National Academies Press: OpenBook

The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop (2001)

Chapter: 15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin

« Previous: 14 Problems of Waste Management in the Moscow Region
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×

EMISSIONS OF POLLUTANTS INTO THE ATMOSPHERE AND HYDROSPHERE OF THE KUZNETSK COAL BASIN

G.I.Gritsko

Kemerovo Scientific Center

The Kuznetsk coal basin (Kuzbass) is located largely on the left bank of the Tom River, the most urbanized part of Kemerovo Oblast. The main industries in this part of the Kuzbass territory are ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy, power engineering, machine building, construction, and chemical enterprises. Therefore, the general ecological condition of the Kuznetsk coal basin is determined not by the coal industry alone, with restructuring calling for liquidation of 35 coal mines by flooding, but also by other industries.

Given the geographical variance in environmental conditions and industrial impacts, several ecological-geographic districts can be distinguished. These are first of all the territories that have undergone the most intense industry-induced impacts: destruction and degradation of soil cover, disturbance of hydrogeologic conditions, pollution of surface and subsurface waters, atmospheric pollution from industrial emissions, and degradation of natural flora and fauna. These territories are in the Kemerovo and South Kuzbass ecological-geographic districts. Boundaries of the maximum industry-induced pressure on the biosphere coincide with the boundaries of these districts. This pressure is present in about 30 percent of the territory within the limits of Kemerovo Oblast, where about 70 percent of the population lives and practically the entire coal industry of the Kuzbass is concentrated. The second group of districts (about 40 percent of the territory, 20–25 percent of the population) is subjected to a rather heavy industry-induced load from enterprises and from pollutant transport from adjacent territories, but the abundance of forests stabilizes to a large measure the ecological environment. And, finally, the third group of ecological-geographic districts (about 30 percent of the regional territory with 5–10 percent of the population) may be regarded as ecologically satisfactory.

Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×

The atmospheric condition is an important ecological characteristic of the region. Air pollution still remains one of the most pressing ecological problems because the bulk of people live in districts where pollutant concentrations are often in excess of maximum permissible levels. The most polluted cities are Kemerovo and Novokuznetsk.

Air pollution in Kemerovo Oblast results from an extremely high concentration of various industries. Of 1,472 enterprises with pollutant emissions under the control of Goskomekologiya (State Committee on Ecology) of Kemerovo Oblast, the following are located on a small territory of 95,700 square kilometers: 21 enterprises of ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy, 126 coal-mining and coal-processing enterprises, 18 thermal-power engineering facilities, 10 chemical enterprises, 83 machine-building and metal-working plants, 184 construction-industry enterprises, and 308 enterprises of rail and motor transport and road services, as well as agricultural, food, light industry, and furniture enterprises and numerous steam heating plants.

The total pollutant emissions into the atmosphere in the populated areas of the region in 1999, including stationary and mobile (motor, rail, and air transport) sources, were 1,358,573 tons, including solid substances-235,899, sulfur dioxide-138,875, carbon dioxide-610,018, nitrogen oxides-143,282, hydrocarbons-211,916, other gases-18,486. Most of the total emissions are from pollutants from combustion of various fuels.

Emissions from mobile sources are 260,032 tons (19.14 percent), including the following: motor transport-239,595 tons, railroad transport-19,867 tons, and air transport-570 tons. The majority of emissions from mobile sources are exhaust emissions from motor transport amounting to 92.14 percent. The motor transport contribution to pollution is 19.14 percent in the region as a whole, while it is much higher in some towns, such as Anzhero-Sudzhensk-38.4 percent, Mezhdurechensk-40.1 percent, Kemerovo-44.1 percent. The exhaust emissions from motor transport have increased by 6.0 percent (or by 14,479 tons) as compared with 1998.

The stationary sources accounted for 1,098,541 tons of pollutants emitted into the atmosphere (the emission limit being 1,127,547 tons). Incomplete data indicate that around 200 substances enter the atmosphere. The majority are highly toxic and carcinogenic (3,4-benz(a)pyrene, various metal and silicon compounds, cyanides, fluorides, and a broad spectrum of hydrocarbons, including volatile organic compounds that enter into photochemical reactions in the atmosphere to produce ozone and other oxidants).

Enterprises of the following sectors are the main contributors to air pollution: metallurgy-421,706 tons, power engineering-206,170 tons, fuel-233,459 tons, chemical industry-5,209 tons, and other sectors-231,708 tons. The volume of recorded emissions into the atmosphere in comparison with 1998 has increased as follows: in the fuel industry-by 60,275 tons due to the more accurate accounting of methane emission sources; in electric power

Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×

engineering-by 6,911 tons due to increased amount of burned fuel; in the chemical industry-by 1,952 tons due to a production increase; in metallurgy-by 29,346 tons due to a production increase. In 1999, 80 new enterprises were registered, while 115 enterprises were either liquidated or merged. The increase of emissions into the atmosphere throughout the region has totaled 98,309 tons.

During the last five years (1995–1999), pollutant emissions from stationary sources have decreased by 7,004 tons, or by 6 percent, as a result of recession in the main sectors of the economy. Four million tons (79.4 percent) of pollutants were removed at the enterprises of the region in 1999. The highest level of removal was in the power engineering (92.3 percent) and chemical (87.4 percent) industries. A low level of pollutant removal was in housing-communal services-33.9 percent, at transport and road-service enterprises-30.5 percent, at trading enterprises-24.4 percent, and in public health services-6.6 percent. Noxious substances from the communication, educational, material, and technical supply enterprises go to the atmosphere without cleaning. The greatest volume of emissions is registered in the towns of Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, Belovo, Leninsk-Kuznetsky, Myski, Prokopyevsk, Kiselevsk, Kaltan, and Mezhdurechensk.

A great number of industrial enterprises are situated near residential districts. Recurrent weather conditions unfavorable for dissipation of emissions cause the high level of air pollution. This is confirmed by observations at the hydrometeorology and environment monitoring centers located in Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk, and Prokopyevsk. The pollution level in Kemerovo and Novokuznetsk, according to a generalized index developed by Rosgidromet (Russian Hydrometeorological Service), is estimated to be high.

Pollutant emissions into the city atmosphere in 1999, including stationary and mobile (motor, railroad, and air transport) sources, amounted to 117,777 tons.

The main contributors to emissions from stationary sources are the enterprises of: power engineering-71.26 percent, ferrous metallurgy-7.15 percent, chemical processing-7.65 percent, housing-communal services-4.06 percent, and fuel industry-3.69 percent.

Pollutants removed at city enterprises amount to 588,245 tons, which comprise 90 percent. The level of removal is the highest in the power engineering industry-91.7 percent, in chemical industry-87.7 percent. It is low at the enterprises of housing-communal services-29.1 percent, machine building and metal plants-26.6 percent, transport and road services-4.3 percent. Emissions from trading and from material and technical supply enterprises go to the atmosphere without cleaning.

As compared to 1998, emissions from stationary sources have increased by 2,004 tons due to the production increase at city enterprises (Azot, Khimprom, Kemerovo State Regional Power Plant). Statistical accounts have been

Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×

submitted by 140 enterprises for which MPE (maximum permissible emission) standards are established.

In Kemerovo, regular observations of air pollution are performed using a network of eight stationary points of the state hydrometeorology and environmental monitoring committee.

Staff members of the Kemerovo scientific center have carried out work on the ecological zoning of the city territory based on investigations of sulfur accumulation by leaves of plants. Based on inventory data and the distribution of weather conditions (wind velocity, wind direction, and atmosphere stability), the average annual near-ground concentrations of the sum of sulfur-containing impurities have been calculated.

Industrial processes associated with coal mining are sources of man-induced impacts on the environment. These sources are power plants, coal transportation, storage and loading, degassing and ventilating, burning spoil banks, maintenance-technological services, and motor transport. All possible sources of emissions and an assessment of their impact on the atmospheric pollution should be described in the design of a newly opened mine.

Mine methane at operating enterprises goes to the atmosphere mainly from degassing and ventilating units. According to the presently accepted documents, methane is one of the least harmful pollutants (maximum permissible concentration=50 milligrams per cubic meter). Today, the payment for one ton of methane emission is approximately 1,000 times less than for one ton of sulfurous anhydride. Therefore, the economic and administrative sanctions on methane emissions on the part of Russian territorial nature-preservation authorities are quite insignificant. However, the worldwide tendencies of recent years toward the limitation of greenhouse gases lead to greater attention to methane emissions. It is not unlikely, therefore, that the standards of payment for atmospheric pollution with methane will significantly increase in the near future, which, in view of the large emissions of this gas in the Kuzbass coal mines, may result in a substantial increase of nature-preservation payments and in a decrease of coal mining profitability.

A generalization of inventory data on the sources of harmful substance emissions into the atmosphere at the Kuzbass mines provides the ranges of total emissions per mine. Under the most unfavorable conditions, the payment of fines for methane emissions into the atmosphere does not exceed 6,450 rubles per year.

A review of inventory data also shows that at Kuzbass mines, ventilation unit emissions at a height of 5–6 meters typically have a relatively high vertical velocity of gas-air mixture discharge (8–19 meters/second). This condition substantially increases the effective flare height and leads to a decrease in the near-ground concentrations at short distances from the source. With the indicated source parameters and the emissions at the upper boundary level, the maximum near-ground concentration is achieved at wind velocities of 3–5

Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×

meters/second at a distance of 50–300 meters and may be equal to 3–4 MPC (maximum permissible concentration).

When a coal-mining enterprise closes, most sources providing loads on the atmosphere disappear. At the same time, state environmental control over the sources of pollutant emissions is terminated. But this does not mean that the closed mine completely ceases its negative influence on the atmosphere. Products of incomplete burning of spontaneously ignited coals and of mine equipment in the fire zone may be emitted. Spreading of dust from poorly controlled spoil banks also persists.

As to methane, after a mine is closed its ventilation ceases, and emissions of methane-air mixture are significantly reduced. But, as pumping of water also ceases, the water table rises, with the result that pressure in the mine grows and methane begins to escape to the surface and into the atmosphere.

The rivers of the Kuzbass are polluted with waste waters disposed from numerous enterprises of different branches of industry. The quality of water bodies continues to be below standard specifications. The most widespread pollutants of surface waters in the region are petroleum products, phenols, metal compounds, ammonium, and nitrites. The principal source is waste waters of industrial enterprises and housing-communal services.

Four main water basins are in the region: the Tom, Inya, Chulym, and Chumysh Rivers basins. More than 32,000 rivers with a combined length exceeding 76,478 kilometers flow over the territory.

Depending on local characteristics and relief, the rivers of the region are subdivided into plain- and mountain-type rivers. All of the rivers flowing over the territory of the region link to the Ob River basin and are tributaries of its upper reaches.

The main reasons for the increase in water consumption were an increase in output at some enterprises (West-Siberian Metallurgical Complex and Kuznetsk Metallurgical Complex in Novokuznetsk, Azot and Khimprom in Kemerovo, Yurga Machine-building Plant in Yurga) and an increased use of water at coal-mining enterprises.

The shrinkage of the irrigated land areas and the reduction of livestock populations have resulted in a decrease of water consumption for irrigation and agricultural needs.

Rivers of the Tom basin, where the main industrial potential of the Kuzbass is concentrated, are the most used and most subject to industry-induced impacts. According to the pH value, the Tom’s waters are usually neutral or weakly alkaline. The contents of biogenic substances (Si, Fe, and compounds of N and P) show enhanced amounts of iron and ammonium ions, occasionally also of NO2. The concentrations of trace elements vary over quite a wide range, but the average level of their contents is not high. An examination of data has shown that the Tom’s waters are polluted most with organic substances, with enhanced concentrations of petroleum products and phenols being most often registered

Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×

throughout the length of the river. Identified in the Tom’s waters (in the framework of experimental investigations) is an extensive list of various organic substances falling into the following classes of compounds: saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons (including those of petroleum origin), alkyl phenols, fatty organic acids and their ethers, alcohols, organic phosphates, and chlorine-organic compounds. Thus, based on the results of investigations in 1990–1993 along the Tom River on the Kuzbass territory, the three most heavily polluted areas have been delineated: in the zones of influence of Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, and Yurga. Among the most characteristic pollutants in surface waters of the Tom River, for which values exceeding MPC have been continuously or occasionally registered, are suspended solids, ammonium nitrate, heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Ni, Fe, Mn, Cr, Cd), petroleum products, highly volatile phenols, and other organic substances of different classes of hazard. The mode of distribution of hydrocarbons suggests their man-induced origin. The presence of SAH (surface-active hydrocarbons) in nanogram quantities of lighter aromatic hydrocarbons (naphthalene and its derivatives anthracene, fluorene, fluorenthene, and pyrene) suggests that the enhanced concentrations of SAH in the Tom River are caused by the discharge of mine and subsurface waters contacting with coal rocks enriched in these compounds.

The Inya River basin is second in importance and ecological loading. Sixteen million cubic meters of water were taken from water bodies of the basin in 1999, mainly for the needs of production (10 million cubic meters). Discharged into the basin’s surface water bodies were 116 million cubic meters of waste waters from the towns of Belovo, Leninsk-Kuznetsky, and Guryevsk and from the Promyshlennov, Leninsk-Kuznetsky, Guryevsk, and Belovo districts. Of 115 million cubic meters of waste waters needing purification, 104 million cubic meters (89.8 percent) have been treated, of which .01 million cubic meters have been purified to meet specified standards. Together with waste waters, 125,000 tons of pollutants are discharged into the rivers of the basin, including 249 tons of toxics and 20,562 tons of pollutants with reduced toxicity.

The source of the Inya River is located on the Taradanov ridge. The Inya is the right tributary of the Ob and flows through industrial and agricultural areas in the central part of Kemerovo Oblast. The river is 663 kilometers long, extending for 433 kilometers over the Kemerovo Oblast territory. The drainage basin area is 17,600 square kilometers. Within the region, the river is regulated by means of the Belovo Reservoir.

The Inya is polluted mainly with waste waters from coal-mining enterprises and communal services, which is reflected in the chemical composition of water. A total of 66 million cubic meters of waste waters have been discharged into the river, including 3,800 cubic meters without treatment. Together with waste waters, 81,000 tons of pollutants have been discharged. The main pollutants of the Inya River and its tributaries are petroleum products, phenols, nitrogen-

Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×

containing substances, and ions of heavy metals. Phenol pollution of the river averages 6–9 MPC. The one-time maximum concentration was registered in 1999:18 MPC in the summer low-water period. Average concentrations of petroleum products varied within a 3–6 MPC range. While the concentrations of petroleum products in the monitored section downstream from Leninsk-Kuznetsky remain within a 4.5–5.5 MPC range, in the section upstream from the town a decrease from 6 MPC in 1997 to 3 MPC in 1999 has been registered. In 1999, as compared with two previous years, the average concentrations of ammonium nitrates and nitrites decreased both upstream and downstream from the town. Pollution of the Inya with organic substances, as judged from BOD5 (biochemical oxygen demand) and COD (chemical oxygen demand) indicators, is stable within a 1.5–2 MPC range, while average concentrations of total iron and zinc increased a little in 1999 (to 1–1.5 MPC) as compared with two previous years (0.5–1.0 MPC).

The Chulym River basin includes the Yaya River and its tributaries, the Kiya and its tributaries, the Itatka, and others. About 33 million cubic meters of water were taken from water bodies of the basin in 1999, mainly for the needs of production. Discharged into the surface water bodies of the basin were 61 million cubic meters. Of 55 million cubic meters of waste waters requiring purification, 49 million cubic meters (81.3 percent) were treated. Twelve million cubic meters (19.7 percent) were treated in accord with specified standards. Together with waste waters, 28,000 tons of pollutants were discharged into the rivers of the basin, including 87 tons of toxic substances and 4,400 tons of toxic sewage wastes.

The Chumysh River basin includes the Chumysh and its tributaries: Kara-Chumysh, Yegos, and others. Some 95 million cubic meters of water were taken from bodies of water in the basin, largely for the needs of production. Discharged into the rivers of the basin are waste waters from enterprises of Novokuznetsk Region and Prokopyevsk. A total of 23 million cubic meters of waste waters were discharged, including nine million cubic meters (40 percent) without treatment. Together with waste waters, 9,050 tons of pollutants were discharged, of which 21 tons were toxic and 1,600 tons were toxic sewage wastes.

Mining exerts an adverse effect on the water regime of Kemerovo Oblast. Dehydration of mining areas occurs and cones of depression form, with sizes depending on the geologic and hydrogeologic conditions and on the length of the mining period. An area of depression cones in the Kuzbass exceeds two thousand square kilometers.

The effect of mining on the river discharge is reflected in a decrease in the subsurface water discharge into the river due to drainage pumping in mines or quarries, by an increase in the river sedimentation caused by the same factors, and by a decrease in the subsurface water reserves. The daily flow from Kuzbass mines and open pits exceeds one million cubic meters. Drainage of deposits

Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×

results in a decrease of water reserves in surface water bodies, drying up of wells and water supply wells, and exhausting of springs, streams, and small rivers. In the zone of mining, more than 200 rivers have disappeared or diminished, and a general degradation of the territories continues, which results in the destruction of habitat conditions and degradation of vegetation.

The coal industry is the second in importance for pollution of Kuzbass water bodies after power engineering, which discharges into the rivers 58.9 percent (1,515 million cubic meters/year) of untreated waters. The coal industry accounts for 14.6 percent (384 million cubic meters/year) of untreated waters. Coal enterprises discharge 34.4 percent of all suspended solids and 10 percent of petroleum products. Mines, per unit of output, discharge into water bodies 3.6 times more suspended solids, 5.2 times more chlorides, 2.6 times more easily oxidized organic substances, and 3.72 times more petroleum products than open pits. Suspended substances are the main pollutant of mine waters. Waste waters of some mines contain phenol, which forms as a result of pyrogenic decomposition of coal. Mine waters show strong bacterial pollution.

Closure of coal mines by means of flooding will lead to the contraction of their depression cones and to a change in the discharge directions of mine-polluted subsurface waters. The result may be that the subsurface waters previously discharged into mines will begin to discharge into surface water streams with pollutants from dumping grounds of various waste products (including dangerous chemical waste). The influence of waste waters on the surface water quality can be observed near the following mines: Pionerka-the Big Bachat River, Bungurskaya-the Bungurska River, Dimitrova-the Aba River, Shevyakov-the Olzheras River, Shushtalepskaya-the Kondoma River, Baidaevskaya-the Garshina River, Vakhrushev-the Aba River. An analysis of mine waters after they have passed treatment plants shows that the majority of solids analyzed exceed MPC. Thus, suspended substances in all of the mines analyzed exceed MPC from 2 to 34 times, BOD from 1.6 to 20.8 times, ammonia from 1.3 to 18 times, and so on. The discharges of waste waters from mines being closed have resulted in an increase of MPC in surface waters by a factor of 2 to 7 for a number of components.

The subsurface waters of the Kuzbass are of the infiltration type, with reserves formed due to atmospheric precipitation. The infiltration in the upper part of the geologic section varies, according to G.M.Rogov, from 200 mm (25 percent of precipitation) in the mountain-taiga zone to 85 mm (14 percent) in the low-mountain-taiga zone and to 35 mm per year (7–8 percent of precipitation) in the steppe zone.

According to Zapsibgeologiya (West-Siberian Production-Geological Association), traces of industry-induced pollution of subsurface waters have been recognized west of Myski and in the vicinity of Novokuznetsk. Pollution by a number of components (phenols, formaldehyde, COD, BOD) ranges up to 150 MPC. Much of the explored reserves in the Myski and Kiyzak areas are not

Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×

exploited now because of the pollution with waste saline waters from a district steam heating plant over an area of four sq. km. and the liquidation of reservoir gravel by the Kiyzak building material quarry. On the territories of large livestock complexes and poultry plants the contamination of soil has resulted in the pollution of subsurface waters with nitrogen compounds and heavy metals. In some cases the subsurface waters under farming lands were found to have enhanced contents of pesticides (Kemerovo Region), nitrates-from 2 to 30 MPC (swine-breeding complexes in Chistogor and Tal), and organic compounds-phenols up to 3000 MPC (Kemerovo: Azot, Tokem).

Observations of the subsurface water regime under natural conditions conducted for many years show that the mode of ground and subsurface water table fluctuations depends most of all on the amount of precipitation and on the regime type. The wells under the riverside and terrace regime conditions clearly show a spring and autumn rise of the water table and its smooth recession in the course of winter. The minimum levels of summer-autumn low-water periods differ from those of winter low-water periods in both directions, but are most often lower or close to them. The annual amplitude of water table fluctuations varies from 0.2 to 4 meters. Only the spring water table rise is registered (lagging in time, as a rule, in comparison with the riverside regime) followed by a smooth recession. Minimal levels in the summer-autumn low-water period are close to those in the winter low-water period. Annual amplitudes are insignificant, rarely exceeding one meter.

The effect of the coal-mining complex on the hydrosphere causes a change of water regime of the territory—pollution of ground and waste waters with products of physical and chemical weathering of subsurface rocks. In every case, the zone of mining and the territories adjacent to it are drained by means of tunnels, pumping, and disposal of subsurface waters into the hydrological network beyond the mining area. The natural regime of subsurface waters becomes disturbed and their reserves diminish. In the process of both subsurface and open-pit mining, the lowering of the ground water table forms a cone of depression whose size depends on the geologic and hydrogeologic conditions of the mining area and on the duration of mining.

One of the most adverse aspects of mine flooding is the possibility of polluting the subsurface waters, which are a source of drinking water. This will necessitate an urgent solution of the water supply problem for the populations of Novokuznetsk, Belovo, Kemerovo, and Anzhero-Sudzhensk.

Pollution of mine waters with metals is registered for zinc (up to 14 times background levels), copper (up to 270 times), lead (up to two times), manganese (up to 325 times), molybdenum (up to four times), arsenic (up to 100 times), vanadium (up to five times), fluorine (up to 5.9 times), and aluminum (up to 2.3 times).

As is evident from an analysis of mine water pollution dynamics, the contents of nitrogen group compounds and petroleum products increase in

Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×

spring, summer, and autumn and sharply decrease in the winter period. This means that an important role in the pollution of mine waters with these substances, particularly when water levels are extremely high, is played by snow-melt and storm waters bringing to the mines pollutants from petroleum products and household refuse accumulated on the territory allocated for mining. To help solve the large-scale problems of natural resource monitoring and environment protection in Kemerovo Oblast, an integrated information system based on the use of geoinformation technologies has been developed. Ecological Atlas of Kemerovo Oblast (ATLAS) is designed for the collection and storage of graphical and semantic information on the state of the environment and natural resources in Kemerovo Oblast, as well as for processing this information. The system provides support for the solution of a wide range of problems concerning monitoring, accounting, planning, distribution, and financial regulation in the field of natural resources usage and payment for environment disturbances and pollution. Besides, ATLAS can be used in higher and post-graduate ecological education. The system based on GIS-technologies is used as follows:

  • To form electronic maps of localities using a base of graphic layers with a summary map of all semantic descriptions of objects available in each layer.

  • To establish relationships between individual objects with semantic information stored in databases of the dBASE and PARADOX format.

  • To create and/or attach cartographic-mathematical models of technical-natural phenomena with the visualization and saving of their results in a separate graphic base layer.

  • To process and edit semantic and graphical data (in compliance with information security).

  • To form, browse, and print out normative-reference information.

The aggravation of the ecological situation in Kemerovo Oblast in recent years is connected not only with the activation of production in heavy industry sectors, but also with the lack of ecological culture among the great majority of managers of all levels.

At present, 12 public ecological organizations work in the Kuzbass. Among the most active of them are the following: Kemerovo Department of the All-Russian Society for Nature Preservation, Information Ecological Agency, Ecological Parliament of Children and Young People, Kemerovo Regional Society Social Health, Kemerovo Regional Department of the Russian National Organization Green Cross, and Ecological Movement Kuzbass. Scientists of the Kemerovo Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences take an active part in the work of the majority of these organizations. The principal lines of activity of public ecological organizations are the following:

Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
  • Publication of Information Ecological Bulletin

  • Ecological audit and consulting

  • Public ecological expert examination

  • Informational support and service in the environmental field

The regional Ecological Parliament of Children and Young People has adopted its own ecological code for children and young people in February 2000 on the basis of the recommendations of the UN Conference on the Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, 1992). Its fundamental principles are as follows:

  • Destruction of the environment is a consequence of the destruction of personality, of a person’s inner life, of his values.

  • There is but one step from ecological ignorance to a crime against humanity.

  • We have no right to enrich ourselves at the expense of nature; we must live in harmony with it.

  • To preserve man as a species, we should preserve the natural environment; in order to preserve the environment, man should change himself, his attitude to it.

The Ecological Parliament of Children and Young people has concluded an agreement on cooperation to participate in the solution of regionally significant ecological problems with the Kemerovo Oblast administration in an effort to strengthen the interaction between the authorities and the ecological movement

The Information Ecological Agency (IEA) may now be called a professional public organization. The agency collects and systematizes ecological information with special attention to regional ecological problems. The main emphasis is on involving the general public in the process of significant decisions and regulations in the field of environmental protection in the Kuzbass.

Information Ecological Bulletin is a monthly 24-page monthly publication with a circulation of 950 copies. The bulletin is intended for specialists, industry personnel, teachers, and representatives of public organizations. It covers the following issues: regional problems, projects, and public actions in the field of environment; ecological legislation, ecological audit, and ecological management; the environment, public health conditions, and the ecological rights of citizens; technologies in the field of environment; and ecological education.

The IEA provides services for ecological audits, environmental impact assessments, ecological substantiation of business activity, valuation of maximum permissible pollutant emissions, waste disposition, permissible levels of environmental impact, and confirmation of limits on the use of natural

Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×

resources. The IEA has appropriate licenses for all of the above-listed types of activity.

To realize these activities, the Agency forms temporary groups of specialists in different fields from IEA members. Since February 1998, the IEA has been affiliated with the Russian Network of Regional Centers of public ecological expertise in the context of a program realized by the Moscow public organization Ecoline and supported by the Institute for Sustainable Communities (USA). The Agency supports development of information and exchange of information.

The scientists of the Kemerovo Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences take an active part in the popularization of ecological knowledge and of the problems of stable regional development by publishing popular scientific papers in the mass media and in the Information Ecological Bulletin. They participate in expert appraisals of regional legislative acts aimed at nature preservation and of regionally significant business projects.

Currently special attention is paid to the problems of ecological education and training. An analysis of the present situation shows an absence of multilevel ecological education as a system. The number of ecological schools in the region is far from sufficient. This is connected with the absence of ecological education programs, the lack of personnel, the complexity of curricula, and the lack of textbooks and training aids.

In schools of the region (mainly in the innovative educational institutions), attention is given to the scientific-research work of students in ecology. Their work is presented at scientific conferences, in the ecology sections. The Kuznetsk department of the Geographical Society together with the tourist station of Novokuznetsk has organized training on practical ecology for groups of students. Students become acquainted with methods for the observation and study of birds, with determination of water quality, and with the world of plants. They carry out ecological games and walking tours.

Additional ecological-biological education in Kemerovo Oblast involves the regional station of young naturalists as a coordination center of uninterrupted ecological education and ecological culture formation among pre-school children and among elementary and middle school students.

There are 15 scientific associations of pupils and students in the region established on the basis of young naturalist stations, ecological-biological centers, and children’s and young people’s centers. They include “Genetics of Animals,” “Ecology of Plants,” and “Biochemistry and Cytology” in Novokuznetsk; “Microbiology,” “Young Forester,” and “Fauna” in Kemerovo; and “Young Ecologist and Biologist” in Anzhero-Sudzhensk, and Myski.

Stations of young naturalists in Mezhdurechensk, Novokuznetsk, Anzhero-Sudzhensk, Topki, Kiselevsk, Prokopyevsk, Kemerovo, Yurga, and other towns, together with schools, are engaged in an integrated study of the ecological conditions of their towns, in the examination of large and small rivers, and in the

Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×

investigation of flora and fauna of their native land. Various methods used in this study include ecological monitoring; bioindication of water bodies and air basins; and hydrobiological, zoological, and botanical investigations.

It has become a tradition that the regional station of young naturalists, together with the regional Goskomekologiya and Kemerovo State University, conducts rallies/competitions of young ecologists, including defense of research works by the rally participants, and their demonstrations of ability to use the main methods of field ecology.

With active support from the regional Committee of Young Naturalists, the groups of young ecologists of the Kemerovo region participate in the realization of several Federal educational-research projects: “Phenology of Birds,” “Life to Russian Waters,” “Crane, the Bird of Peace,” “Water on the Earth,” and others. Ecological shifts at the stations of young naturalists continue in Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk, Mezhdurechensk, Yurga, Anzhero-Sudzhensk, and Myski. Pupils of School No. 62 in Kemerovo are engaged in the problem of potable water under the program “Clean Water of the Taydon—to the Kuzbass Towns.” They report the results of their expeditions at Russian conferences and receive well-deserved diplomas and certificates.

The Kemerovo Scientific Center, with the participation of institutes of higher education and public ecological organizations, has conducted a number of international, all-Russian, and regional scientific-practical conferences and seminars. The most significant were the All-Russian scientific-practical conference “Ecology and Economy: Regional Problems of Transition to Stable Development. A Look into the Twenty-First Century,” the international scientific-practical conference “Ecological Problems of the Regional Coal-mining Sector Under the Transition to Stable Development,” the second international conference “Reduction of Methane Emission,” and the scientific-practical seminar “Regional Problems in the Economical Education on the Eve of the Twenty-First Century.”

The aforementioned seminar discussed methodological approaches, standards, and training aids for a system of multi-level ecological education and training. The discussion demonstrated experience in the ecological education and training of the people. In the system of general secondary education, ecology is being introduced as an independent subject. In the higher schools, special courses of ecology, nature preservation, engineering ecology, and rational use of natural resources are being introduced. Several centers of ecological education work within the system of post-graduate professional development.

At the same time, the process of ecological education and training has not become continuous and obligatory, as is required by the Environmental Protection Law. A scientifically based system of ecological education and training is absent in the region, and the legal and normative foundation has not been formed. There are great difficulties in providing the material-technical and

Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×

educational-pedagogical basis for carrying out practical expeditions. The difficulties in the dissemination of ideas and experience of Russian and foreign ecological education are aggravated by the absence of available information systems and periodicals.

To raise the level of ecological education, the following should be done:

  • It is necessary to pass the law “On the Ecological Education and Training of Population in Kemerovo Oblast.”

  • A regional target program should be developed “Perfection of Ecological Education and Training in Kemerovo Oblast for the Years 2001–2005,” with the specification of financial resources from the regional budget (via the Education Department and the Science and Higher School Department) and the regional ecological fund budget.

  • A system of centers of ecological education and training should be established. They should have the following tasks: development of regional standards of different-level ecological education; assessment of the effectiveness of ecological education, expert appraisal, and certification of training aids; development of retraining and professional development programs for teachers in the ecological education system of the Kemerovo region; and assistance in the preparation and publication of training and methodology aids, including tutorial computer programs.

  • The role of public organizations and the mass media in the process of ecological education should be increased. A standing seminar (school) for journalists and public activists is needed, together with a cycle of broadcasts and telecasts.

  • Ethical and aesthetic education at each educational level should be improved and extended.

The report has been prepared on the basis of the following materials and published works:

Bykov, A.A., E.L.Schastlivtsev. 2000. Calculations Assessing the Local Atmospheric Pollution with Methane at the Working and Closed Kuzbass Mines. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference Reduction of Methane Emission. Novosibirsk, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (in Russian) pp. 629–632.


Data on the pollution of Tom River water by sections, 1981–1996; water discharge by sections of Tomsk, Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk, Mezhdurechensk, 1986–1996; radioactive pollution of surface waters in the vicinity of CXT, 1991–1996; toxicity of the Tom River, 1993–1997. West-Siberian Center of natural environment pollution monitoring, January, 1998 (in Russian).


Ecological Map of Kemerovo Oblast, Scale 1:500000, 1995 (in Russian).

Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×

Elaboration Materials of the Federal Target Program. 1998. Radical Improvement of the Hydroeconomical and Ecological Situation in the Tom River Basin. Kemerovo Scientific Center, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (in Russian).


Malakhov, S.M. and L.A.Novoselova, eds. Report, 2000: Natural Environment Condition in the Kemerovo Oblast in 1999. State Committee on Environmental Protection of Kemerovo Oblast. Kemerovo, Russian., 288 pp.

Malakhov, S.M. and L.A.Novoselova, eds. Report, 1999: Natural Environment Condition in the Kemerovo Oblast in 1998. State Committee on Environmental Protection of Kemerovo Oblast. Kemerovo, (in Russian), 182pp.


Neverova, O.A., A.A.Bykov, S.A.Morozova, 2000. Phytomonitoring and Its Comparison with the Results of Long-term Modeling of Atmospheric Diffusion, Kemerovo, Manuscript deposited in the All-Russian Institute of Scientific and Technical Information on October 17, 2000, No. 2636-VOO (in Russian), 17 pp.


Schastlivtsev, E.L., A.A.Bykov, et al., 1997. The Basic Principles of Compilation of the Distributed Territory Natural Resource Registry of Kemerovo Oblast. Papers of the All-Russian Scientific-Practical Conference Ecology and Economy: Regional Problems of Transition to Stable Development: A Look into the Twenty-First Century, Kemerovo, Kuzbassvuzizdat, pp. 65–74 (in Russian).

Schastlivtsev, E.L., L.P.Barannik, V.I.Ovdenko, and A.A.Bykov. 2000. Evaluation of Ecological Consequences of Coal Mine Closure in Kuzbass Coal Region. Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference Environmental Issues and Management of Waste in Energy and Mineral Production, SWEMP-2000, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, May 30–June 2, 2000. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp. 661–665.

State Water Resources Registry. Annual data on the quality of surface waters and land in the river basins of Altai Territory, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, and Tomsk Oblasts, and the Republic of Altai, 1981–1996. Novosibirsk, West Siberian Hydrometeorological Service Administration (in Russian).

Surface Water Quality and Effectiveness of Water Protection Measures over the Territory of the West Siberian Hydrometreorological Service Administration. Activity: a Yearbook, 1990–1996. Novosibirsk, West Siberian Hydrometeorological Service Administration (in Russian).

Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
This page in the original is blank.
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 109
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 110
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 111
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 112
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 113
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 114
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 115
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 116
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 117
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 118
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 119
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 120
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 121
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 122
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 123
Suggested Citation:"15 Emissions of Pollutants into the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin." National Research Council. 2001. The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10240.
×
Page 124
Next: 16 Russian Far East Environmental Problems »
The Role of Environmental NGOs: Russian Challenges, American Lessons: Proceedings of a Workshop Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $80.00 Buy Ebook | $64.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

An NRC committee was established to work with a Russian counterpart group in conducting a workshop in Moscow on the effectiveness of Russian environmental NGOs in environmental decision-making and prepared proceedings of this workshop, highlighting the successes and difficulties faced by NGOs in Russia and the United States.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!