No agreement near over Russian phosphorus emissions

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By Heli Saavalainen
     
      The ditch is frozen over – the famous ditch in Kingisepp in Northwest Russia which lets massive amounts of phosphate into the Luga River, and from there into the Gulf of Finland.
      A path leads to the edge of the ditch, and in spite of the bitter cold, the hole that has been made in the ice is still open. Water samples have just been taken from the hole, which is full of crushed ice.
     
The frequent taking of samples from the ditch leading the river at the Fosforit industrial area is a counterattack by the fertiliser factory to news that came out as a result of studies by the Baltic Sea Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM).
      According to the study up to 1,000 tons of phosphorus, which spurs the growth of algae, leak each year from the pile of waste gypsum. The amount is the equivalent of Finland’s total phosphorus emissions into the Baltic.
      Agreement on the source of the emissions is far away, as the company is making additional studies, hoping to refute the results of a Finnish-Russian study.
     
The results the analysis of one sample have been made public, and the phosphorus content in the sample was a fraction of the previous one.
      In the view of Fosforit CEO Vladimir Yerlykov, this shows that the gypsum pile is not the source of the massive emission. Until now the factory has focused on emissions from the industrial process, which official reports put at being between 10 and 20 tons a year.
     
“The emissions going into the river are not coming from our area. The figures calculated on the basis of the new samples are much smaller than what the Finns claim”, Yerlykov insists.
      Yerlykov emphasises that Helcom’s Russian partner, Leonid Korovin, the CEO of the Ecology and Business company, agrees that the emission is not coming from the factory. The mother company EuroHem says the same in its press release.
     
Korovin has been saying in the Russian media, that levels of emissions that are significantly lower than the studies have suggested.
      A curious side to this is that Korovin is responsible for Russia’s official assessments of levels of emissions, and was part of the research project which led to the discovery of the new source of emissions.
      Investigations were launched because Ecology & Business had previously reported a very high phosphorus content in the Luka River. At Fosforit Yerlykov says that the company is nevertheless ready to discuss the matter. This is a serious problem, and we are trying to solve it in cooperation with Helcom.”
     
A group of Finnish researchers and environmental organisations will be in Russia next week.
      “We will hold a meeting with the John Nurminen Foundation in Moscow. We are ready to discuss various ways of solving the matter if problems emerge”, Yerlykov says.
      Finland’s Minister of the Environment Ville Niinistö (Green) believes that a common view will prevail. “We are not at an impasse, and we are in contact with the company. I believe that they will negotiate when they understand that we are not making any accusations”, he says.
     
Inside the factory area phosphorite, the raw material of phosphorus fertiliser, is refined and used for the production of phosphoric acid. The sulphuric acid that is required in the process is also produced by the company.
      At the factory Zurak Ivanov proudly presents the manufacturing process in which the refined sulphur is burned at a high temperature, “1,400 degrees”.
      The final product is certified. We have five standards in use”, Ivanov says.
      The gypsum waste that comes from the production of phosphoric acid has been piled to make a massive mountain on the outskirts of the industrial area.
     
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 5.2.2012


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Efforts continue to find solution to phosphorus emissions from Russian fertiliser plant (30.1.2012)
  New sample confirms massive phosphorus emissions from Russian plant (26.1.2012)
  EuroChem rejects allegations of massive emissions (20.1.2012)
  Major emission source uncovered in NW Russia (18.1.2012)

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HELI SAAVALAINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
heli.saavalainen@hs.fi