Interview with Mr Soutourin

Mr Soutourin has been co-director of the Limnology Institute of Irkoutsk. He is now in charge of the bio-geochemistry laboratory of the institute. This interview has been conducted by Caroline on April 28th, 2004.

What are the limnology institute purposes concerning the Baikal lake?: 75 years ago, in 1916, the institute first opened its doors as a biological station, at the bank of the lake. It is the only laboratory in Russia that is entirely devoted to the lake. A high diversity of scientists are studying the entire ecosystem as well as its history on the base of sediment analysis.
During the past decades, have your researches highlighted any influence of climatic changes on the lake?: It is difficult to make any conclusion on such a short period but we are using new analysis methods to study this influence. We mainly study some rocks isotopes in order to date them. Regarding more recent changes, we can tell that the climate has become milder, the temperature of the lake has increased and the winter ice layer lasts a shorter time and is thinner.
According to Sergey Mactirinko, fish specialist at Oulan Oude's institute, the aquatic life had seriously decreased in the 70's. According to him, beside a massive fishing, solar cycle changes that have been observed since the beginning of the 30's might have influenced this evolution. Do you confirm it?: A study about the relation between the solar cycles and life in the lake has been completed in our laboratories. One seaweed specie appeared to be the most influenced by the solar cycles changes, influence that then decreased with the alimentary chain.
What physical changes have occurred on the lake?: The banks of the Baikal have become more sensitive to human presence. In 1960, the water pest appeared in the warmest and less deep areas of the lake. This seaweed can be compared to Elodia Canadensis, which has invaded the Mediterranean Sea. We believe it was rejected by an aquarium, but luckily is very demanding in Calcium and so is disappearing little by little. A rapacious fish, the Rotan, eating young fish has also appeared when bone fish from the river Amour were imported into the lake in order to increase the fish production of the Baikal. Once again, used to warm water, this specie should not develop much in the Baikal.
Your institute has taken part in the production of bottled water from the lake. A word about it?: The Baikal lake contains 20% of the fresh water on earth, but 70% of the drinkable water available on earth. The lake itself is actually a water treatment plant. The Selenga river water arrives polluted into the lake, but what escapes in the Angara is perfectly clean. As a comparison, the oxygen rate is 12 mg/l close to the Angara outlet but only 7 mg/l at the mouth of Selenga.
Have you reached your commercial goal? Are there many Russians drinking the bottles of the Baikal water?: This year, Danone plans to install a new production factory in Koultouk, at the south of Baikal. This factory should produce 1 million bottles a day. The local population doesn't buy the bottled water, but we can find it on the table of richer people or seminaries. 5 years ago, people considered very strange to buy bottled water, but the habits are changing.
Your institute depends on the State University and so the Russian government. Do you still feel free to decide and act for the protection of the environment?: Yes of course. The state credit represents only 60% of our budget. The rest comes from projects, studies and articles done for private companies. Luckily, the time has gone, when a superpower from Moscow could handle the institute's fate just on a phone call. When the authorities don't agree with our actions, they cut our pay, which of course is annoying, but even during the soviet period, the institute has always battle against industrial expansion.
Does the limnology institute collaborate with other organisms?: Yes of course, the problems to be solved are complex and need a high collaboration with universities, especially from Moscow, Novosibirsk, Oulan-Oude? We wanted to establish exchanges with the Baikalsk's toxicology institute, which is not possible at the moment, since they are out of resources. We also work with the geologic institute from Irkoutsk, which depends on the University of natural resources. The Unesco Water Resources organization had started at the limnology institute, but for juridical reasons, this chair has been moved to the State University of Irkoutsk and actually doesn't focus their work specifically on the lake. Nevertheless, we regularly share our information with all those organisms.
What do you fear for the lake?: If the non organics micro polluters like heavy metals do not represent a specific threat for the Baikal, the organic components are particularly dangerous: dioxins of course, but especially DTT, which were massively used in the 50's. As a result, mosquitoes still bite and we can find DTT traces in the Nerpa's fat. If today the DTT concentration is decreasing, some other polluters are increasing. The organic pollution is highly dangerous, even in very small quantities since they diminish one's immunity system. That is why today's worst pollution appears to be the important quantities of used water rejected into the lake for domestic and industrial uses. But the paper plant in Baikalsk, one of the main polluted spot on the lake, has planed to install a closed water system by 2006.
According to Irina Grosheva, director of the toxicology institute of this plant, it is a utopia.: The project has already been agreed by president Poutine and a law that would close the plant if the system is not efficient by 2006 was voted by the Douma. Moreover, the World Bank has already granted a 25 billion $ credit for this project. But the city of Baikalsk first has to solve the domestic problem of used water treatment, still done by the plant.
If the toxicology institute has no credits, don't you fear it might have any consequences on the quality of the water rejected into the lake?: This institute is a perfect example on how the state government can abuse of its influence. At the beginning, the institute was directly controlled by the ministry of paper production! You can imagine? The protection of the Baikal's ecosystem would need a much bigger scale: long terms studies and also human and technical supports.
Do the toxicology institute efforts appear to you as granted?: Many other places on earth are far more dangerous, the Baikalsk water treatment plant used to be one of the most performing on earth. But the lake ecosystem is sensitive. Therefore, to reduce the water rejected by half as projected might not be sufficient. The tests for water quality with the Daphnia Magna are not sure enough, since this animal can adapt in far more polluted environments. Deeper studies are necessary to really make possible a serious judgment on water quality and the impact of this paper plant.
Can I ask you to classify - by decreasing importance- the various pollutions affecting the lake?: I would put on first line the water rejected by the different treatment plants, that are not all working as well as they should. Savage tourism increasing is coming next. The third point concerns the Taiga destruction and fires. As fourth, the air and organic pollution.
What about the gas and oil pipelines projects?: The south option of the oil pipeline has been rejected. Indeed, in case of accident, the pollution would have reached the lake within 80 hours through all rivers that flow into the lake. Concerning the gas pipeline, the project is to cross the middle of the lake in order to supply the Bouriat region. Methane doesn't really threat the environment. And actually a project following the bank would be more damageable since crossing very old pines forests.
What are the limnology institute's projects?: By taking part of the production of water bottled, we hope to find new credits for our research activities. There also is a project to bring electricity to the Olkhon Island. The institute has recently published a study about an underwater cabling. The purpose was to estimate the dangers for the ecosystem since the concerned area is not deep and very rich with plants. The institute has proposed a curved line to the engineers, which would reduce the ecological impacts from 70 billion to 30 000 rubles (as compared to a straight line). Finally, the Bouriat government is planning some oil prospect ions in the Selenga gulf. The institute is strongly opposed to it, so we have engaged a study to evaluate the consequences of such an operation.