Vladimir Putin: on Lake Baikal: Spare no expense
Addressing a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Geographical Society, Vladimir Putin spoke about the future of Lake Baikal and the town of Baikalsk.
The prime minister primarily dwelled on the problem of Baikal's environment. Two contradictory tasks need to be addressed: the preservation of the lake's unique natural ecosystem and of the jobs for the 14,000 inhabitants of Baikalsk. Vladimir Putin believes that it is necessary to discuss problems without undue breast-beating and the "sound and fury".
When one looks at the hard figures, the environmental challenges to the lake appear in a somewhat different light. The much-maligned Baikal Pulp and Paper Plant is not the only polluter of the lake. Other economic entities also make their contribution, but are seldom mentioned. Take, for example, agriculture: it is hard to calculate how many tons of chemicals used in local fields have been drained into the lake over decades.
As for the BPPP, the prime minister did not deny the existence of problems. However, the numbers speak for themselves. In terms of liquid waste, in 2008 BPPP discharged 27,400 tons, whereas the city of Ulan-Ude accounts for another 34,000, Irkutsk for 106,000, and the Gusinoozersky industrial hub for 442,000 tons. The Gusinoozersk water supply and drainage system alone discharged a staggering 348,000 tons.
Air pollution figures are just as poignant. BPPP's contribution is 4.3 tons, compared to 21.3 tons from the thermal power plant in Ulan-Ude, 28.5 tons from Severobaikalsk, and a putative 221,000 tons from Angarsk.
Finally, Vladimir Putin reminded that after the government shut down the paper plant, degradation set in. The BPPP is linked with transportation, logging, and other industries. Given the close interconnection of the industries, the social fabric soon began to crumble, affecting the region's entire population.
The prime minister also recalled that when the new oil pipeline to the Pacific was being laid, a difficult decision was made to shift the route 400 km away from the Baikal area.
"A lot of money was spent, and nothing was spared," Mr Putin said. "But we do not regret it."
The fate of Lake Baikal will be decided after more exploration and discussions involving environmental luminaries in the world scientific community, as well as a planned international conference on Lake Baikal. The prime minister said that he hopes the talks will be "calm and friendly."
By Igor Markov