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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Mill that polluted Lake Baikal closes |
| 2008-11-13 |
| I'm truly sorry about the job losses - the average After decades of campaigning, environmentalists in Russia are celebrating the closure of a notorious factory controlled by the billionaire Oleg Deripaska that pumped toxic waste into Lake Baikal. Since it was built more than four decades ago the Baikalsk paper and pulp mill has allegedly run off thousands of tonnes of dioxin and other harmful byproducts into the world's deepest lake. Generations of activists had seemed powerless to stop the pollution, but yesterday the mill announced it was halting production and laying off 1,400 workers. Pressure from activists forced the mill to transfer to a "closed-water" system in September, cutting waste discharge into the lake. A spokesman said that change had contributed to the closure because the factory could no longer produce bleached pulp, its most profitable export. The global economic crisis had also hit margins. Roman Vazhenkov, head of Greenpeace Russia's Now there's a pairing I wouldn't have expected Baikal programme, said the closure was a "historic moment". Lake Baikal - often called the Pearl of Siberia - is a Unesco world heritage site, which holds around 20% of the world's fresh water Engineers must seal a toxic pond under the factory which is leaking, but Baikal's self-cleaning ecosystem will help to save the lake. Billions of tiny crustaceans known as epishura constantly filter out algae and bacteria, cleansing the water. Wonder how many other lakes have this "self-cleaning" feature? And why don't we know about it? The mill's future will remain under review until February, but it is expected to stay closed permanently. |
| Posted by:Barbara Skolaut |
| #4 A rich one, John. >:-( |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-11-13 19:21 |
| #3 What type of moron pollutes 20% of the fresh water on earth? |
| Posted by: john frum 2008-11-13 18:50 |
| #2 Lake Baikal is a truly amazing place. I remember having a Russian boat captain take me and a buddy out in the middle of it, dip a cup in the water and hand the crystal-clear (and I mean *crystal* clear) water to me to drink. When we got back to shore, we got schnockered on vodka from a label-free bottle, after which he cursed the paper mill referenced below. Chalk one up for the good guys. |
| Posted by: Omeregum Johnson4532 2008-11-13 17:49 |
| #1 This is a good thing. Lake Baikal is truly a unique, fascinating, and important ecosystem, one that actually is deserving of preservation. Properly developed, there are probably tourism opportunities that could provide gainful employment for the displaced workers. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2008-11-13 16:24 |