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Between water pollution and protection in the Soviet Union, mid-1950s–1960s: Lake Baikal and River Vuoksi

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Abstract

This article examines the discourses on water pollution and protection in the Soviet Union in the 1950s–1960s. It explores discursive practices related to two paper and pulp plants, one located on the shore of Lake Baikal and another production unit in Svetogorsk on the border with Finland. These two discourses provide deep insight to pro-industry and nature protection positions, which characterized Soviet water pollution and protection discourses in the 1950s–1960s. The paper contends that discussions about pulp production near Baikal influenced other regions to improve the engineering of water treatment facilities. The development of such facilities became a compromise between supporters and defenders of increasing pulp production, but did not result in solving the problem of water pollution. In analyzing this issue, I consider discussions around the Baikal pulp plant and the first attempts to introduce advanced water treatment in an industrial city of Svetogorsk and beyond. I will also discuss contacts with the West, in particular with Finland, and their effects on Soviet water management.

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Notes

  1. See more on spatiality of the USSR in Baron (2007).

  2. See also Matiushkina (1956), among others.

  3. See more on the performance of Soviet pulp and paper industry in Kochetkova (2015).

  4. Zasedanie Uchenogo Soveta (49-ia sessia) 20 fevralia 1964 g. Stenographicheskii otchet//RGANTD SPb. F. 303. Op. 13. D. 740. L. 89.

  5. See more on writers’ reactions on the construction in Baikal in Rainey (1991).

  6. Zakliuchenie Soveta tekhniko-ekonomicheskoi ekspertizy o vozmozhnosti proizvodstva na Bratskom lesopromyshlennom predpriatii viskoznoi tselliulozy dlia sverkhprochnogo korda, 1959//GARF. F. 5446. Op. 3. D. 1845. L. 7.

  7. Protokol zasedania Nauchnogo soveta po probleme “Zashchita vodnykh i vozdushnogo basseinov ot zagriaznenii vrednymi veshchestvami”, 1962 g.//GARF. F. 5446. Op. 3. D. 1845. L. 169.

  8. G. Galaziy. Baikal v opasnosti//GARF. F. 5446. Op. 97. D. 833. L. 1. See also publications by biologist Oleg Gusev on protection of Baikal, among others (Gusev 2001; Lapin 1986).

  9. Predlozhenia Komissii po okhrane prirody v Gosplan SSSR “O meropriatiakh po sokhraneniui i vosstanovleniu prirodnykh resusrsov”, 1958 g.//GARF. F. 5446. Op. 1. D. 60. L. 125, 129.

  10. Ibid. L. 137.

  11. Nedotko P.A., Voroshlov Ui.I. Otchet o komandirovke, 1960 g.//GARF. F. 5446. Op. 1. D. 89. L. 17.

  12. See more on settlement process in Balashov and Stepakov (2001), among others.

  13. Protokoly briza po kombinatu//LOGAV. F. R-69. Op. 22. L. 6.

  14. Philip Pryde says about 19% in the 1980s. See Pryde (1991, p. 122).

  15. Stenogramma soveshchania ekspertnoi komissii ot 2.02.1962//GARF. F. 5446. Оp. 3. D. 1845. L. 98.

  16. Dokladnaia zapiska po voprosu sbrosa stochnykh vod ot Baikal`skogo tselliuloznogo zavoda v ozero Baikal, 1962 g.//GARF. F. 5446. Оp. 3. D. 1845. L. 142.

  17. See more on Cold War interactions, for example, Autio-Sarasmo (2016), Mikkonen and Koivunen (2015), among others.

  18. See, for example, Evilevich (1966).

  19. Suomen ja Neuvostoliiton tieteellis-teknillinen yhteistoiminta. Neuvostoliittoon järjestämän teollisuuden ja asutuksen jäte- ja käyttöveden puhdistus-kysymyksiä koskevan tutustumis-matkan matkaselostus, 1958//Metsäteollisuus ry Arkisto. Ympäristönsuojelu. Kansainvälinen yhteistyö. Suomi-Neuvostoliitto, 1958–1975. Kansio 1446.

  20. Kirje Suomen ja Neuvostoliiton välinen tieteellis-teknilliseen yhteistoimintakomiteaan//Metsäteollisuus ry Arkisto. Ympäristönsuojelu. Kansainvälinen yhteistyö. Suomi-Neuvostoliitto, 1958–1975. Kansio 1446.

  21. Predvaritel`noe zakliuchenie Gidrologicheskogo instituta i Gidrokhimicheskogo instituta o vliianii promstokov BTsZ na sostav vody ozera Baikal, 1967 g.//GARF. F. 4669. Op. 101. D. 768. L. 21.

  22. See more on later ecology of Vuoksi in Bolotova and Vorobiov (2002).

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Acknowledgements

The research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Project no 16-18-10255). The author is grateful to Nicolas Maughan for providing the images for publication.

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    Elena Kochetkova

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Kochetkova, E. Between water pollution and protection in the Soviet Union, mid-1950s–1960s: Lake Baikal and River Vuoksi. Water Hist 10, 223–241 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12685-017-0208-z

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