“The Deadline has Already been Missed”: Wastewater Treatment in Soviet Russia: From Center to Periphery, 1960s–1970s

Abstract

Abstract: Based on a multiscale survey, this article examines the discourses and practices of wastewater treatment in Soviet Russia between the establishment of a new legislative and institutional framework in 1960 and the middle of the 1980s. While simply placing the question of wastewater treatment on the agenda during this period does present a contrast with the Stalinist era, the institutional proliferation of the 1960s and 1970s constituted an obstacle to improving the ecological health of rivers in certain regions. This is clearly illustrated by the situation in the city of Kalinin (known today as Tver) north-west of Moscow, and in particular the city of Ostashkov, on Lake Seliger. Despite the many alarms raised at the central, regional, and local levels, while well publicized the measures taken did not represent an ecological turn, despite the increase in environmental concerns at the time.