YAKUTSK, July 28. /TASS/. A new federal project to rehabilitate Russia's Northern rivers under the Ecology National Project may solve the pollution problem of the Yenisei, Ob, Lena, Kolyma and other rivers in Siberia, Professor, Doctor of Economics, Director of the Center for Arctic Development's Economic Problems at the Lomonosov Moscow State University Sergey Nikonorov told TASS.
"There are two options for the Northern rivers rehabilitation - to increase the budget financing of the federal project Preservation of Unique Water Bodies under the Ecology National Project in order to address the environmental problems of the great Northern rivers of Russia, or to create a new federal project Rehabilitation of Russia's Northern Rivers under the national project," he said.
Of the Ecology National Project's ten federal projects, he continued, three projects refer directly to the water bodies of Russia. The largest funding has been for the project to rehabilitate the Volga River - more than 119 billion rubles ($1.3 billion). In terms of funding, it is followed by the Preservation of Lake Baikal project with allocated 47.5 billion rubles ($527 million), as of 2022. The Preservation of Unique Water Bodies federal project takes only the third line in that rating.
"Clearly, funding is not sufficient here. The federal project's implementation must result in better environment and in comfortable living conditions by improving the aquatic ecosystems. However, the federal budget has planned investments in the Preservation of Unique Water Bodies federal project at 13.3 billion rubles ($148 million)," the scientist noted.
Problems of Siberian rivers
According to the expert, Siberia's Ob River in 2018 topped the anti-rating, overtaking the Volga in the number of recorded extreme pollution cases. "In the Ob, there's almost the entire Mendeleyev table: compounds of copper, zinc and manganese, phenols, petroleum products, ammonium nitrogen. As for petroleum products, the worst situation is in the lower reaches: the allowable safe limits are exceeded by 9-10 times. In certain places, the river lacks oxygen: only 1.06 milligrams per liter (the minimum allowable limit is 4 milligrams per liter). In 2017, the Ob lost the drinking water value, due to the plants in Biysk, Barnaul, Novosibirsk, Nizhnevartovsk and Nefteyugansk: not all of them have got modern treatment facilities," he said.
The situation with the Yenisei is similar to that with the Ob. "Large enterprises do not always drain purified wastewater into the river, and the large population constantly uses water in everyday life. However, we know about far more terrible pollutants: on the river, 60 km from Krasnoyarsk, there is the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Plant, which until 1995 produced weapons-grade plutonium. The plant did not have dramatic accidents like Chernobyl or Fukushima, though there have been incidents where fuel rods began to melt. Some suggestions say back then cesium, strontium, plutonium and americium got into the Yenisei, as well as very rare europium, which is used in reactors control," the scientist added.
In the Kolyma, he continued, experts find high concentrations of iron, copper, manganese, as well as phenols, petroleum products and lead, and ammonium nitrogen. "In 2018 only, were reported 11 cases of polluted wastewater discharge. Gold miners are the main polluters on the Kolyma. In the Magadan Region, 44% of water is used in gold and silver production. The region's reported about 14 million cubic meters of discharged wastewater, most being officially reported as "insufficiently treated," he said.
The Lena is actually the main route for supplies to East Siberia residents and industries from the central part of Russia. For example, Yakutia's deposits rich in various minerals have been developed and are working mainly due to the equipment and trained personnel brought in from other regions, he told TASS.
"Due to the remote locations and underdeveloped road networks, at the initial stage of the region's development, the options were to use water transport, or heavy vehicles in winter when the ice got strong enough. Due to the active shipping and harsh climate, many vessels have sunk - about 300 vessels by now. To leave alone a huge number of various-tonnage cars that has fallen through the ice. Chemicals, fuel and lubricants either immediately spread out, increasing the concentration of harmful substances in the reservoir, or sink in containers to the bottom, and the tightness of those containers eventually will fail," the expert said.
Under a special program in Yakutia, sunken ships and their cargos are found and lifted from the region's rivers. "Another equally hazardous environmental problem of the Lena River is oil depots and the stock of fuels and lubricants, located on the river bank. They are used to accumulate essential resources for the region. The outdated warehouses and violations in emergency prevention actions lead to oil and fuel spills, especially in high water seasons. Small settlements and towns along the Lena also contribute to the river pollution by domestic and industrial effluents," the expert concluded.