Usolye-Sibirskoye: Environmental Issues and Development Paths

Abstract

A decade has passed since the town of Usolye-Sibirskoe was officially mapped  as one with environmental problems of the federal level. It allows us to summarize the results of the effort to alleviate the damage accumulated due to the work of UsolyeKhimProm, former town-forming enterprise that has ceased operation. We analyze the events beginning with the town obtaining the status of an advanced development territory to the appointment of the Rosatom state corporation to be a single organizer of the demolition of several hundred buildings, the construction of an eco-technopark for handling waste of I and II classes of danger, including mercury-containing waste, and general recultivation of the polluted territory. As of the end of 2024, the organiser had failed to meet the planned work schedule and to establish the ecopark. The proposals for the organization of the Federal Chemical Center in the next few years and the creation of up to ten thousand new jobs on the purified site have a very distant perspective, even despite  the inclusion of Usolye-Sibirskoe in the list of the country's atomic cities and towns. In the article, we suggest that the town's economy should rely on the recreational  industry rather than return to chemical production. The former will effectively improve public urban spaces, build a new infrastructure for residents' and visitors' stay, include elements of an accessible environment, if provided with support from the town administration.