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Enviro-cleanup at Franz Josefs Land started

1,000 barrels with waste-oil were taken to the Russian mainland this autumn, but 250,000 barrels remains on the Arctic Archipelago.

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Russia wants to clean up the environmental mess on its Arctic Islands and has allocated hundreds of millions of rubles for the work over the coming years. This autumn, a pilot-task force headed towards Franz Josefs Land where representatives of Roshydromet and the Polar Foundation examined the toxic waste situation.

The researchers had a press-conference in Arkhangelsk recently about the results of the expedition, reports, Arhperspectiva. The news agency writes that the 10 day expedition took place onboard the vessel Mikhail Somov from Arkhangelsk.

The expedition collected more than 1,000 barrels with old lube oil. The barrels were emptied for the oil, and then the still-partly-dirty barrels were burned and afterwards pressed and taken back to the mainland.

This autumns clean-up expedition was however just a tiny start of what will become a long lasting cleanup program for Franz Josef Land and other remote areas of Russia’s Arctic islands in the Barents Region, like Novaya Zemlya, Vaigash, Kolgoyev and others.

The Russian government has allocated 740 million rubles for next year and 2012 earmarked for cleanup on Franz Josef Land. In spring this year, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the islands and subsequently all Russian national media followed up with fascinating images of a Putin sitting beside an anaesthetized polar bear in the snow. Putin talked to the cameras about the need for Arctic environmental protection and cleanup of the old heritage from the days when huge Soviet military bases existed on Franz Josef Land.

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According to the Russian information and analytical portal Arctic universe, there are still some 250,000 barrels holding some 40 to 60,000 tons of oil products on the Archipelago. Also, some additional one million empty barrels are dumped near the now closed down bases.

Other kinds of waste include abounded aircrafts, rusty broken radar stations, different kind of Arctic vehicles and other leftover garbage.

Arctic universe says that about 100 hectares of soil are contaminated around the Severnaya Bay, one of several abounded bases on Franz Josef Land.

According to the press service of the governor of Arkhangelsk region, the Russian government will not end its funding to Arctic environmental cleanup after the 740 million rubles are spent by 2012. More funds will be allocated after 2012, reports Itar-Tass.

The Franz Josef Land
The Russian Archipelago of Franz Josef is part of Arkhangelsk region and represents the northernmost part of the Barents Region.

Cleanup of environmentally hazardous wastes and chemicals in the Russian Arctic is a high-profiled task for the Barents co-operation. Through its management of the Barents Hot Spot Facility focus, the Nordic Environmental Finance Corportation co-financed a Russian expedition that surveyed and assessed the hazardous chemicals and wastes in Franz Josef Land in 2007.

- We are extremely delighted that the Franz Josef Land clean-up project will be realised, and that the Russian government has reserved some funds for this crucial operation, which, we hope, will set a precedent for similar clean-up operations in the Russian Arctic region, says Henrik G Forsström, Senior Adviser at NEFCO