What is arguably the most controversial industrial plant in Russia stands in a typical Siberian birch grove on the shores of Lake Baikal, listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a World Heritage Site.
In a sparingly furnished conference room at the plant, the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill, plant director Vladimir Filippov theatrically raised a glass of water and declared, "The water that enters the lake from the factory is just as clean as this." Not so, say Russian ecologists. As they see it, the plant, situated at one of the most ecologically sensitive spots in the world, is "Russia's disgrace." The most voluminous freshwater lake on Earth, Baikal is also considered one of the cleanest.
According to Marina Rikhvanova, a biologist and leader of the Baikal Environmental Wave, an environmental group based in the nearby city of Irkutsk, wastewater from the mill is polluting Lake Baikal with chemical contaminants. "Eighty-eight per cent of the wastewater in the lake comes from this plant," she said, adding that the mill was already technologically backward when it first opened in the 1960s.
Taking up a longstanding demand of ecologists, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ordered the mill to switch to a closed water cycle by 2011. Rikhvanova was banned from an on-site visit of the heavily guarded mill. "No photographs!" enjoined a minder, who had been specially posted at the entrance for this purpose, by way of greeting the guests.
The air inside was hot and stifling. Condensed water dripped from the ceiling. Only a handful of workers were monitoring equipment in the hall where the cellulose is dried and then rolled onto large spools. Later the chief technician showed the guests the wastewater basin. But he did not allow a look at the early production stages, which use dangerous chemicals and the most manpower.
The plant was shut down in the fall of 2008 because it had violated environmental regulations, which generally are enforced rather laxly in Russia. Putin personally gave the order to resume production early this year, however. The mill's majority shareholder is Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska, one of the richest men in the country, who controls it through his diversified industrial group. Preserving the facility's some 1,600 jobs is more important to Putin than preserving the purity of the lake, UNESCO, among others, has criticised.
Confronted with critics' allegations that the mill is "harmful," "useless" and "ineffective," Filippov could only shake his head. "You've been misinformed," he said in a tone of utter conviction, insisting that authorities carefully supervised every stage of production. The mill's director since September, Filippov preferred to talk about his plans: to expand production by launching a second production line, to modernise the plant and to secure new sales markets. He estimated the costs at up to 500 million dollars.
The investments would help preserve rare jobs in the economically precarious region. Baikalsk is one of the many so-called "monotowns" on the territory of the former Soviet Union - virtually all of the town's jobs depend on the mill, and ecologists meet with open resistance there. Several years ago, police searched the offices of the Baikal Environmental Wave and seized computers they claimed were using pirated software.
Rikhvanova has suggested that Baikalsk residents be employed in ecotourism, which has sprung up in some places along the lake. Local officials apparently believe there is no alternative to the mill, however. Shutting it down would have drastic consequences, says the environment department of the Irkutsk region: "We'd need half of our budget to find these people work and homes."
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