A problem of toxic waste of St Petersburg

Abstract

21 century is remarkable for a prompt growth of manufacture which provides an environment
with huge quantity of the waste leading its degradation and creating the real threat to health
and people's life. Considering the high importance of a problem of the reference with waste,
it is important to expand researches in this direction. This problem can be solved by combined
efforts of scientists and experts of various fields of knowledge.
The problem of the use of waste begins with their formation at the plants, factories etc. In
Saint-Petersburg and Leningrad region operate about 20 000 enterprises on which are formed
about 40000 tons of liquid and about 5 million square meters of firm waste a year. Use,
neutralization and transportation of waste is carried out by enterprises if they have for this
purpose technological and technical opportunities, and by organizations, engaged to work in
given kinds of activity. Waste which cannot be used is buried what means it is kept isolated in
special storehouses for a purpose of prevention the environment.
By the decision of the government in 1967 in 30 kilometers from Saint-Petersburg and 4.5
kilometers from the town Kolpino (where live about 140 000 citizens nowadays) has been
created a Range for reception and distribution of all toxic waste of the region. This place was
chosen because beds of blue Cambrian loam are close to the earth level. Their thickness is
about 80 meters. The process of treatment of the waste is quite easy: the upper level of loamy
soil was thrown away and deep foundation pits were dug in a loam to put in all poison waste.
Nobody paid attention to the fact that in 3 kilometer sanitary-protective zone several villages
are located and not far from it there is a watershed of the rivers Neva, Izhora and Tosna.
About 40 years have passed. The Range which had been creating for about 15-20 years
became one of the most dreadful potential dangers for the whole Baltic region. About several
millions of cubes of different kinds of poisons and toxicants are kept within 80 hectares of the
Range. Foundation pits' contents affect the environment and is dangerous a lot for the
people's health. Cambrian loam is heterogeneous and has a lot of clefts and send layers. It is
necessary to build cutting wall which would not allow to creep away the toxic waste. It is
necessary to carry out researches of seismicity of this area to understand the degree of risk. It
is impossible to predict what consequences will be in case of an extreme situation.