Emissions from Russian fertiliser plant into Baltic Sea equal those of all of Finland

Factory spokesman denies existence of problem

Seppo Knuuttila

Andrei Melnichenko

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The Fosforit industrial area in Kingisepp in the northwest of Russia has been shown to be a major source of phosphorus emissions into the Gulf of Finland. Phosphorus compounds promote the growth of algae, adding to the eutrophication problem in the entire Baltic Sea.
      The waste gypsum storage area of the plant has been leaking phosphate into an adjacent river which flows into the Gulf of Finland. The phosphorus content in the emissions is equivalent to the untreated sewage of a million people.
     
Researcher Seppo Knuuttila of the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) says that the plant is the largest single source of phosphorus emissions in the entire catchment area of the Baltic Sea – an area comprising 14 industrialised countries and home to 90 million people.
      Annual emissions from Fosforit are estimated at 1,000 tonnes a year - about as much as those of all of Finland - into the Baltic Sea.
      However, Russian officials concede only 10 tonnes of phosphorus emissions a year.
      Seppo Knuuttila says that the only country on the Baltic Sea whose phosphorus emissions into the Baltic exceed those of this single plant is Poland.
     
Although Seppo Knuuttila says that there is no doubt about the source of the emissions in the area, both the Fosforit plant and its owner EuroChem denies that there is a problem.
      “I will need a day to deal with the matter. However, I can say one thing right now: your information about the Kingisepp factory, Fosforit, is wrong”, says Vladimir Torin, head of communications at EuroChem.
      Knuuttila insists that there is no doubt as to the origin of the emissions.
     
The massive emissions from Fosforit were revealed in connection with a project by the Baltic Sea Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM), in which Finnish expertise from SYKE is used to help Russia improve water quality and find sources of emissions.
      The researchers took water samples in different areas. The steering group of the project met in St. Petersburg on Wednesday and Russian officials promised to examine the emissions more closely.
      Environmental protection is not very high on the agenda of Russia’s leaders, and environmental experts and laboratories are short on staff and equipment.
     
The owner of EuroChem, the corporation that runs the Fosforit fertiliser plant in Kingisepp, is 39-year-old billionaire oligarch Andrei Melnichenko.
      With an estimated net worth of 4.4 billion US dollars, Forbes magazine says that Melnichenko is the 17th richest man in Russia.
     

More on this subject:
 NEWS ANALYSIS: Phosphorus relatively easy to remove from waste water

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Sewage treatment leaves toxins in waste water (17.1.2011)
  Improved St. Petersburg sewage treatment reduces pollution in eastern reaches of Gulf of Finland (27.8.2010)
  Major emission source uncovered in NW Russia (18.1.2012)

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