Russian burial ground for toxic waste seen as an environmental time bomb
Residents of near St. Petersburg often notice chemical smell
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Tonnes of toxic waste have been buried in the area of Krasnyi Bor near St. Petersburg over the decades.
Residents of the village of Krasnyi Bor, which is located two kilometres from the dump, have grown accustomed to living near the potential environmental time bomb.
Finland has offered its help in cleaning up the hazardous area, but progress has been slow.
At times, the wind will carry the stench of chemicals to the village, but so far, no other harm has been caused by the waste dump.
“We moved to the village three years ago with my husband, and it was not until six months ago that I even heard about the waste”, says Yelena Pitshugina, 26.
Plants in their garden thrive in the summer, and people do not get ill any more frequently than they do anywhere else. Yelena, the mother of a small child, is nevertheless worried about the quality of water in their well, so she buys bottled water for the child.
“The poison could, in principle, reach us. It certainly would be better if the waste were somewhere further away”, she continues.
Toxic waste from St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region have been taken to Krasnyi bor since 1969. About 1.5 million tonnes of chemicals, oil, and heavy metals have been buried in dozens of pits in an area of 70 hectares. Some of the waste is incinerated.
Russia does not have a single modern facility for processing problem waste. Furthermore, in St. Petersburg, poisons are often left out in the open, or are disposed of in illegal dumping areas.
According to Dmitri Artamonov, the director of Greenpeace in St. Petersburg, not all pits have been covered up, and more waste is being transported to the area. Some of the pits have been sealed with clay.
“Poisons evaporate into the air from liquid waste. In the rain, the pits can overflow, which means that all the makings of a disaster are ready”, Artamonov says.
The Izhora, a branch of the River Neva passes near the area. Drinking water for St. Petersburg is taken downstream.
The Neva could also carry toxins into the Gulf of Finland, but it is difficult to assess the threat to the sea area.
In the Gulf of Finland, the problems would be limited to the eastern part of the sea, and to the Neva Bay, writes Karri Eloheimo in a report to the Finnish Ministry of the Environment in a report drawn up in 2007.
“Waste from the military industry was also brought to Krasnyi Bor, and nobody knows what really lurks in the pits”, Artamonov of Greenpeace points out.
Nina Zaharenko, 74, has lived near Krasnyi Bor her whole life. She says that people have not risen up against the toxic pools in their back yard, because it would be no use anyway.
“Talk would not help the matter”, Saharenko says.
Cleaning up Krasnyi Bor has been a key goal of Finnish cooperation with adjacent areas.
In 2003-2004 Finland was ready to provide EUR 850,000 for a cleanup operation in the area. Ten million dollars had been pledged by international financiers, under the leadership of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT) was planning to measure the emissions from incinerators in Krasnyi Bor.
The project was plagued by problems from the very beginning, and it finally collapsed when the Russian side said that it is not worth continuing. However, Russian environmental officials insisted that Russia would have wanted to continue the cooperation.
A few years ago journalists were allowed into the area. Now environmental officials in St. Petersburg did not respond to requests from Helsingin Sanomat to be allowed to visit the site. Instead, they offered to show photographs of Krasnyi Bor. Officials say that an experimental facility is being built, which is to process all future waste coming to Krasnyi Bor.
Last year Krasnyi Bor was closed down, because it was seen to be in violation of environmental standards. In January it resumed operations, and there have been no conseqeunces form violating the rules.
Greenpeace has called for a legal inquiry into the operation, but nothing has happened yet.
Dmitri Artamonov of Greenpeace says that organised crime is heavily involved in the waste business in the Leningrad region, and that waste processing companies have good relations with the police and the courts.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 31.3.2009 - TODAY |
 Russian burial ground for toxic waste seen as an environmental time bomb |
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