The Arctic Council working group on Emergency Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (EPPR) has completed its first meeting of 2010. The meeting took place in the coal mining town of Vorkuta, Komi Republic of the Russian Federation, on 16-18 June. The town is located just above the Arctic circle, 3 hours flight or 48 hours train ride north of Moscow, and home to some 85,000 inhabitants. Formerly, it was infamous for being a main centre of the Soviet Gulag system of forced labor concentration camps.

The hosts of the present EPPR meeting, the Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) and the city of Vorkuta, had spared no efforts in welcoming and entertaining the meeting attendants in an overwhelmingly splendid manner. The EPPR delegates were flown in to Vorkuta in a corporate EMERCOM jet and, within Vorkuta, transported by bus and everywhere escorted and saluted by officers of the Emergency Ministry.

The meeting was garnished with social events of stunning theatrical performances and lavish banquets as well as excursions to the city’s mine rescue service, Mining College, and Museum. Agenda items of the meeting included presentations on various issues related to Arctic Emergencies, Search and Rescue, and hazardous substances, as well as workshops on radioactive irradiation and oil spills.

In addition to the national delegations of the Arctic states, WWF Russia was represented at the meeting as were the Inuvialuit Game Council and IPS. RAIPON, however, was not represented at the meeting, nor was any of the other Permanent Participants, despite the fact that EPPR has expressed that it wishes to involve indigenous peoples in on-going and future projects.

Human health and wellbeing of Arctic populations were discussed at a recent international scientific and practical conference on Prevention and Management of Emergencies under the auspices of the Arctic Council’s Working Group on Emergency Prevention, and Preparedness and Response (EPPR). The conference took place in Anadyr, Chukotka, in August 2009, and was hosted by EMERCOM (Ministry of Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters). At the conference it was pointed out that northern residents and especially the Indigenous Peoples’ health and wellbeing are being challenged by climate and environmental changes and by man-made and natural disasters as well as by increased economic development. PCB and DDT are accumulated in the Arctic and constitute a risk for human health and wellbeing. PCB’s and DDT are found in abandoned barrels and substances buried in the ground that get released as permafrost thaws. This situation calls for new issues to be included in emergency planning, Mr. V. Chashchin from Northwest Centre of Science Hygiene and Public Health explained. Introduction of new diseases, such as vector borne diseases from invasive species (e.g. ticks), is of concern as are other risks introduced to the northern areas due to climate change and global warming. Sound and quick emergency responses to these challenges are important if human health and wellbeing are not to be undermined – such was the general message proceeding from the EPPR event.

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At the recent EPPR meeting held in Anadyr, Chukotka, August 17-21, Larisa Abryutina, member of the Executive Committee of RAIPON, presented a list of issues that in her view need to be addressed with regard to the safety of the population and human health and well being in the Russian North. According to Ms. Abryutina, these issues include: •    Communication of threats and dangerous situations to indigenous populations; •    Raising public awareness of prevention, preparedness and response to potential emergency situations; •    Reconstruction of mobile medical units operating in regions of the North; •    Re-establish network of local weather stations to monitor changes in the environment, for example risks of floods, strong winds and wild forest fires, and communicate it to indigenous communities. •    Transparency of economic development projects that take place in the North, for example results of impact assessment etc. should be communicated to impacted communities and peoples; •    Cooperation between authorities and indigenous peoples organizations. Indigenous peoples are not prepared for threats they do not know about (for example nuclear devices placed on their traditional hunting and fishing grounds and reindeer pasture areas) which renders communication and cooperation all the more crucial. Ms. L. Abryutina explained that restoration of traditional industries of people of the North would have a positive impact on ecological, political, economic and social security. Overall, the meeting highlighted the need for increased cooperation among authorities and institutions in Russia and in other Arctic states. In terms of emergency prevention and preparedness, it was made clear that increased participation of Indigenous Peoples and other residents of the Arctic mark out a definite way forward. The entire Emergency Preparedness, Prevention, and Response/Arctic Rescue event, organized and hosted by the Russian Federation Ministry of Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters, was presented as an international scientific and practical conference on ”Emergency prevention and the coordination of emergency responses in Arctic conditions including consequences for the environment”. The conference took place in the city of Anadyr, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russian Federation August 17-21, 2009. It was attended by representatives of Russian ministries, agencies, departments, institutions, representatives of the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia, and the Far East (RAIPON) and the Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat (IPS).

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The problem of disaster management of radiation in the Arctic was among the themes when EPPR (Arctic Council Working Group on Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response) gathered in Anadyr, Chukotka, in August. Radiation hazardous materials are being used all over the Russian Arctic, in nuclear power plants and other hazardous facilities as well as in nuclear powered icebreakers and transport ships. Besides, RITEG’s (radioisotope thermoelectric generators) for navigation at sea and other devices used for civilian and scientific purposes, are installed about the Russian Arctic. Many of these devices are old and have not been properly maintained for years due to remoteness and costliness. Although the removal of these old nuclear devices and replacing them with solar and wind powered navigation devices has begun. it is a slow and troublesome process. Even though these devices (RITEG’s) are placed in uninhabited areas, they do pose a potential threat to local people – especially indigenous peoples who travel long distances to reach their hunting and fishing grounds or herding their reindeer. It is an open question how well informed indigenous peoples in the North are of the threat these devices pose and how people should behave when near these devices. At the meeting, Vice-Governor E. Danilyuk of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug stressed that the considerable number of RITEG devices placed in Chukotka have not been maintained for years and that no one knows their actual state. Vice-Governor Danilyuk expressed his concern for the fact that local people may unhindered approach these devices. Therefore there is an urgent need for informing local communities about the risks and threats represented by the RITEGs - and not only in Chukotka but all across the Russian Arctic. Mitigating the unsustainable situation demands close cooperation – on national as well as international levels - between different institutions, and among other things calls for setting up centres for local awareness training.

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