Arctic Pesticide Cleanup Expected to Cost Millions

Between 1.2 and 1.8 million USD will be spent over the next three years on the neutralization of pesticides which are being kept in unpractical facilities in the Russian Arctic. This was announced by ecological specialist Per Dovle of the Arctic Council Action Plan to Eliminate Pollution of the Arctic (ACAP) at the third ministerial conference of Arctic countries in the Finnish town of Saariselsk reports a Rosbalt correspondent.

Mr. Dovle said the organisation designs projects whereby different countries cooperate to solve ecological problems. In particular they deal with the storage of nuclear materials and the emissions of mercury and salts from heavy metals. In Russia this organisation is working to improve the ecology of the industrial area of Norilsk, where a large smelting factory is situated.

Mr. Dovle said there are more than 25 thousand tons of so-called out-of-date pesticides in Russia. The measures suggested by this organisation will only help to neutralize about 8-10 percent of these chemicals.