Finland Times

 

File picture of Environment minister Ville Niinistö. Photo – Lehtikuva.

Three sources of environmental pollution were excluded from the environmental “hot spots” list on Wednesday at the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) meeting of ministers, held in Inari in Finland, said an official press release.

 

The Arkhangelsk Heat and Power Plant and Kondopoga Pulp and Paper Mill have reduced their emissions remarkably. A system to handle mercury-containing wastes was established in Nenets Autonomous District.

 

In 2003, the Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO) together with the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) defined a list of hot spots.

 

Hot spots are polluted environmental sites that pose health risks to those who live near them, either because of direct impacts or the potential to pollute drinking water or other parts of the food chain.

 

The 2003 report pointed out that absence of a system for handling mercury-containing waste was a serious problem in Nenets Autonomous District. Nenets now has a collection and treatment system for wasted luminescent lamps.

 

The Arkhangelsk Heat and Power Plant has invested nearly RUB 470m in converting the fuel source from oil to natural gas. As a result, especially the emissions of acidifying sulphur dioxide and oil ash have decreased remarkably and the plant complies with the maximum allowed pollution levels defined by the Russian authorities.

 

Earlier, almost 45% of the air pollutants of the city of Arkhangelsk originated from the heat and power plant.

 

A shift from fuel oil and coal to natural gas at the Kondopoga pulp and paper combined mill in the Republic of Karelia has resulted in significant reductions of sulphur dioxide and coal ash emissions.

 

Investments worth over RUB 4,000m have brought the plant into compliance with the maximum allowed pollution levels defined by the Russian authorities.

 

All the improvements at these three hot spots have been made by the companies’ own funds or with local budgets.

 

In 2003, the Barents Euro-Arctic Council foreign and environment ministers set a target of launching environmental measures at all of the hot spots within 10 years.

 

The BEAC Working Group on Environment published an assessment report describing the current state of hot spots at the meeting.

 

According to the report, certain measures aimed at solving environmental problems have been launched at all the 42 hot spots, though not all environmental problems have been solved yet.

 

A total of three hot spots that featured the 2003 list, have so far been excluded. The report confirms that measures aimed at solving environmental problems have been launched at all the 42 spots.

 

The measures were and are different by character – from elaboration of management plans to modernisation of industry or elimination of waste.

 

The stage of implementation varies – from launched to completed improvements. Additionally, the investments made and needed differ in size of target area and invironmental effect.

 

During the last years, significant environmental improvements have been achieved at several hot spots. Completed and ongoing activities include environmental modernisation in the pulp and paper sector and in municipal wastewater treatment in some major towns.

 

There are also towns where the heating systems have been converted from fuel oil or coal to natural gas.

 

The first steps in addressing waste management in a comprehensive manner have been taken in many regions and, in many places, people's exposure to hazardous substances such as mercury, obsolete pesticides and dioxins has been reduced.

 

“However, a lot of work still remains to be done and investments will be needed at many hot spots before the environmental problems are solved. Special attention and further international cooperation are needed to reduce trans-border impacts to a level that does not harm human health and environment,” said Ville Niinistö, Finland's minister of environment.

 

Akvaplan-niva AS of Norway, and the System Development Agency of Russia, prepared the assessment report under NEFCO’s financing.