Lake Baikal, situated in southern Siberia, is not only the world’s oldest and deepest lake, but also its largest reservoir of freshwater, home to unique biodiversity and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1966 the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill (BPPM) was built on the southern shore of the lake and since then it has discharged waste products into the air and the lake’s ecosystem. While the plant has been closed since 2008 because of its economic unprofitability, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin decided to restart it at the beginning of this year. The enterprise faces strong public opposition, and has been the source of heavy protests and demonstrations. ECC editors talked about recent developments with Marina Rikhvanova, co-director of the Baikal Environmental Wave, a local NGO based in Irkutsk.



ECC: Ms. Rikhvanova, the pulp mill initially closed in 2008. Its reopening in January 2010 caused strong public opposition and demonstrations. Could you shortly explain what are the main problems associated with this factory?



Marina Rikhvanova (MR): A first problem is its old technology that requires the use of a large amount of water to flush the pulp. As a result of the outdated equipment, polluted waste waters leak onto the shop floor and seep into ground waters below the mill. Although part of this is pumped out and into the waste water treatment facility, the untreated remainder enters Baikal. The waste from pulp production contains toxic compounds that are fatal for Baikal's endemic species, such as the Baikal seal. Chlorine bleaching and the incineration of the waste lignin produce organochlorine by-products, some of which—like dioxins—are alien to nature and accumulate in the food chain, weakening mammalian immune systems. These toxins are not covered by official monitoring. But they have been found in the breast milk of women living near the lake and having a high fish diet.



Highly toxic chloroform, methanol, phenol and formaldehyde are found in the mill's waste waters. As a result some 80 percent of Baikal's main cleaner, the tiny shrimp Epishura, perish in the area around the discharge pipe. The mill's emissions are causing drying of the surrounding forest. Scientists have come to the conclusion that, if this is to continue another 10 years, as a result of these processes Baikal's endemic species could disappear altogether. At present, their numbers are already falling. The consequences for Baikal's ecosystem are well documented in scientific reports and research. Questions relating to the health of the local population are not very well known as data is kept secret. We have applied for information but have received none.



Over the period of mill operations, 6 million tonnes of industrial waste – lignin sludge – have been accumulated along the shores of the lake. This sludge could contain dioxins. Some of the large sludge ponds have been covered in municipal waste and others with ash from the combined heat and power plant. This means that there could be radioactive pollution too. There are also separate ash landfills with very high alkalinity. And all this is near the lake (at times some 20 metres away). Baikal is the symbol of naturally pure water, but this symbol is suffering because of an old mill with old technology.



The question of pollution has been the reason for a number of decisions regarding the mill's conversion and closure of pulp production. But they were never implemented. After perestroika the mill was privatised. Today, the company Kontinental Management (KM), which belongs to the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, owns 51 percent of the pulp mill with the Russian government owning the rest. However, Deripaska has now swapped 25 percent of his shares with his close business partner.



ECC: What are the circumstances that led to its closure in 2008 and its recent reopening? What are the social and ecological consequences of this decision?



MR: Since 2001, cellulose production on Baikal without a closed wastewater cycle is prohibited by a federal law called "The List of Activities Banned in the Central Ecological Zone of the Baikal Natural Territory." However, the BPPM has never operated within the pollution limits officially set for its emissions and discharges. Instead, special standards were established for it that allowed for higher emissions than for other industries. It was supposed to discontinue chlorine bleaching and convert to a closed loop water system, and other enterprises were supposed to be developed in Baikalsk. It was given three years to close its loop, but even now it doesn't work. In 2008 it became evident that the mill's so-called closed-loop system in fact did not work. The mill closed as a result of the economic crisis and not because of environmentalists, as KM likes to say. KM itself took the decision to shut down. Even before the crisis its production was not being bought and was stacked up in storage. After the mill’s closure in October 2008, the factory laid off the majority of its 2,000 workers, which caused tensions in the town of Baikalsk as workers demanded their unpaid wages and unemployment benefits.



Then, on January 13th, Russian Prime Minister Putin signed a decree amending the list of banned activities on Baikal, allowing the production of cellulose on the lake’s shores without the requirement of a closed wastewater system. The BPPM resumed production. We continued our anti-mill campaign and a few weeks later, Irkutsk police raided our offices on a "citizen’s tip" that we had pirate software on our computers. However, when I wanted to show them our licenses, they said they had no need for them. This happened two and a half months ago and we still haven’t got our computers back.



Apart from all the above, people protest against the Baikalsk Mill because its owners enjoy a privileged position, by comparison with other local businesses, and it is protected by the government. People are indignant at this lack of fairness. Many locals consider the enormous lake, the "Pearl of Siberia," sacred, and a national pride and treasure. Seeing it put at risk again caused more than 1,500 people to protest on the streets of Irkutsk one month after Putin signed his decree. The flop of Putin’s party "Russia United" in the regional election in Irkutsk on 14 March also reflects the people’s discontent with Putin’s decision.



Why BPPM was opened right now is a mystery. In an official letter from the government of Irkutsk Oblast it is stated that the aim of re-launching the mill is to "process" dangerous chemical substances situated on the territory of the mill. One can suppose that it is profitable for the owners to re-open the mill in that they can receive some government funding and new loans. But at a regional and local level it is far from profitable. It is a threat to the development of tourism and to the production of environmentally sound products, for example, bottled water. It is a threat to the future.



In a word, the consequences of the BPPM operations are: extinction of Baikal's endemic species, change in water quality, degradation in people's quality of life (contaminated fish and water), health problems amongst local inhabitants, depletion of natural resources, decline in income for the local budget, economic crisis and social unrest – much greater than what happened in Baikalsk after the shut-down of the mill.



ECC: In your opinion, what is needed in order to solve the problem and to improve the situation?


MR: In order to overcome this problem a programme for closure of the mill, restoration of polluted areas and rehabilitation of the local inhabitants is required. There are local people who have ideas about what can be done there to create jobs – more than 100 business projects. Additional resources are needed at the regional level and conditions attractive to investors in tourism and environmentally sound activities should be created. There should be an international assessment of the mill's condition and that of the sludge ponds so as to design a suitable programme for the future. Different experts and NGOs should take part in such an assessment.



The problem of unemployment can be dealt with using local and regional resources and by creating the conditions for the development of small and medium businesses. The Employment Agency can give subsidies.  If suitable conditions for investment are set up and there are places where new projects can be developed (first and foremost the site where the mill now stands), then jobs will be created, even more than the mill can offer.



The establishment of a special zone for the development of tourism and recreation could help overcome the problems by stimulating the local economy. But it should be ensured that priority is given to local initiatives, so that this attractive area is not dominated by large Moscow companies. Rehabilitation of Baikalsk would be cheaper than building ice palaces in Sochi that won't work after the winter Olympics, because people don't skate in the tropics.



ECC: Ms. Rikhvanova, thank you very much for this interview.


Marina Rikhvanova received the Goldman Environment Prize in 2008 for her work with the Baikal Environmental Wave. Her greatest success has been a national campaign against the plans to build a petroleum pipeline through the Lake Baikal basin. Due to these efforts, in April 2006, then-President Vladimir Putin ordered the pipeline to be rerouted away from the lake’s watershed.



More information on the work of the Baikal Environmental Wave is available at http://baikalwave.blogspot.com/ and http://www.goldmanprize.org/2008/asia



For further news coverage on the topic, please see http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/07/91779/putin-about-face-on-paper-mill.html and http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5242634,00.html



The official statement (Russian language) of the Irkutsk Department of the Interior on the police operation concerning the Baikal Environmental Wave is available at http://guvd38.ru/?rubr=3&doc=1796 und http://guvd38.ru/?rubr=3&doc=1855

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, April 2010