Russian plant could be taken out of Baltic blacklist
Baltic Sea states will consider whether to remove a Russian sewage
plant from a list of the region's largest polluters at a meeting of the
Helsinki commission (Helcom) this week. There are currently 73 hot
spots on the Helcom list.

Russia says that St Petersburg's central aeration station, the largest
wastewater treatment plant in the Baltic region, should be removed from
the list because it has reached a discharge target of less than 0.5 mg
of phosphorus per litre.
At the meeting, Helcom's member states will also outline their draft
national implementation programmes for achieving the objectives of the
Baltic Sea action plan. The plan's overarching goal is to achieve a
good ecological status by 2021.

The national programmes will be officially presented at a Helcom
ministerial meeting in Moscow in May. This week, Baltic states will
also consider expanding a list of agricultural installations not in
compliance with Helcom pollution regulations.

The counties will also discuss the implementation of stricter
requirements for phosphorus removal at wastewater treatment plants,
which must be enforced by the end of this year. The EU launched its own
Baltic Sea strategy in June.