Assessment of Mercury Releases from the Russian Federation

Assessment of Mercury Releases from the Russian Federation

Preface

The results of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme summarising decades of environmental research in the Arctic region stressed the fact that humans and the environment in the Arctic region currently experience alarming exposures to mercury, among a number of other toxic pollutants.

Within the framework of the Arctic Council, the eight Arctic Countries agreed on taking actions to contribute to the reduction of exposures to a number of priority pollutants, including mercury, in the Arctic region. The Arctic Council issued an action plan including 6 projects on priority pollutants. Denmark is the co-ordinator for the project on mercury.

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to a reduction of mercury releases from the Arctic countries; partly by contributing to the development of a common regional framework for an action plan or strategy for the reduction of mercury emissions, and partly by evaluating and selecting one or a few specific point sources for implementation of release reduction measures. In addition, the results of the project may be used to improve the inputs for modelling of long-range transport of mercury. A part of the project is accordingly to prepare a comprehensive list of major point sources of mercury emission to the atmosphere.

The present assessment of the releases of mercury from the Russian Federation has been prepared as part of the Arctic mercury project as a background document for the Russian reporting to a common regional mercury assessment. The regional assessment summarises information on mercury release from all eight countries in the region.

This study has been undertaken by a group of Russian Experts coordinated by COWI in cooperation with the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation (until April 2004) and the Russian Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Atomic Supervision (after April 2004). In the assessment official environmental data are combined with expert estimates to form a comprehensive view of the circulation of mercury through the Russian technosphere as well as releases of mercury from the territory of the Russian Federation. All estimates are the sole responsibility of the editors and authors and may be subject to change as more exact information is obtained.

Steering Group:

Mikala Klint (Denmark) - Chairman, Nikolai B. Nefediev (Russian Federation), Andrej Vl. Pechkurov (Russian Federation), Oxana Tsittser (Russian Federation), Marilyn Engle (USA), Douglas Steele (USA), Stanley Durkee (USA), Grace Howland (Canada), Sjur Andersen (Norway), Bente Sleire (Norway), Magnus Nyström (Finland), Mats Ekenger (Sweden), John Munthe (Sweden), Halldor Thorgeirsson (Iceland), Henrik Skov (Denmark), Gunnar Futsæter (ACAP Secretariat), Lars-Otto Reiersen (AMAP Secretariat), Simon Wilson (AMAP Secretariat), Garislav Shkolenok (UNEP Chemicals), Husamudin Ahmadzai (NEFCO).

Coordinator:

Danish Environmental Agency, Mikala Klint.

Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation (MNR RF) (until April 2004) :

Nikolai B. Nefediev, Department of Methodological Provision of State Ecological Control;

Andrej Vl. Pechkurov, Department of Ecological Safety;

Yury Y. Alexandrovsky, Department of International Co-operation on Environment Protection.

Russian Federal Service for Environmental, Technological and Atomic Supervision (after April 2004): Oxana Tsittser, Department of Control and Supervision in Environmental Protection;

Andrej Vl. Pechkurov, Department of Control and Supervision in Environmental Protection

Consultant:

COWI A/S (Denmark), Carsten Lassen (project manager, editor), Jakob Maag;

Moscow Representative Office of COWIconsult International Ltd., Tatyana V. Efimova (co-manager, editor), Irina Chernakova.

Russian Experts (main authors):

Yuri A. Treger, Scientific Research Institute "Syntez", the Design Bureau of the Ministry of Science and Industry of RF;

Eugeny P. Yanin, Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of V.I. Vernadskiy of RAS;

Boris A. Revich, Center for Demography and Human Ecology of Institute of Economic Forecasting of RAS;

Boris E. Shenfeld, Ural State Scientific Research Institute of Regional Ecological Problems of the Ministry of Natural Resources of RF;

Sergey V. Dutchak, Meteorological Synthesizing Centre East, EMEP MSC-E;

Nina A. Ozerova , Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrology, Mineralogy and Geochemistry of RAS;

Tatyana G. Laperdina, Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of V.I. Vernadskiy of RAS;

Vladimir L. Kubasov, State Scientific Research Institute of Nonferrous Metallurgy "Gintsvetmet".

Russian Technical Experts:

Elena Yu. Bykhovskaya, Valentin I. Eberilj, Anna Z. Oschepkova, Y.G. Dvoskin, M.I. Chubirko, N.M. Pichuzhkina, V.A. Sinoda, L.F. Mikhailovaà, V.A. Kataeva, V.L. Kovalsky.

International Expert:

John Munthe, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute Ltd. in cooperation with VTI, The All Russia Thermal Engineering Institute (project funded by USA).

Reviewers:

International reviewers: Mark Richardson (Canada), Leonard Surges (Canada), Jozef M. Pacyna (Norway), Edward M. Weiler (USA), Velu Senthil (USA), Frank Anscomb (USA), Alexander McBride (USA), David Kirchgessner (USA), Mr. John Kinsey (USA), Mr. Russell Bullock (USA), Alexis Cain (USA), Stephen Hoffman (USA), Robert Stevens (USA), Richard Meyer (USA), Alan Kolker (USA), John DeYoung (USA), William Brooks (USA), Richard Levine (USA), Thomas Goonan (USA), Dennis Kostick (USA), Richard Artz (USA), Mark Cohen (USA), James Ekmann (USA), Melissa Chan (USA).

Financial support:

This study is financially supported by Denmark, Canada, USA and Norway.

Acknowledgement:

Special thanks are due to a large number of Russian enterprises who have contributed to this assessment by providing information on technologies and mercury releases.