SUPERVISION

The West Baikal Interdistrict Environmental Prosecutor's Office on Wednesday opened two cases of administrative offenses against the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill, which, according to the department, discharges pollutants into Lake Baikal in excess of standards and does not pay for the negative impact on the environment, the head of the environmental prosecutor's office said on Thursday Alexey Kalinin. “The cases were initiated on Wednesday based on the results of an inspection by the BPPM in January of this year. The case materials have been transferred to Rosprirodnadzor, which must issue a decision on the fine and its amount,” he said. In January, the prosecutor's office and Rosprirodnadzor inspected the plant for compliance with environmental legislation and, according to Kalinin, identified exceeding average concentrations of pollutants in the BPPM wastewater flowing into Baikal. Concentrations for suspended substances were exceeded 3.8 times, for phenol - 8 times, turpentine - 12 times, aluminum - 1.2 times, lignin - 740 thousand times, hydrogen sulfide - 223 times, for tallow products - 173 thousand times, formaldehyde - 2.5 times, petroleum products - 5.2 times, anion chloride - 11.7 times. Rosprirodnadzor and the prosecutor's office revealed a similar picture of pollution in the summer of 2010, but then the excess of average concentrations of pollutants, in particular for lignin and tallow products, was less. “The case was initiated under Part 1 of Art. 8.14 of the Code of Administrative Offenses: violation of water use rules when withdrawing water, without withdrawing water and when discharging wastewater into water bodies,” Kalinin said. The article's sanctions provide for a legal entity a fine of up to 20 thousand rubles or administrative suspension of activities for up to 90 days. The second case, as Kalinin explained, was initiated under Article 8.41 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (failure to pay fees for negative impacts on the environment within the established time frame). The sanctions of the article provide for punishment in the form of a fine for legal entities in the amount of up to 100 thousand rubles. “BPPM did not pay a fee for the negative impact on the environment in the third and fourth quarters of 2010. The plant’s total debt for the entire year is 26.7 million rubles,” Kalinin said. (The agency did not have any comments from the BPPM management at the time the issue was submitted).

"RIA News"

Kommersant (Irkutsk) No. 41 from 03/11/2011

A criminal case has been initiated against BPPM