The scope of the "Oregon - Khabarovsk : Clean Water Project" was in planning limited to two basic issues, drinking water treatment
and in-stream assessment. In practice, however, the partners adopted an expansive view of both issues. For instance, the
Portland and Khabarovsk delegations tasked with the "drinking water treatment" issue addressed also issues of finance, system planning,
distribution and sewage treatment because those issues are closely related to the drinking water issue. Likewise, the Portland
delegation tasked with the "in-stream assessment" issue addressed also the issue of upland contributions to in-stream contamination. To
the right, Vladimir Sidorov stands before one of the Khabarovsk refinery tar pits, situated at the headwaters of a stream that flows
to the Amur River.
Mining sites like this one are significant contributors of heavy metals to nearby rivers and streams. Mining waste impacts
the local populations primarily through fish ingestion pathways. When we address these upland sites we are expanding the discussion
from the Amur River to the Amur River basin. This basin-wide approach promises to help the Khabarovsk Krai reach a pollution
control agreement with China because it affords the Chinese some opportunity to deflect attention away from its own point-source discharges
directly to the Amur River.
Evgeny Moskvin, Head of the Department of Solid Waste for the Khabarovsk Krai Ministry of Natural Resources, tests the air above the
Khabarovsk refinery tar pits using the handheld Photo-Ionizing Detector (PID). This monitoring device was donated to the City
of Khabarovsk by PKSCA in 2000. The Portland delegation introduced its use as a "survey tool" for emergency response (to situations
like the November 2005 "spot" from China) and for upland site investigation.
