Russian pollution 'killing' Baltic
President, USA Exile Govt.
Free Americans Resisting the Fourth Reich on Behalf of All Species.
NOTE: Thanks to BBC for this. -- kl, pp
Russian pollution 'killing' Baltic
Untreated sewage flows straight into the Neva river -and from there
to the Baltic
Sweden's Commission on Marine Environment has warned that the Baltic
Sea is in a "critical" condition and in danger of dying unless
pollution from the Russian city of St Petersburg is drastically cut.
Half of the fish species in the Baltic are at levels below the
critical biological level, while pregnant Swedish women are being
warned not to eat herring - a staple diet - because of dioxins.
There is little dispute that St Petersburg - Russia's second-biggest
city - is the Baltic's single biggest polluter, and behind many of
the problems.
"We have come to the end of the road, concerning the sea," Hans
Jonsson, chairman of Sweden's commission on the marine environment,
told BBC World Service's Politics Of Water programme.
"We have huge problems with algaes and plankton growth, with lack of
oxygen," Mr Jonsson added.
Decimated stocks
The Baltic is the world's biggest brackish sea - a peculiar mix of
sea and lake, salt water and fresh.
Its bed is a mix of ridges and troughs that trap pollutants, and
starve fish and plant life of oxygen.
And because it only has a narrow outlet to the ocean - between Sweden
and Denmark - the water takes 25-30 years to refresh itself.
St Petersburg's sewage works are massively outdated and overburdened
Sweden is especially concerned because fishing is essential to the
country's economy - although it involves only a few thousand Swedes
directly, there are thousands more in associated businesses.
But massive overfishing decimated stocks, and pollution has meant
they are unable to grow again.
"You can't throw out poison into a place that you produce food," said
Andreas Jonsson, a coastal fisherman.
"On the Baltic side - Latvia and Russia - they don't clean their
water from the towns."
Treatment costs
The biggest of these towns is St Petersburg, a vast metropolis built
on the Neva river.
Much of the city's sewage flows untreated into the Neva, and from
there directly into the Baltic.
"You have a bit of a nutrient soup, which causes large growth of
anaerobic bacteria as well as seaweed - which kills all life,"
explained Dietmar Litmanov, a member of the board of Greenpeace
Russia.
The problems stem from the fact that St Petersburg is still waiting
for a new municipal waste water plant to be completed - a project
constantly put back due to costs.
"The government in St Petersburg - as well as the governments in all
the Russian regions, and the central government - are prioritising
the economy over the environment," Mr Litmanov stated.
"It is a story that has been repeating itself throughout the former
Soviet Union, and unavoidably has led to major environmental
catastrophes."
Sweden's fishermen face an uncertain future
Environmental journalist Victor Teryoshkin told Politics Of Water
that the collapse of communism had left St Petersburg with a
"terrible quality of local sewage facilities."
"30% of the total water dumped into the Neva river by St Petersburg
companies and apartment buildings goes there unfiltered," he said.
"That means 300-400 cubic metres of water a day - this is a dangerous
cocktail, filled with all kinds of heavy metals and human waste."
Mr Teryoshkin added that there had simply not been enough money to
help the city clean up after 1991.
Although a new treatment plant is being built in the south-west of
the city, the amount of investment needed continues to thwart the
project's completion.
Attempts are being made to secure funding from European banks, but
much more money is needed.
Guilty parties
"We do have some serious problems here with waste water, and only 60%
of the water dumped into the sea from St Petersburg has been filtered
sufficiently," confirmed Alexander Ridko, head of health and ecology
commission at the St Petersburg legislative assembly.
Mr Ridko added that another problem was caused by illegal dumping of
waste into the Neva.
St Petersburg's residents have appalling quality water
But he added that because much of this was being done by St
Petersburg's main sewage treatment company, Vodokanal, there was
little that could be done about it.
"In the case of illegal spillages, there are cases of companies
dumping waste products into the river," he said.
"In certain cases we can blame Vodokanal, the city's main water supplier.
"What we have to do is find the guilty parties, make them
responsible, and punish them."
Vodokanal defended themselves, saying that they believed only 20% of
the water flowing into the Baltic was untreated.
But they too pointed out that they did not have the resources needed.
"What's needed is money to build a sewage collector and complete the
waste treatment plant," the company said.
"Unless we have the money and complete the construction, the dumping
will continue."
LINKS TO MORE EUROPE STORIES
Politics Of Water
How governments are tackling the global water crisis
EU tackles Russian pollution
09 Jul 02 | Europe
Report outlines Russia's deadly pollution
25 Nov 02 | Europe
Russia gives Kyoto kiss of life
03 Sep 02 | Africa
RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
Baltic environment
St Petersburg government
Greenpeace
Vodokanal
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
TOP EUROPE STORIES
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<html><head><style type="text/css"><!--
blockquote, dl, ul, ol, li { padding-top: 0 ; padding-bottom: 0 }
--></style><title>Prioritizing the Economy over the
Environment</title></head><body>
<div><font size="-1" color="#000099">Forwarded with Compliments of
Government of the USA in Exile (GUSAE): Free Americans Resisting
the Fourth Reich on Behalf of All Species. NOTE: Thanks to
BBC for this. -- kl, pp</font></div>
<div><font size="-1" color="#000099"><br></font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font size="+2"><b>Russian pollution 'killing'
Baltic</b></font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font size="-1" color="#666666">Untreated sewage flows straight
into the Neva river -and from there to the Baltic</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Sweden's Commission on Marine Environment has warned that the
Baltic Sea is in a "critical" condition and in danger of
dying unless pollution from the Russian city of St Petersburg is
drastically cut.</b></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Half of the fish species in the Baltic are at levels below the
critical biological level, while pregnant Swedish women are being
warned not to eat herring - a staple diet - because of dioxins.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>There is little dispute that St Petersburg - Russia's
second-biggest city - is the Baltic's single biggest polluter, and
behind many of the problems.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"We have come to the end of the road, concerning the sea,"
Hans Jonsson, chairman of Sweden's commission on the marine
environment, told BBC World Service's Politics Of Water
programme.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"We have huge problems with algaes and plankton growth, with
lack of oxygen," Mr Jonsson added.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Decimated stocks</b></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The Baltic is the world's biggest brackish sea - a peculiar mix
of sea and lake, salt water and fresh.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Its bed is a mix of ridges and troughs that trap pollutants, and
starve fish and plant life of oxygen.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>And because it only has a narrow outlet to the ocean - between
Sweden and Denmark - the water takes 25-30 years to refresh
itself.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font size="-1" color="#666666">St Petersburg's sewage works are
massively outdated and overburdened</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Sweden is especially concerned because fishing is essential to
the country's economy - although it involves only a few thousand
Swedes directly, there are thousands more in associated
businesses.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>But massive overfishing decimated stocks, and pollution has meant
they are unable to grow again.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"You can't throw out poison into a place that you produce
food," said Andreas Jonsson, a coastal fisherman.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"On the Baltic side - Latvia and Russia - they don't clean
their water from the towns."</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Treatment costs</b></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The biggest of these towns is St Petersburg, a vast metropolis
built on the Neva river.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Much of the city's sewage flows untreated into the Neva, and from
there directly into the Baltic.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"You have a bit of a nutrient soup, which causes large
growth of anaerobic bacteria as well as seaweed - which kills all
life," explained Dietmar Litmanov, a member of the board of
Greenpeace Russia.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The problems stem from the fact that St Petersburg is still
waiting for a new municipal waste water plant to be completed - a
project constantly put back due to costs.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"The government in St Petersburg - as well as the
governments in all the Russian regions, and the central government -
are prioritising the economy over the environment," Mr Litmanov
stated.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"It is a story that has been repeating itself throughout the
former Soviet Union, and unavoidably has led to major environmental
catastrophes."</div>
<div><br></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font size="-1" color="#666666">Sweden's fishermen face an
uncertain future</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Environmental journalist Victor Teryoshkin told Politics Of Water
that the collapse of communism had left St Petersburg with a
"terrible quality of local sewage facilities."</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"30% of the total water dumped into the Neva river by St
Petersburg companies and apartment buildings goes there unfiltered,"
he said.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"That means 300-400 cubic metres of water a day - this is a
dangerous cocktail, filled with all kinds of heavy metals and human
waste."</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Mr Teryoshkin added that there had simply not been enough money
to help the city clean up after 1991.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Although a new treatment plant is being built in the south-west
of the city, the amount of investment needed continues to thwart the
project's completion.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Attempts are being made to secure funding from European banks,
but much more money is needed.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>Guilty parties</b></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"We do have some serious problems here with waste water, and
only 60% of the water dumped into the sea from St Petersburg has been
filtered sufficiently," confirmed Alexander Ridko, head of health
and ecology commission at the St Petersburg legislative
assembly.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Mr Ridko added that another problem was caused by illegal dumping
of waste into the Neva.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font size="-1" color="#666666">St Petersburg's residents have
appalling quality water</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>But he added that because much of this was being done by St
Petersburg's main sewage treatment company, Vodokanal, there was
little that could be done about it.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"In the case of illegal spillages, there are cases of
companies dumping waste products into the river," he said.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"In certain cases we can blame Vodokanal, the city's main
water supplier.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"What we have to do is find the guilty parties, make them
responsible, and punish them."</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Vodokanal defended themselves, saying that they believed only 20%
of the water flowing into the Baltic was untreated.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>But they too pointed out that they did not have the resources
needed.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"What's needed is money to build a sewage collector and
complete the waste treatment plant," the company said.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>"Unless we have the money and complete the construction, the
dumping will continue."</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font color="#666666"><b>LINKS TO MORE EUROPE
STORIES</b></font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font color="#000099"><b>Politics Of Water</b></font></div>
<div><font size="-1" color="#000099">How governments are tackling the
global water crisis</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font color="#000099">EU tackles Russian pollution</font></div>
<div><font color="#666666">09 Jul 02 | Europe</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">Report outlines Russia's deadly
pollution</font></div>
<div><font color="#666666">25 Nov 02 | Europe</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">Russia gives Kyoto kiss of
life</font></div>
<div><font color="#666666">03 Sep 02 | Africa</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font size="-1" color="#666666"><b>RELATED INTERNET
LINKS:</b></font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">Baltic environment</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">St Petersburg government</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">Greenpeace</font></div>
<div><font color="#000099">Vodokanal</font></div>
<div><font color="#666666">The BBC is not responsible for the content
of external internet sites</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><font size="-1"><b>TOP EUROPE STORIES</b></font></div>
</body>
</html>
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