CHECHNYA: CONDITIONS OF SURVIVAL
7. THE ECOLOGICAL SITUATION
SOURCE. Russian Environmental Digest, February 18-24, 2002, Vol. 4, No. 8. From BBC, February 21, 2002
The ecological situation on the territory of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (CRI) is critical, while in some districts it has even assumed the proportions of an ecological catastrophe, says the chairman of the Green Movement of the CRI, Ramzan Goytimirov.
Despite the standstill of almost all industrial enterprises, the level of environmental pollution has not been reduced and has even increased. This is mainly the result of ongoing military actions. For example, as a result of the sustained bombardment of a chemical plant in Jokhar (Grozny), a large quantity of uranium, caesium-137 and cobalt-60 was discharged into the atmosphere.
During the war, the republic's mineral wealth has constantly been plundered or exploited "in a barbaric fashion." This applies first of all to the amateurish extraction of oil and its refining into condensate. Long Russian convoys take oil and associated products manufactured at local mini-refineries outside the republic on a daily basis.
At the present time, the level of contamination of the soil with oil products exceeds the permissible limit on more than 10 per cent of the republic's territory. The situation is particularly appalling in Grozny. For example, on the territory of the capital's Zavodskoy district there is an oil puddle 12 meters deep containing a million tonnes of oil.
According to the Russian scientific research center Zemlya (Earth), more than 900 tonnes of heavy metals a year are discharged into the atmosphere in districts densely packed with petrochemical and energy enterprises. Never in the entire history of the republic has there been such an enormous quantity of unaccounted for waste in areas of industrial production. Never have so many oil-bearing, polluting and contaminating substances been discharged into the air, water and soil.
Russian ecologists also confirm that the republic is facing an ecological catastrophe, but are reluctant to take any action to remedy the situation. According to the chairman of the State Duma Committee for Ecology, Vladimir Grachev, "as a result of the work of these facilities (mini-refineries), lakes and rivers of oil have formed around them and sometimes they reach vineyards and other arable land."
About 40 per cent of the republic's agricultural land contains pesticides in excess of permissible concentrations. This is the result of excessive use of such substances and the unsatisfactory conditions in which they are stored. To make matters worse, Russian troops have repeatedly used chemical weapons in Chechnya. The whole North Caucasus has been affected. As Chechen rivers, abounding in water and carrying all of this dirt, eventually flow into the Caspian Sea, the reserves of red fish in the Caspian are in jeopardy. 300,000 tonnes of poisonous and contaminating chemical substances are released into the Caspian every year.
Thus the natural balance is virtually undermined and the area is losing the capacity to support life. Urgent intervention by specialists is necessary. Their primary tasks will include the re-cultivation of land and restoration of the hibernation pits. But before this can be done, the military action must stop.
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*** THIS IS CHECHNYA ***
On January 13, 2002, at around 4 pm, a bus from Shatoi was stopped by federal servicemen on the approach to Sharo-Argun. They shot up the bus, pulled out the passengers and used knives to kill those who were still alive. Then they blew up the bus.
The soldiers guilty of this crime were caught by employees of the Chechen militia, brought to the Shatoi temporary detention facility, and admitted their guilt. Representatives of the local administration fear that after the case is handed over to the military prosecutor's office the killers may be freed, as has repeatedly happened in Chechnya.
[Press release #169, 1/15/02]
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