9 Oct 2014
HELCOM reports substantial progress on hotspots in Russia
A new report released by the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission HELCOM on the Baltic Sea environmental hotspots in Russia suggests that substantial improvements have been achieved in four of the twelve major sources of pollution. HELCOM has also released new recommendations to help decrease persistent discharges.
The report has been released by HELCOM’s BASE project. Of the twelve remaining Russian sites identified in the Baltic Sea catchment area, the project report suggests that four could be removed from the list, as measures necessary to meet the requirements have been introduced.
“Among the former hot spots that have made the most progress is municipal sewage treatment in St Petersburg, which now treats more than 98% of urban wastewater”, says Dmitry Frank-Kamenetsky, Professional Secretary at HELCOM.
The city opened the state-of-the-art Southwest Wastewater Treatment Plant in 2005, and the Northern Tunnel Collector, closing up several hundred direct discharge points, in 2013. Under the auspices of the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership, NIB acted as lead bank to structure the international financing packages for both projects. The bank’s own loans for these projects to the city’s water utility Vodokanal of St Petersburg totalled EUR 70 million.
“In addition to the progress in St Petersburg, the environmental hazards from three pulp and paper producers in the Kaliningrad region have reduced significantly. At the same time, municipal wastewater treatment in Kaliningrad remains a serious concern”, Mr Frank-Kamenetsky continues.
Six other hotspots are either implementing improvements or planning them, the HELCOM study reveals, while two sites remain with lower levels of mitigation efforts. In 1992, when the first comprehensive Baltic Sea action programme began, HELCOM identified seventeen sources of pollution in Russia that affected the health of the marine environment in the Baltic Sea.
Nutrient load from the Neva and Pregolya rivers
The nutrient load to the Gulf of Finland totals 110,000 tonnes per year. The study carried out in summer 2014 confirms that about half comes from the River Neva. The new results also indicate that St Petersburg share of the pollution of the River Neva is less than 10%, and that more than three quarters of the nutrient load via the Neva to the Gulf of Finland originates from Lake Ladoga.
Pollution from agriculture is also showing positive signs. Livestock farming is an important sector in the economy of the Leningrad region. Large-scale commercial production and poor storage facilities for manure are exacerbating the problem of excessive harmful input to the Baltic Sea.
“We expect Russia will introduce technological regulations to reduce nutrient load, which would ultimately allow us to remove the region’s agricultural sector from HELCOM’s list of hotspots”, says Mr Frank-Kamenetsky.
The contribution of the Kaliningrad region to the nutrient input, excluding transboundary loads, is nearly 11,000 tonnes per year for both nitrogen and phosphorus. The data are available in the HELCOM Data and Map Service.
The study shows that the water of the River Pregolya in Kaliningrad contains substances included in HELCOM’s list of priority hazardous substances, such as nonylphenols, used in hygiene products. The river is also heavily polluted with oil around the Kaliningrad Port Oil Terminal, identified as a hotspot.
In its recommendations to the authorities in charge, HELCOM is suggesting new oil recovery wells be constructed to remove oil from water surface.
“We also recommend upgrading the physical, chemical and biological wastewater treatment processes of the oil terminal”, says Mr Frank-Kamenetsky.
“According to the project results, these measures would help eliminate 98% of the present oil discharges into the Pregolya.”
Other recommendations made by HELCOM on the basis of the latest studies address the extension of the protected zone between Lithuania and Russia, manure handling in the Kaliningrad region, supporting the survival of wild salmon in the River Luga in the Leningrad region, and research into pharmaceuticals in urban wastewater treatment.
HELCOM’s BASE project was implemented in 2012–2014 with the purpose of supporting the implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan in Russia. The project addressed three priority areas: eutrophication, hazardous substances, and biodiversity and nature protection.
HELCOM is an intergovernmental organisation of the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the European Union working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution and to ensure the safety of navigation in the region. Since 1974, HELCOM has been the governing body of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, more commonly known as the Helsinki Convention.
Read more:
Report on the status of HELCOM hotspots in Russia
Baltic Sea Action Plan. Selected recommendations