Nerds vs.

Today, the Primorsky District Administration will hold public hearings on the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the Northern section of the Western High-Speed ​​Diameter. According to the project, it should pass by the Yuntolovsky nature reserve. And although the designers assure that there is no reason to worry: the WHSD route will be built along an overpass, under which it will be possible to freely pass into the “buffer zone”, protective screens will be installed along the road, and noise-proof glazing will be installed in houses; that closed drainage systems will be built to prevent polluted runoff from entering the reserve - still, the guardians of the purity of nature still have many concerns.

Scientists warn about the environmental dangers of laying the Western High-Speed ​​Diameter route near the Yuntolovsky Nature Reserve

Residents vote with their feet

On the eve of the hearings, a group of scientists sent a letter to President Vladimir Putin, demanding to stop the WHSD project, which, in their opinion, threatens to destroy the natural environment and is “carried out with complete disregard for the opinions of citizens, Russian and international legislation.” Copies of the appeal were sent to Governor Valentina Matvienko, Presidential Envoy Ilya Klebanov, and Commissioner for Human Rights Vladimir Lukin.
Scientists believe that “as a result of the planned economic activity, irreparable damage will be caused to the specially protected natural area.” First of all, because “the inevitable change in the water supply of the Lakhta Lowland will lead to the degradation of coastal ecosystems, which will entail a deterioration in the ecological condition of the coastal zone of the Gulf of Finland, included in the international network of coastal protected areas.”
In addition, the reserve is “a resting place and food supply for birds listed in the Red Books of the Leningrad Region and the Baltic, as well as in the cadastre of protected bird species of the European Union.” But, as experts believe, “as a result of the implementation of the WHSD project, the population of protected bird species will significantly decrease or disappear, since the migratory ornithological corridor that arose thousands of years before the construction of St. Petersburg will be disrupted.”
In addition, according to ecologists, as a result of construction, the only raised bog in the Lakhtinskaya Lowland, where rare species of vegetation included in the Red Book are preserved, will be destroyed. “It is known that in Western Europe, multimillion-dollar funds are being spent to recreate wetlands similar to those located in the buffer zone of the Yuntolovsky reserve, and the government of St. Petersburg plans to spend 83 billion rubles on their destruction,” the letter eloquently says.
But that's not all. “According to the conclusion of the Center for State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance in St. Petersburg, the sanitary protection zone of the WHSD in terms of noise exposure, air and soil pollution is from 750 to 900 meters, while the distance from the highway to the line of houses on Planernaya Street will be 126 meters, and the distance between the WHSD and the northern border of the reserve is 150 meters <...> The protective measures provided for in the project cannot be considered as reducing the harmful effects <...> The highway will cross St. Petersburg from north to south, the flows of transit and urban transport will intersect, creating numerous traffic jams in residential areas. More than one and a half million people will be in the sanitary zone of the international highway.”
The letter notes that in the Primorsky district alone, 12 thousand people spoke out against the construction of the highway and in favor of preserving the buffer zone of the Yuntolovsky reserve. And in the entire city there are about 40 thousand opponents. And it is unclear how one can ignore the opinion of so many citizens.
The project of the third stage of the WHSD has not yet passed the state environmental assessment, and there have been no public discussions. Meanwhile, residents note increased activity in the area of ​​the planned route: geodetic work is being carried out to accompany the zero cycle of road construction work (or preceding it). However, there are no explanations from officials. The public, as reported in the letter, is not provided with materials on environmental impact assessment, thereby hindering the implementation of public environmental impact assessment...
The scientists’ conclusion is as follows: “It is necessary to suspend the implementation of the WHSD project until the results of a comprehensive study of the consequences of construction, its impact on the specially protected natural area of ​​the Yuntolovsky reserve and public health are obtained.” And also declare the current “buffer zone” of the reserve a protected area in which any construction is not allowed.
The letter was signed by employees of the Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Lake Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Mining Institute, St. Petersburg State University, the Research Institute of Geography of St. Petersburg State University, the Biological Research Institute of St. Petersburg State University, the All-Russian Research Institute of Space Aerogeodetic Methods, the St. Petersburg Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the St. Petersburg State Forestry Academy, the State Hydrometeorological Institute, the Baltic Specialized Marine Inspectorate of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Nizhne-Svirsky Nature Reserve... More than ninety specialists - biologists, ornithologists, botanists, geographers, soil scientists - put their signatures. Among them are professors, doctors of science, academicians...
Will their voice be heard?

Vladimir MAKSIMOV
Photo INTERPRESS

By the way
At the end of last week, an emergency occurred in the Yuntolovsky nature reserve. An unauthorized toxic waste dump was discovered there, where containers with various toxic substances were dumped, including even such dangerous ones as mercury. However, conservationists have previously said that some strange trucks are periodically observed on the territory of the reserve, which is located in close proximity to city blocks. It is quite possible that they are bringing dirt and poison into the reserve. Moreover, nearby, almost adjacent to the territory of the reserve, in the Primorsky district there is a construction waste dump.