The high-latitude integrated expedition "Clean Arctic - Vostok 77" has compiled a list of abandoned industrial facilities in the Arctic, the number of which has dropped three times compared to 2000, TASS reports.
The objects of the abandoned infrastructure of the XX century in the Russian Arctic are the legacy of the active development of the territory during the Soviet era. At that time, an extensive network of mines, processing plants, polar weather stations, radio relay stations, airfields, fuel and material storages were built and maintained. Over 12,000 of such facilities were mothballed or abandoned as unnecessary after the collapse of the USSR, and are not used today, as technologies have changed significantly.
"The Clean Arctic - Vostok - 77 expedition is working on the discovery and careful mapping of abandoned objects of the industrial heritage of the USSR. This work is carried out within the framework of a number of environmental programs and projects with state participation. Researchers collect data not only on the location of objects and the equipment and buildings contained on them, but also on the method of liquidation or additional conservation in order to exclude environmental damage," said Stanislav Lachininsky, Associate Professor of the Department of Economic and Social Geography of St. Petersburg State University, Candidate of Geographical Sciences.
The expedition collects data on objects by conducting surveys of the local population and analyzing maps from Arctic exploration times.
The future map should help in solving two tasks: establishing logistics routes for disposal of old equipment and remnants of pollutants for processing at the mainland, and finding out the history of abandoned facilities for the possibility of their further use.
The scientists divided all the discovered objects into two categories according to their geographical location - suitable for liquidation with the help of ships of the Northern Sea Route and in need of liquidation or conservation only by land roads.
Comparing the data of their modern research with the list of abandoned objects compiled by environmental journalists in 2000s, the expedition participants found out that two thirds of the infrastructure facilities abandoned after the collapse of the USSR have already been completely eliminated or have found new owners. In addition, the accumulated environmental damage from them is minimized.
"Only one in three of the sites that were abandoned in 2000 still requires attention today. And over 8,000 objects have already been taken under control over these years. This is mainly the merit of the state, which clearly adheres to its strategy of environmentally friendly use of the Arctic," Lachininsky stressed.
Alex Shishlo for Rough&Polished
