Oil Leaks, Early Death a Fact of Life in Russia (ContributorNetwork)

According to a December 18 report by the Associated Press, environmentalists predict that 5 million tons of oil is spilled in Russia each year. With a half million tons every year flowing into tributaries of the Arctic Ocean, the world's largest oil producer is also has the world's worst ecological oil catastrophe. But it's only a part of the environmental ills that plague Russia and the other former Soviet states.

Dzerzink, Russia, had the dubious distinction in 2007 of being named to the Blacksmith Institute/ Green Cross' list of the 10 most polluted places in the world. Almost 300,000 tons of chemical waste were improperly disposed of between 1930 and 1998. About 190 identified chemicals have been found in the groundwater -- 17 million times the safe limit. With a quarter of the city's 300,000 residents employed in factories that produce toxic chemicals, the 2003 death rate reportedly exceeded its birth rather by 260 percent.

Norilsk, Russia also made the same top 10 list as Dzerzink. Founded in 1935 as a slave labor camp in Siberia, the city has such high pollution from its heavy metals smelting complex that the snow is black, the air tastes like sulfur and children are 1.5 times more likely to suffer from respiratory diseases than children in other districts. Reports on children's health in the region show air pollution as the cause of 37 percent of children's morbidity and 21.6 percent of adult morbidity.

According to a 2002 study that was reported on by the BBC, 60 percent of Russians were living in an environment harmful to their health at that time. Environmental conditions contributed to 300,000 deaths per year, the study showed, and there was a "catastrophic decline" in official spending on efforts to protect the environment.

In 1994, in the city of Usinsk, 100,000 tons of oil splashed from an aging pipeline, killing plants and animals, polluting rivers and contributing to a dramatic rise in human respiratory disease in nearby villages. City officials had no power to influence oil company operations, the Associated Press reported. In 2011 the problem remains: workers depend on the industry for their livelihood and companies reportedly try and hide the oil spills and leaks.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120110/wl_ac/10708991_oil_leaks_early_death_a_fact_of_life_in_russia

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