US Person visited Lake Baikal shortly after the demise of the Soviet Union. When he arrived after a long train trip across half of Siberia, he noticed two things immediately: the rusting hammer and sickle symbol hanging from the lampposts in the lakeside village, and the incredible clarity of the lake's water. His boat captain told him he could drink the water it was so clean, and so he did with no ill effects. That was almost twenty years ago. The paper mill on the south shore at Baikalsk was operating. But the lake is so large that the enormous volume of water it contains could dilute tons of pollution with little effect on quality. The Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill was built in 1966, but it has been shut since 2008. The plant is owned by billionaire oligarch Oleg Deripaska who lobbied Prime Minister Valdimir Putin to reopen the plant. Deripaska relied heavily on the fact that the plant provides 15,000 residents in the town of Baikalsk with jobs. Reportedly Prime Minister Putin is very sensitive to economic arguments. Lake Baikal, besides being incredibly beautiful, for which it has a deserved UN World Heritage site designation, is reknowned for the
unique flora and fauna that live there. The oldest and deepest freshwater lake in the world, it contains about 20% of the planet's freshwater reserves.
Russian environmentalists are concerned that the plant's full capacity operation scheduled to start in March will pollute the relatively undamaged lake. The production of white cellulose uses toxic chlorine gas. Apparently the factory's closed water circulation system has not been put back into service. The high cost of the system led to the plant's closure in 2008. Critics of the mill say it is an obstacle to alternative green development of the region. Maybe they should just bottle the water-- in recyclable or biodegradable bottles, of course.
[photo credits: top, Baikal Trail Assn.; bottom, Boyd Norton]
Russian environmentalists are concerned that the plant's full capacity operation scheduled to start in March will pollute the relatively undamaged lake. The production of white cellulose uses toxic chlorine gas. Apparently the factory's closed water circulation system has not been put back into service. The high cost of the system led to the plant's closure in 2008. Critics of the mill say it is an obstacle to alternative green development of the region. Maybe they should just bottle the water-- in recyclable or biodegradable bottles, of course.