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Forging Change in a Contaminated Russian City: A Longitudinal View of Kirishi

2007; Emerald Publishing Limited; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0196-1152(06)14002-8

1875-7928

Olga Tsepilova,

Arctic and Russian Policy Studies

The 20th century was characterized by increased risk to both natural ecosystems and humanity due to the combined effect of fast industrial development and the increasing scarcity of natural resources. The former Soviet Union was one of the most polluted regions on earth. Within the country, it became necessary to delineate zones of recognized ecological disaster. This condition resulted from a policy that placed industrial development as the highest priority and the well-being of people and nature as the lowest. We created “industrial monsters” that rapidly consumed natural and human health alike. Beyond such well-known ecological disasters as the Aral Sea and the Bashkirian and Chernobyl disasters, other severe ecological problems screamed out across the nation for attention. No place was immune from such tragedy, even the relatively small town of Kirishi, Leningradskaya oblast, an hour's train ride north from St. Petersburg.