Dust And Noise

How does Elga coal threaten the environment?

The Elga coal deposit in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) is one of the world’s largest reserves of high-grade coking coal. In 2020, the assets of the Elga Coal Complex were sold to A-Property, a company owned by billionaire Albert Avdolyan. Since then, coal production at the Elga deposit has increased fivefold, reaching 36 million tonnes in 2025.

Last year, the Pacific Railway was also launched, connecting the deposit to the Port Elga coal terminal. This has enabled further growth in exports. In the future, annual production could rise to 45 million tonnes.

The Elga Coal Complex (ECC) is promoted as Russia’s largest private infrastructure megaproject of recent decades. However, its development has been accompanied by serious environmental risks.

This is a summary of a report prepared by the NGO Arсtida. The full version, including details, data, and a detailed description of the methodology, can be downloaded below.

How did we conduct the study?

An Island of Dust

These processes inevitably lead to the destruction of soil and vegetation cover, disruption of hydrological regimes, air and surface water pollution, and a decline in biodiversity.

Most atmospheric pollution in the ECC area is caused by emissions of dust and gases generated during drilling, blasting, excavation, and the transportation of rock mass, as well as from the wind dispersal of small matters from the surfaces of pits and waste dumps.

At the same time, the results of Arctida’s analysis indicate that the actual area affected by dust pollution from coal extraction at Elga is many times larger than the size stated in the project documentation.

Analysis of the satellite images showed that the total area of visible contamination in the ECC region is about 50,000 hectares, which is eight times larger than Manhattan. About 80% of the contaminated territory lies outside the boundaries of EEC and its sanitary protection zone.

According to Arctida estimates, the annual area of contamination increased from 5.3 thousand hectares in 2019 to 46.5 thousand hectares in 2025. The sharp rise began after 2020, when the Elga coal deposit was sold to A-Property, and it correlates with increased production volumes.

Protected natural areas have come under threat. Since 2021, the area of contaminated snow cover within the Bolshoye Toko nature reserve has increased nearly tenfold: from 109 hectares to more than 10.5 thousand hectares. In the last two seasons, contamination covered a significant part of the lake’s water area and the basins of rivers flowing into it.

Given the planned increase in production, the affected area can be expected to expand further, including the possible full impact on the waters of the unique Lake Bolshoye Toko.

The Park That Never Happened: How the Area Was Left Unprotected

Scientists and the conservation community have considered creating a specially protected natural area around Lake Bolshoye Toko as a key measure to minimize the impact of the Elga coal complex on the unique ecosystems of the northern spurs of the Toko Stanovik.

As early as 2016, researchers proposed establishing a state nature reserve that would unite the Bolshoye Toko wildlife refuge with adjacent protected areas, emphasizing the high vulnerability of these ecosystems and their limited capacity for recovery under conditions of intensive coal mining.

But the decision was postponed. Only in April 2022, a few months before the federal project deadline, a tender was announced to prepare the scientific case for the Bolshoye Toko National Park. The winner was the Yakut Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The project developed by the Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone (a subdivision of the Yakut Scientific Center) proposed creating a national park with an area of 400.7 thousand hectares. However, in September 2022, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources presented an alternative proposal, which reduced the park’s area to 288.5 thousand hectares and only slightly exceeded the boundaries of the existing refuge.

As a result, the final configuration of the protected area excluded territories potentially most vulnerable to the impacts of coal mining and related infrastructure.

This decision was made against the backdrop of the rapid expansion of the ECC and increasing anthropogenic pressure on surrounding ecosystems.

Build first, get permit later: Elga port construction got ahead of approvals

Arctida has found that construction of the Port Elga coal terminal began long before the approval of project documentation.

According to Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, work started in May 2022. The construction works have also been confirmed publicly.

The Governor of Khabarovsk Krai, Mikhail Degtyaryov, visited the site at the end of July and confirmed that active construction of the new port was already underway.

He later actively supported the project, insisting on its compliance with environmental requirements and regularly publishing videos from the construction site on his social media.

On September 23, 2022, the day the environmental impact assessment conclusion was approved, he posted a video on his Telegram account with the caption: “Work is already actively underway at sea.” However, a positive conclusion of the state environmental review was approved on June 23, 2023, more than a year after construction had begun.

Whales Disturbed By Noise: Environmental Risks of Coal Transportation

Arctida has found that the development of the Elga Coal Complex threatens some of the rarest whale species in the North Pacific, in particular the Sea of Okhotsk population of the bowhead whale, which is listed in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation.

An analysis of the routes used by bulk carriers transporting coal from Port Elga shows that the shipping corridor crosses the presumed wintering grounds of the bowhead whale near the Kashevarov Bank. In addition to creating new physical barriers in an area critical to the population, shipping activity in this zone has also led to persistent sources of disturbance during icebreaker escort operations, at points where bulk carriers meet icebreakers along the ice edge in the whales’ presumed wintering habitat.

In addition, Port Elga has effectively blocked a migration route for whales along the northern coast of Uda Bay.

According to Arctida, noise pollution from the port is forcing bowhead whales to detour around the area at a distance of 5–10 kilometres, where, away from shallow waters, they become vulnerable to attacks by orcas.

Working Under Sanctions: How Coal Is Supplied to Korean Steel Companies

In June 2024, Elga Management Company and a number of affiliated entities involved in mining and exporting coal from the Elga deposit were added to the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions lists.

Nevertheless, coal exports continued. In 2024–2025, shipments were made through the ports of Elga and Vera, including deliveries to South Korea.

According to shipping analytics data and industry sources, Elga coal was supplied to the South Korean steelmakers POSCO and Hyundai Steel. According to Arctida, since the introduction of U.S. sanctions, 787,000 tonnes of coal worth nearly USD 100 million were delivered from Port Vera alone to terminals operated by these companies.

Although the Republic of Korea has not imposed sanctions on Elga coal, these supply chains indicate potential risks of secondary sanctions from the United States.

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About Arctida’s monitoring of infrastructure projects