is stable and we're happy with the pils in the old building had to wear coats in system,” says Mokeykova. “All the trouble we class, a T-shirt was enough in the new section. had with leaks and accidents is now over.” Mokeykova and Smirnov give us a guid- “But have you remembered to service ed tour along the Lyceum’s long corridors. 01 the heat distributor properly? Otherwise it All heating panels are provided with state- Galina Mokeykova has worked in might stop working,” asks Alexey Smirnov, of-the-art thermostats. the Derzyavikiy Head of the Centre for Energy Efficien- “We found it advisable to make the ther- Lyceum in central cy, which served as the consultant for the mostats face the wall to prevent pupils from Petrozavodsk for school when the programme was imple- kicking them by accident,” explains Mok- 40 years. mented. “Of course," replies Mokeykova. “We eykova.

22 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 23 02

The steady temperature a in the school is when the project was launched, the win-

a result of NEFCO’s energy-efficiency pro- dows on the south side were sealed using v na z aro

School No. 3 gramme launched already in 1997. Initial- Swedish technology. irina is a prime ly, funds for municipal energy projects were Thanks to the programme, the pupils en- example. made available in the form of donations, but joy better health today. Those sitting next to in 2006 the policy changed and the grants windows are no longer exposed to a constant Energy costs were replaced by loans on favourable terms. draught. And because of the steady temper- were cut by A total of 113 municipally owned build- ature, it is no longer necessary to open the 70 per cent. ings were included in the project in Petro- windows – and catch a cold. zavodsk. All properties were fitted with new A single school project may well be a drop metering devices. In the second phase, five in the ocean but the environmental gain is buildings with the most serious problems impressive. were singled out. “The annual carbon dioxide emissions “School No. 3 is a prime example,” says Smir from School No. 4 fell by 111 tonnes as a re- nov. “Energy costs were cut by 70 per cent.” sult of the programme,” Smirnov points out We look into a classroom with chairs with emphasis. Another school was able to placed upside down on the desks. The win- reduce emissions by 218 tonnes while ener- dows face north and everything is bathed gy costs fell by 59 per cent. in a blinding white. Russian municipalities have been able to “We’re replacing all the school windows save up to RUB 2 million per year as a result in stages,” says Mokeykova. “Last year we re- of similar energy efficiency projects – mon- placed 36, and this year 12.” ey that could be invested otherwise. At Der- The window project is financed by the zyavinkiy, the savings have resulted in new The Karelian Energy city school administration. Eight years ago sports grounds. Efficiency Centre has A fairly fresh piece of Russian legislation “Previously we had no real facilities for operated in Petrozavodsk since 1998. Today, obligates municipalities to work out con- 01 sports,” confesses Mokeykova. “But look at it the centre designs and implements various crete plans for improving efficiency in ener- a now – everything is new and fine!” energy-efficiency concepts for both public gy consumption. According to the Interna- She points out of the window at a group and private entities. tional Energy Agency (IEA), Russia could save v na z aro of boys playing football on a fenced-in field “This project to improve energy efficien- up to 45 per cent in energy through deter- irina with a plastic turf. cy in schools, day-care centres, hospitals and mined efforts to improve energy efficiency. sports halls was extended to other regions “The process to move away from oil as a in the Republic of Karelia,” declares Direc- fuel is just beginning but it's under way," he tor Alexey Smirnov as we sit at the Centre’s emphasizes. General understanding of the office in the city centre. importance of energy efficiency is growing The programme achieved a great deal, from year to year. for example with the water and heat sup- A number of various projects are also in 01 ply systems in the Segezha region. progress in Karelia. An 18 MW woodchip- Alexey Smirnov, “NEFCO has an excellent screening fired power plant is being planned in Suojär- Head of the Karelian Energy toolkit for identifying major projects with vi and a 700 kW gas-fired plant in Sortavala. Efficiency Centre future potential. It provides ready-made “As the environmental requirements be- in Petrozavodsk. tools to determine what technology is come increasingly stringent, we're getting 02 required and how much it will cost, where closer to energy-efficient solutions,” con- The school's to raise the funds and when the investment cludes Smirnov. “I believe that the most the heating system will pay for itself. This paves the way for sol- dynamic progress will be made with ther- was upgraded id and carefully though-out projects,” main- mal power plants. Now, nine out of ten of in 2005. tains Smirnov. the plants are obsolete.”

24 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 25 01 CASE STUDY M ondi Towards a cleaner Komi

More advanced and efficient waste management. This is the biggest efficient and safer mill. In the course of the challenge facing the Komi Republic project, the paper machines were upgrad- right now – a task that affects both ed, boilers replaced, new filters installed, a industry and households. timber yard rebuilt and new cooling tow- ers erected. “As far as waste management is con- The odour is what it should be: both acidic cerned, the challenge was to make more and strong. And there is no mistaking it. The efficient use of the wastes,” explains Tur- Mondi Paper Mill lies 20 km outside Sykty- peinen. “And we’ve done just that. Previ- vkar. Over 400 buildings are spread across ously, we re-used 85 per cent of the waste the gigantic site down by the River Vychegda. and now it’s 100.” The landscape is dominated by a cluster of We park the car down by the river to a 80-metre-high stacks billowing out thick take a look at a mountain of woodchips – white smoke – a visible result of water- all 30,000 tonnes of it. Thanks to the STEP steam production. programme, the mill has managed to reduce “The mill is now in its fourties and we are waste by 20 per cent. constantly investing across all areas,” says “The peak of this stockpile will be down Managing Director Jorma Turpeinen as we in the boilers in just five days,” says Turpei- drive around the mill grounds. nen. Inside the thermal power plant, it is al- The pulp and paper mill in Syktyvkar was most exclusively women sitting in front of opened in 1969. One of the largest mills in a row of computer displays monitoring all Russia today, it produces close to one million the systems. One of the displays shows the tonnes of paper products per year. At present, fire burning down in the boiler. it is owned by the international forest group “We burn all the waste in the boilers,” Mondi that has a presence in 30 countries. says Turpeinen. 01 An extensive modernisation programme The mill’s pride and glory is the new re- The new recovery called STEP was carried out during 2008– covery boiler capable of incinerating 3,560 boiler is one of the 2010. Mondi spent a total of EUR 545 mil- tonnes of dry solids at 500 degrees. The larg- biggest in Russia. lion to create a more environment-friendly, est in Russia, it replaced three old boilers at

26 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 27 NEFCO will fund the mill. As part of the same project, new fil- “Our problem is that we're lacking in Of all the republics in north-western concrete projects includ- ters were installed to reduce emissions of modern landfills," says Sergey Geraymovich, Russia, Komi is making the greatest effort ed in the programme framework. Two pilot gases hazardous to health. Vice-Minister at the Ministry of Natural Re- to improve efficiency in waste management. projects have already been launched. Nor- It’s been Thanks to the new technology, carbon sources and Environmental Protection of the It is committed to spending RUB 1 billion way’s Environment Centre takes part in the highly useful monoxide emissions are down from 13,187 Republic of Komi. “There're plenty of old- over the next four years to achieve this goal. project through the dissemination of infor- tonnes per year to 4,484 tonnes; sulphur di- fashioned sites where wastes are dumped. “We’ll start building new landfills next mation and sorting. for us to draw oxide from 672 to 57; and dust particles from What we need are modern facilities based year,” affirms Geraymovich. “We're not going “Co-operation with international part- upon the 2,284 to 197 tonnes. on advanced engineering.” to set up landfills in every locality; instead, ners has been extremely positive,” stress- experiences “As we speak we're installing new car- A fair amount of progress has already we’ll focus on creating a centralised system.” es Geraymovich. “It’s been highly useful for gained in 01 bon filters to improve the system's perfor- been made in Komi in the efforts to address The programme will also affect the exist- us to be able to draw upon the experiences Sergey Geraymovich, mance even further," points out Turpeinen. the problem. ing landfills as well as illegal landfills which gained in Scandinavia. The biggest problem Scandinavia. Vice-Minister at the Ministry of The mill’s power plant generates a total “First, we carried out a thorough survey will be closed down. All the municipalities for us in Russia is psychological – the atti- Natural Resources of 500 MW of electricity. Part of this bio-en- to determine the current state of affairs are obligated to establish waste manage- tude towards environmental problems and and Environmental ergy is sold to the Republic of Komi. throughout the republic,” explains Tatya- ment systems of their own. The most active how they should be tackled.” Protection of the na Tyupenko, responsible for internation- of them have been rewarded in the form of “When I first went through NEFCO’s ap- Republic of Komi. Waste management is one of the biggest al projects at the same ministry. quick financial support. plication procedures, it was both hard and 02 problems facing the Komi Republic. While The efforts to arrive at a definite con- complicated,” admits Tyupenko. “But we did Tatyana Tyupenko, the total amount of waste per year has fallen cept took EUR 90,000. The costs were split gain very important experience. We learnt a Head of Division, Ministry of Natural to 25 million tonnes during the past decade, fifty-fifty between the ministry in Komi and great deal about the detailed requirements Resources and practically none of it is sorted and re-used. As NEFCO. Based on this survey, the republic imposed by a major financial institution, Environmental a result, a total of 114 million tonnes remains now has a long-term programme in place something that is very useful for us in this Protection of the buried in Komi's landfills. Most of it comes covering the whole of Komi. Its goal is to line of work.” Republic of Komi. from the coal, timber, oil and gas industries. create a uniform system for waste management with a focus on hazardous waste. At the same time, there is an ambition to improve performance in waste sorting. “This year, we’ve already managed to collect and dispose of the chemical pesticides 03 used in the republic. It’s one of the problems that we’ve already taken care of.” M ondi

01 02 04 Må rd Må rd M ondi

A nders A nders 03 PM-14 was one of two paper machines modernised within the STEP project.

Previously, 04 we re-used “We are re-using all of the waste 85 per cent of generated here the waste at the plant,” says Managing Director and now it’s 100. Jorma Turpeinen.

28 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 29 01 CASE STUDY Må rd

The hunt A nders for clean water

Komi has launched an ambitious In Komi, water treatment facility and water pipes in almost half of programme to improve its water supply system. Over the next four the city of Uhta. New developments are al- the population years, it is committed to spending so under way in the city of Usinski as well has access to close to RUB 16 billion to achieve as in a number of smaller municipalities. this goal. “Water supply systems are heavily pure drinking stretched across Russia,” says Sergey Geray water. movich, Vice-Minister for the Environment Water consumption has declined in the Ko- of the Republic. In Komi, however, almost mi Republic by 36 per cent over the past 20 half of the population has access to pure years. The main reasons for this are depop- drinking water – a feat matched by few oth- ulation, lower demand by industry and in- er republics. creased tariffs. The Republic’s new programme does not In 2012, the treatment plants in the re- include the capital city Syktyvkar and its public processed a total of 454 million m3 of 250,000 inhabitants. Here, the modernisa- wastewater. At the same time, the quantity tion process was initiated many years ago. of non-treated or partially treated wastewa- Syktyvkar's water supply plant is located ter amounted to 119 million m3. During the in a wooded area to the east of the city. Even past decade, the amount has clearly fallen though the facility was built in the 1970s, as indicated by the corresponding figure for the blue-and-white industrial buildings on 2002 of no less than 145 million. the site look much more modern – main- The quality of drinking water in the re- ly thanks to a major modernisation project public remains unchanged from the early in 2002. Today, the plant has a capacity of 2000s. Today, 63 per cent of the potable water 60,000 m3 per 24 hours. meets the applicable quality requirements. “Now all the processes are fully auto- In many localities, however, drinking wa- mated,” says Engineer Denis Bozhenov as 01 ter remains a problem with high concen- we stand in a hall where sodium hypochlo- Today, 63 per cent trations of substances hazardous to health. rite is manufactured. The personnel moni- of the potable No wonder that the new water programme tor the process by computers, only leaving water meets the applicable quality launched by the Republic foresees major in- their desks to venture into the production requirements. vestments in a new water intake, a waste- area when necessary.

30 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 31 All in all, it took an investment of around Here, the water passes from basin to ba- “Thanks to the EUR 545 million moderni- EUR 20 million to reach the European stand- sin and from filter to filter. The whole pro- sation project the company carried out here ard of quality. Most of the funding was cess takes almost two hours before enter- We’ve been able a couple of years ago, we’ve been able to re- provided by Vodokanal and the remaining the next stage. to reduce water duce water consumption by 15 per cent," says ing part by the financial institutions EBRD “Nowadays, we’re using new agents for consumption by Managing Director Jorma Turpeinen. and NDEP as well as by Sweden, Finland, flocculation to improve quality,” explains Before that, the mill used 130 million m3 Canada and the EU. Bozhenov. 15 per cent. of water per year, most of which is required “We’ve had smooth co-operation since the “In the past, we used to have a designated by the mill’s thermal power plant. project launch in 2001,” says NDEP Director person to prepare the additives. Now, it’s all The mill has a wastewater treatment Jaakko Henttonen. “Vodokanal in Syktyvkar automatic so you always get the right con- plant of its own, which also takes care of has been active in taking the initiative and centration and the quality remains uniform.” 90 per cent of the wastewater from Syktyv is keen to work with us, and they’ve also It is not only the quality of drinking wa- kar city. In 2012, the treatment plant pro- had a constant drive to improve efficiency.” ter that has improved as a result of the new cessed a total of 84 million m3 of wastewa- Next we enter a colourful industrial hall technology: the purification plant is also ter. While the concentrations of hazardous where raw water is flocculated. consuming less energy. substances fell by 12 per in the same year, “What I’ve been most impressed by is the “We meet all the European standards. It the problem with the high level of phenol complete automation of the process – some- benefits the city in many ways. And the peo- 02 in the River Vychegda remains. thing that’s still relatively new here in Rus- ple have stopped complaining about the wa- “We’ve recently launched a project to in- sia,” says Bozhenov. ter,” says Bozhenov. Må rd crease the capacity of the treatment plant,"

The biggest single polluter of the repub- A nders says Turpeinen. “The work started last year lic’s water resources is industry as there are and the first phase is due for completion several large entities engaged in the forest, in 2014”. coal, gas and oil businesses. But even here, Among other things, the programme positive developments are taking place. foresees a technology upgrade, equipment The Mondi Pulp and Paper Mill in Syk- replacements and the construction of new tyvkar, one of the largest in Russia, con- basins. sumes vast quantities of water to keep pro- “Our ambition is to always meet the reduction going. quirements imposed by Russian legislation,” concludes Turpeinen.

01 Må rd “We have a

A nders complete process automation for treating drinking water,” says Engineer Denis Bozhenov.

02 Mondi's wastewater treatment plant takes care of 90 per cent of Syktyvkar's wastewater.

32 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 33 01 CASE STUDY ark P Arctic Russia N ational

A rctic being cleaned up ssian Ru

A mammoth clean-up operation is under way in Franz Josef Land to remove tect and develop the archipelago which cov- 18,000 tonnes of metal products, ers an area of over 16,000 square kilometres. 7,300 cubic metres of oil products as After the Second World War, the island well as 80,000 cubic metres of build- group was used as a military base by the So- ings materials and household wastes. viet Air Force. After the collapse of the Soviet Everything must go. Union, the military left the islands but the environmental problems remained. An environmental disaster is still brew- “No reason to beat about the bush. We’ve ing on six of the islands. The Soviet military made a major effort. And the operation left behind some 30,000–40,000 tonnes of that’s going on is both massive and effi- aviation fuel and other oil products in the cient.” highly sensitive Arctic environment. In The Franz Josef Land National Park has its more tangible terms, we are talking about head office in downtown Archangel; and it is no fewer than 350,000 corroding fuel barrels here that Alexsandr Kirilov, Deputy Director posing a constant threat of a massive spill. for Nature Conservation, also has his desk. There is no permanent habitation in But instead of moving about along the of- Franz Josef Land; instead, it boasts rich flo- fice corridors he prefers to spend his time in ra and fauna. Threatened species such as the well-known archipelago that lies north walruses, whales and ivory gulls all depend east of Svalbard in Arctic Russia and where on the islands for survival. an intensive clean-up operation has been In 2007, NEFCO going on for a couple of years. gave EUR 200,000 to co “Our goal is to remove 8,000 tonnes of finance a pilot project to take an invento- 01 The Russian authorities waste and debris every year,” says Kirilov. ry of the hazardous substances existing on have removed tens of “At this rate, we’ll get the job done by 2020.” the islands. Three years later, the then Prime thousands of cubic metres The 181 islands of Franz Josef Land are Minister Vladimir Putin paid a visit to the of hazardous waste from administered by the Archangel Region. The archipelago and ordered an extensive res- Franz Josef Land. national park was founded in 2009 to pro- toration of Franz Josef Land. NEFCO has

34 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 35 01 ark continued to co-operate with the Russian “Financing is secured for the entire pro- P Geographic Society and the Polar Founda- ject,” underlines Kirilov. “Money will keep tion, providing funding also to address the coming from Moscow until the job is done.” N ational Most of the

elimination of pollutants such as POPs and A rctic This year, cleaning waste is shipped PCB, which is a particular international con- continued on the same cern in the exceptional Arctic environment. islands and on Graham Bell Island. Plans ssian Ru to the nearest “In 2011, the Russian Ministry of Natural were also in place to extend the operation to harbour from Resources carried out a thorough study of the other islands when an impending envi- where it is taken environmental problems on Alexandra Land ronmental catastrophe was detected. as well as the Graham Bell, Hooker and Hoff- In 2012, a reconnaissance expedition dis- to various re man islands,” explains Kirilov. “They were covered a serious threat on Graham Bell Is- cycling facilities. followed by the Prince Rudolf and Heiss island. The beach was being eroded with large lands in 2012.” chunks of earth crashing into the sea. Work to clean up Alexandra Land and “It’s one of those natural processes that Hooker Island commenced the same year. All are common in the archipelago, but this was in all, the project team collected over 4,500 happening ten times faster than normal,” tonnes of metal, 25 tonnes of aluminium, explains Kirilov. The efforts on Franz Josef Land are not over 1,700 tonnes of oil products and 6,000 The island was quickly being halved and exclusive to old barrels and cisterns – in ad- tonnes of waste for re-use on the mainland. there was an impending risk of 2,000 tonnes dition to the environmental project, cultur- “Aside from barrels, there are metal prod- of oil products ending up in the sea. To pre- al assets are also involved. ucts, scrapped electronics, cisterns, oil pipes, vent the catastrophe, all the resources were “We’re doing our best to preserve every- building materials, buildings and ordinary redirected to the island. thing that is of cultural value,” says Kirilov. debris out there on the islands," says Kirilov. “It was a tough and complicated opera- “The idea is to set up several museums on While some of the stuff can be recycled tion as we had to move over all the equip- the islands.” on the spot, most of the waste is shipped to ment and staff,” he says. The annual expedition teams also include the nearest harbour from where it is taken Because of the lack of time, a decision historians and culturologists who take stock to various recycling facilities. Large land ar- was made to throw in all the resources as of the cultural assets on the islands. eas have also been contaminated by oil and quickly as possible, and so this year the expe- “Hooker Island is home to the world’s need to be restored. dition set out already in May. An atomic ice- first polar base complete with a meteoro- “Last year, we dealt with 50 hectares and breaker was chartered to assist the “Mikhail logical station,” he explains. “And we natu- this year we’ll be able to handle around 40 Somov” research vessel because the ice cover rally want to preserve it for posterity.” hectares,” he says. is at its thickest in the spring. And it proved Other interesting discoveries include The massive project is funded fully by the extremely difficult to get all the equipment A temporary camp was set up in a hurry a unique Soviet tractor manufactured in Russian Government. The annual budget is onto the island. and the staff worked round the clock. Other Chelyabinsk and the ‘Finnish house’ – an RUB 600 million. “Our heavy crates couldn’t be left on the problems soon appeared in the form of po- old wooden cabin built using a special tech- ice near the shore for more than 40 minutes lar bears and weather. nique native to Finland. otherwise there was a big risk of the float “You‘re attacked by a sleet storm which The Franz Josef Land National Park hopes breaking up,” he recounts. quickly turns into ice,” says Kirilov. “If you to be able to develop the island group into stand still for just a little too long, you'll be an area attractive to tourists. At present, the immediately covered in a thin sheet of ice archipelago is visited by around 1,700 peo- as heavy as a medieval knight’s armour!” ple per year. 01 Thanks to these special efforts, the catas- “Next year, we’ll continue the clean-up Franz Josef Land was trophe was averted and all the oil products and restoration work and extend the ef- used as a military recovered. However, nature is still taking its forts to Heiss Island and Hoffman Island base by the Soviet Air course and erosion continues – it has already where the actual airfield is located,” con- Force until 1991. reduced the island to half of its former size. cludes Kirilov.

36 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 37 01

CASE STUDY g er Fresh winds R astenber artrik in Archangel P

Over the past five years, there has The air quality stream of white smoke dominates the gate- been a clear trend in the Archangel in the city of (Arkhangelsk) region: emissions way into the city in the east. Equipped with into the atmosphere and discharges six turbines with a total output of 450 MW, Archangel has into the watercourses have been the facility provides the city with heat, hot improved sig- declining. water and energy. “We’ve achieved excellent results,” says nificantly in recent Kirill Sinitsky, Head of the Agency of Natu- In 2003, the total years thanks to volume of industrial ral Resources and Environment in the Arch- reduced emissions emissions and discharges in the Archan- angel Region. “Emissions declined dramat- gel region reached 259,000 tonnes. By 2011, ically when the plant switched from oil to from the local this figure was down to 215,000 tonnes. The gas as a fuel.” thermal power biggest emission sources are companies en- In 2003, the thermal power plant ac- plant. gaged in the production and distribution of counted for nearly 45 per cent of all the pol- electricity, gas and water. lutants in the city. All in all, the plant gen- Archangel, the largest city in the region erated 26,000 tonnes of emissions per year. with a population of 360,000, is the local- Now that the boilers run on gas instead of ity hardest hit by the state of the environ- fuel oil, this amount has almost been halved. ment. High levels of dust particles and ni- By 2011, the emissions from the plant trogen oxides were detected in the city still had fallen to 13,800 tonnes. Sulphur dioxin 2011. Yet the positive trends dominate. ide was down by 64 per cent, carbon monox- More than anything else, this is due to a ide by 59 per cent and ash by 71 per cent. To major upgrade carried out at the city's ther- achieve this, an investment of EUR 12 mil- 01 mal power plant. lion was required. Voskresenskaya The power plant in Archangel went on “It improved the quality of life consid- Street in the heart of stream in 1970. The plant with its gigan- erably – and not only in the city but across Archangel. tic smokestacks billowing out a constant the entire region," says Sinitsky. “A similar

38 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 39 positive development is taking place in the emissions by five per cent at the same time hot spots. They are companies with large- city of Severodvinsk where one of the local as the quantity of pollutants in the mill’s scale operations and equivalent environ- thermal power plants has switched to gas. “I don’t see any wastewater fell by 91 per cent. mental impacts.” We’re upgrading the technology in other lo- environmental “The third paper mill in the region, The Novodvinsk mill has made major ef- calities in the region as well.” Solombala, tends to prompt critical ques- forts to upgrade its wastewater treatment The thermal power plant in Archangel threat being posed tions among our international partners,” ac- plant. Today, the discharges of hazardous plans to move ahead with modernisation. by the region’s knowledges Sinitsky. “The company is fac- substances are under control, except for bi- The management’s goal is to satisfy at least paper industry,” ing a crisis because of the mill’s outdated ological and chemical oxygen demand (BOD 90 per cent of the plant's fuel requirements says Kirill Sinitsky. technology – the problem seems to be solv- and COD). with gas. In doing so, the annual emissions ing itself, so to speak.” Now the company has introduced an en- could fall to around 3,000 tonnes. 01 Solombala stopped production at the end vironmental strategy to improve its compet-

g er of 2012. Last year, the company announced itiveness. For example, the mill is planning The Novodvinsk paper mill, located just major cutbacks as a result of which almost to install a new pulp line and recovery boil- outside Archangel, is Russia’s largest pro- 1,000 employees lost their jobs. er capable of processing gas emissions more R astenber ducer of board with an annual output of effectively and to upgrade the wastewater

artrik During the past 350,000 tonnes. All in all, the mill makes over P few years, the Novodvinsk treatment technology. 800,000 tonnes of paper products per year. mill has invested EUR 102 million to im- “The international co-operation focusing “We have two big paper mills in the re- prove efficiency in production. And the re- on the hot spot issues has been an important gion, both market leaders in Russia and sults have not been late in coming. process,” stresses Sinitsky. “We’ve got good owned by major international corpora- In 2003, the mill’s atmospheric emissions results and I definitely think that this work tions,” explains Sinitsky. “The technology were close to 50,000 tonnes while discharg- should continue. At the same time, however, that these mills use and the upgrades that es of water pollutants amounted to almost the tools should be reviewed and renewed. have been carried out make it possible for 30,000 tonnes. By 2011, the emissions and We should be able to define the criteria them to achieve world-class environmen- discharges had fallen to 42,000 tonnes and for hot spots and understand the mecha- tal performance.” 14,500 tonnes, respectively. During this nisms better. We’ve had good results from The other big paper mill is Kotlas in the modernisation project the mill also man- these efforts here in Russia and we'll be southeast of the region. Thanks to an invest- aged to solve its dioxin problem. happy to share these experiences with out ment programme of EUR 107 million, the Boilers were replaced and advanced tech- neighbours in the Barents Region.” mill has managed to reduce its atmospheric nology installed to deal with gaseous pollutants more effectively. At the same time, the mill switched to chlorine dioxide bleaching of pulp. Among the problems yet to be ad- 02 dressed are sulphur dioxide and ash. “I don’t see any environmental threat be-

onono v ing posed by the region’s paper industry,” K

01 v el

a says Sinitsky. “I don’t consider the mills as The paper mill in P Novodvinsk.

02 “We’ve achieved excellent results,” says Kirill Sinitsky, Head of the Agency of Natural Resources and Environment in the Archangel Region.

40 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 41 01

CASE STUDY g er Energy out R astenber atrik of pesticides P

Traffic is busy on the access road to Ekokem's facility in Riihimäki, The facility in Riihimäki almost stands Finland, with a steady stream of alone in the Nordic context. There are only trucks passing through the gates. two similar incineration plants in the Nordic Aside from all the other hazardous countries and in Russia this type of incinera- waste processed by the company, tion technology is completely lacking. This is Ekokem receives annually some one of the reasons why Ekokem has received 150 tonnes of pesticides that are obsolete pesticides from Russian Karelia as taken to a special incineration plant part of the international environmental co- where the hazardous substances operation in the Barents Region. are burnt at 1,100–1,200°C. “At the beginning of the 2000s, the Arc- tic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) commissioned a number of studies on “Most of the pesticides ending up here are the occurrence of persistent organic environ- from Finland and the other Nordic countries, mental pollutants. It was discovered, among but we have also received a fair amount of other things, that several rivers and water- pesticides from other parts of the world,” says courses in the Barents Region displayed high Ekokem’s Production Manager Juhani Alonen. levels of DDT and other pesticides,” says Timo The incineration process breaks down Seppälä, Senior Adviser at the Finnish Envi- the hazardous chemical compounds to ren- ronment Institute. der them harmless while at the same time DDT is a persistent organic pollutant that generating thermal energy. Ekokem supplies accumulates in the food chain. It is associat- all the heat required by the town of Riihi ed with a range of conditions such as breast mäki and 70 per cent of that required by the and thyroid cancer as well as hormonal and town of Hyvinkää. Last year, Ekokem gener- neurological disorders in humans. 01 ated a total of 509 GWh of energy in Finland. As a result of AMAP’s studies and the ‘hot The Finnish environmental The flood of hazardous wastes is impressive spot’ report released by NEFCO in 2003, it was management company Ekokem – according to Ekokem's sustainability re- possible to pinpoint a number of sources of in Riihimäki has incinerated obsolete pesticides collected from port, the company received a total of 229,000 DDT in the various parts of the Russian Bar- the Republic of Karelia in Russia. tonnes of hazardous wastes in 2012. ents Region. Most of the problems were due to

42 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 43 03 01 g er Senior Adviser Timo past Soviet environmental misdeeds and the The cargo contained 21 different pesticides Seppälä from the pesticides that were used back in the 1960s. including the Persistent Organic Pollutants

Finnish Environment Several tonnes of pesticides stashed away in (POPs) DDT and Lindane. The packaging and R astenber Institute. atrik 23 depots spread across the region were dis- transportation of the pesticides was carried P 02 covered in Karelia. Many of them were found out in accordance with the provisions of the Obsolete pesticides near Sortavala and some in large storage fa- Basel Convention and the United Nations reg- detected in a warehouse in the cilities near Lake Ladoga. ulations, which impose rigorous requirements vicinity of Sortavala, The Finnish Ministry of the Environment regarding their sorting, handling and loading, Russian Karelia. offered to finance most of the collection and and the type of bags to be used during their packaging of the pesticides and their trans- transportation. port to Ekokem’s facility in Riihimäki for prop- 01 After incineration in er incineration. The remaining part was fund- Riihimäki, the Bar- g er ed by the Republic of Karelia. ents Euro-Arctic Council was able to cross “Talks with the Karelian and federal au- the pesticide problem in Russian Karelia off

R astenber thorities were successful, and following a the list of ‘hot spots’ identifying 42 acute atrik

P thorough inventory and identification of the environmental threats in the Barents Re- substances we managed, together with the gion. In other words, it was a success story. Karelian authorities, to organise the trans- The project in Russian Karelia was part of port of 12 tonnes of pesticides from Petroza- a more extensive action programme to man- vodsk to Riihimäki in summer 2008,” explains age pesticides in Northern Russian territo- Timo Seppälä. ries in an environmentally sound way. Many regions have sent their pesticides to the hazardous waste facility in Krasny Bor in the vicinity of St. Petersburg. Krasny Bor does not yet meet the international criteria for environmentally sound management. “We have the technical capability to accept similar deliveries from for example Russia, but 02 for that we need a partner who can handle ä

ä l the logistics and paperwork involved in such

S epp projects,” says Production Manager Juhani

timo Alonen.

The Barents Euro- Arctic Council was able to cross the pesticide problem in 03 “We have the technical Russian Karelia capability to accept similar off the list of deliveries for example from Russia,” says Production ‘hot spots’. Manager Juhani Alonen.

44 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 45 01 KNP Boats moored in the Kenozero National Park.

Editor: Mikael Sjövall Text production: Anders Mård Translations and proof reading: Aazet Oy Design: Nimiö (www.nimio.fi) Cover photograph: Yevgen Timashov beyond / Corbis Printhouse: Lönnberg Print Oy Helsinki 2013

This NEFCO publication has been printed on FSC certified paper.

46 Barents Hot Spots Barents Hot Spots 47 The Barents Euro- Arctic Council (BEAC) is the forum for inter governmental and inter regional co-operation in the Barents Region. It gathers together the countries and regional authorities in Northern Europe to promote stability and sustainable development in the Barents Region.