MURMANSK, April 3. /TASS/. The Clean Arctic environmental project plans to have several shifts of volunteers to clean up Cape Chelyuskin, to where the project's specialists came for the first time in 2024 to conduct one of the most difficult expeditions, the organization's CEO Andrey Nagibin told TASS.
Cape Chelyuskin is the northernmost mainland point of Eurasia, Asia and Russia, and the northernmost point of the continental landmass. The cape, located in the Taymyr Peninsula's north, is a most inaccessible continental cape. It is one of the places where the average annual temperature is negative.
"We really hope this year we will have several volunteer shifts to Cape Chelyuskin," the project's leader said. "During the past expedition, we made repairs there, so that we have a place where we can live and gather, thus slightly softening the unfriendly climate of the Russian mainland's northernmost point."
The harsh climatic conditions do not frighten off Clean Arctic volunteers, who are getting more numerous every year, he continued. Waste in remote Arctic territories is 200-liter barrels, heavy machinery and construction waste.
"We plan to cope with the task on Cape Chelyuskin, because, theoretically, those are construction waste, but, on the other hand, there are also houses that were built by Papanin, and they may be of a historical value, thus everything requires careful studies so that we could preserve the past for posterity. At times, we find rarities that are worth just leaving or bringing somewhere, or making an open-air museum," he said.
About Cape Chelyuskin and Clean Arctic
Ivan Papanin ran the Cape Chelyuskin polar station in 1934-1935. Back then, the station developed into the largest scientific base with an aerology station, a radio center, houses and a hospital. About 40,000 barrels of fuel and lubricants and a big amount of other waste still remain on Cape Chelyuskin.
The Clean Arctic project began in 2021. Captain of the 50 Let Pobedy nuclear-powered Arctic-class icebreaker Dmitry Lobusov, and Gennady Antokhin, Captain on FESCO’s ships from 1982 to 2012, are the project’s authors. Clean Arctic has developed into a platform uniting public and volunteer organizations, scientists, governors and businesses. Over four years, 7,700 people have participated in expeditions. They have collected 19,800 tons of waste and cleaned 791 hectares of Arctic land. The project's partners are Nornickel, Rosatom, PhosAgro and RZD.