After years of protests, environmentalists at Lake Baikal have a reason to celebrate. Russia's environmental protection agency Rosprirodnadzor has begun legal moves to stop work at a nearby pulp and paper plant, which is polluting the world's largest fres

Despite numerous warnings, the plant has continued to pour wastewater into the world’s oldest and deepest lake – known as the blue eye of Siberia.

Scientists estimate the lake’s age at 25 million years. It's the oldest in the world.

Bigger than some European countries, Baikal contains nearly a fifth of the world's fresh water, more than in the Great Lakes combined.

“The Pearl of Siberia” is the fanciful Russian name for Lake Baikal. Some Siberians believe it has a healing, mystical quality. But there is nothing soothing or spiritual about the environmental controversy surrounding the lake.

A paper mill built in the town of Baikalsk on the shore has been a consistent source of contamination for the lake. The mill uses hazardous chlorine technology for bleaching paper, resulting in the presence of many toxic pollutants, such as dioxins. 

The ecology watchdog estimated that their concentration exceed the norm by a thousand times. The government has long turned a blind eye to the problem. Now it seems to be changing its attitude.

“We’ve been extending the permit to the Baikal pulp and paper mill over the past few years. However, the plant constantly fails to meet our demands to update its facilities and recycle the water it uses. So it continues to pollute Baikal,” said Yury Trutnev, Minister of Natural Resources.

The agency suspended the plant’s licence last month, urging it to replace the outdated waste treatment facilities. Mill officials argue they have recently purchased some of the most up-to-date and best facilities in Russia.

“We cannot recycle the mill’s wastewater. We have good treatment equipment, but we cannot launch it because it's meant for liquid waste only, and the town keeps discharging its solid waste into our existing system. The municipality needs to build its own facilities and process its own waste,” said Leonid Sirotkin of the Environment Protection Unit at the Continental Management Company.

As long ago as 45 years ago scientists and ecologists protested against developing industry near Baikal. Economists calculated the mill wouldn't earn much money either.  However, Soviet officials ignored the warnings. They were lulled into thinking Baikal could withstand a toxic assault. Indeed, the lake has a unique but unexplained ability to clean itself.

Yet shutting the mill down today is not an option. The town of Baikalsk would suffer terribly as half of its 30,000 people depend on salaries from the mill.