In his speech at the conference “the Arctic – Territory of Dialogue” last week, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said that Russia will remove the waste dumps in the Arctic built over the decades “near towns and villages, mineral fields, military bases, sea ports and airports, in the tundra, [and] on islands and in the waters of the Arctic Ocean”.
Now, the federal government confirms that the clear-up will be materialized with fresh funding. According to the government’s press service, a total of 740 million RUB will in 2012 be spent on clean up operations at the Franz Josef Land, Regnum reports.
The money will be spent on the removal of the about 250 thousand barrels of oil products, which pose a serious environmental threat to the local Arctic environment. In addition, about one million empty barrels, as well as old military equipment like cars, aircrafts, radar installations and more are left rusting in the area. The material all stems from the military base which in the Soviet period was based in the archipelago.
