Basel, 14. 9. 2000 The Green Cross Legacy Programme, in collaboration with the Swedish Defence Research Establishment FOA, and the Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Army, has initiated in August 2000 an oil clean-up project on a closed nuclear missile base in the Baltic area.

For several decades, a nuclear missile base is operated west of the city of Ostrov (Pskov Oblast, Russian Federation). A local boiler house provides the necessary heating and warm water for the base. During a pumping operation in 1985, approximately 500 t of heating oil were spilled, covering an area of 10 ha with a very heavy, tar-like mass.

Though most of the year the oil is immobile, it flows during the warm summer months in direction of the river Velikaya, a main drinking water source for the region. A first serious pollution of the river occurred in 1993. Lacking necessary expertise, the Russian military engineers built a series of simple dams to prevent renewed pollution, but were unable to clean-up the area. In summer 1998, the authorities of the Pskov Oblast, the Environmental Department of the Russian Army, and the Strategic Rocket Forces approached the Green Cross Legacy Programme for help. Green Cross is an international non-governmental organisation, headquartered in Geneva (Switzerland), with affiliates in 26 countries on 5 continents. Its Legacy Programme is addressing for more than six years environmental legacies related to military activities.

In spring 2000, the Legacy Programme could secure the financial commitment of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, delivered through the Swedish Defence Research Establishment FOA. During a kick-off workshop in Ostrov 30-31 August 2000, all project participants met for the first time. The Swedish-Swiss delegation was allowed, as first foreigners ever, to visit the closed base and to receive a first-hand impression of the situation.

All involved parties were very positive at the end of the kick-off meeting about the joint project. For the Strategic Rocket Forces and regional authorities, the project provides not only an opportunity to clean-up the oil spill but also to gain relevant experience on the management of environmental problems. It is foreseen, to share the newly gained experience with the authorities of neighbouring regions in a final workshop. For Sweden, a representative stated that '…this project allows us not only to gain further experience in the remediation of military oil spills, an actual problem in all the Central European countries soon joining the EU, but also to establish relations between the Swedish and Russian armed forces based on a practical project.' The representative continues: 'Interesting enough, the key for being able to start this project within a very short time were the services of a non-governmental organisation. Thanks to its track record, practical experience and network, the Green Cross has been able to bring together all project partners in a very pragmatic coalition, and to create a trust relation in a project involving a nuclear missile base, a subject usually very sensitive in East-West relations.'

The first project phase will start in autumn 2000 with a geological investigation determining whether only surface or also underground pollution is present in the spill area. Based on the results, clean-up works in the most positive scenario could start as early as this winter.

For more information, please contact Dr. Stephan Robinson, International Co-ordinator of the Green Cross Legacy Programme, Tel. +41-61-382 91 97, stephan.robinson@greencross.ch.

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