MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/. The first group of the Clean Arctic public environmental project's volunteers flew to Cape Chelyuskin - Eurasia's northernmost continental point. They will set up the ArcTek center, which will be the base for two large-scale expeditions during the current season, the project's press service said.

"The volunteers are facing a challenging task - they need to get our volunteer center up and running. In just a few days, a group of Moscow school students on the Great Arctic Expedition, organized by the Moscow Department of Education, will come to [Cape] Chelyuskin. Over this time, the volunteers need to start the diesel engine, wastewater treatment facilities, and make sure heating reaches the buildings," the press service quoted the Clean Arctic project's leader Andrey Nagibin as saying.

On Thursday, the first group of the Great Arctic Expedition, led by well-known polar explorer Matvey Shparo, will arrive there. The team is 14 students from Moscow's schools and colleges who have passed a rigorous competition that included a motivational video, an Arctic dictation, tourist challenges, and a scientific project presentation. Over the selection process, more than 10,000 Moscow students came to learn more about the Arctic.

"This year, we have formed up two teams. The 'Arctic Explorers,' led by scientists, will study the Taimyr Peninsula's ecosystem: they will collect soil, lichen, and water samples for the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Oceanology. The 'History Keepers' will restore a memorial to polar pilots and first winterers at the joint hydrometeorology station. The students will have to travel more than 100 kilometers across difficult terrain to reach Cape Chelyuskin," polar explorer Matvey Shparo said.

On August 15, a second expedition, featuring the Clean Arctic project's volunteers, will head for Cape Chelyuskin. The expedition is supported by a grant from the Presidential Nature Foundation. Together with members of the Great Arctic Expedition, they will clean up Cape Chelyuskin removing accumulated environmental damage. Dozens of thousands of rusty fuel and lubricant barrels, abandoned equipment, and construction debris have got accumulated on the cape since the 1930s. Environmental volunteers have been systematically cleaning the area for three years now.

About the project

The Clean Arctic Public Environmental Project has been cleaning the northern territories since 2021. Waste removal is a complex technological work, where the movement teams work carefully minding the Arctic nature. Over all seasons, the project's almost 10,000 volunteers have collected 22,000 tons of waste and cleaned 1,100 hectares of land. The project's general partner is the Rosatom State Corporation, and TASS is the general information partner.