Clean Baltic Sea News 2 / 2013
CREADESIGN OY
Horisontti, a work of art built of
steel name plates or ‘gleams’, will
be created on the Jätkäsaari pier,
where it will be handed over to
the City of Helsinki during The Tall
Ships Races Helsinki 2013 event.
Hannu Kähönen
With the work of art, placed in the immediate
vicinity of the sea, Hannu Kähönen wishes to
underline the importance of the protection
of the Baltic Sea.
‘While creating the work, familiar images of the
sunny, open Baltic Sea and its gleaming horizon
were often on my mind. Unfortunately, the status
of the beautiful Baltic Sea has deteriorated year
after year. The clarity of the water has decreased
dramatically, and, as everyone who has been in
the archipelago knows, continuously increasing
blooms of blue-green algae are an all-too-familiar
sight. The length of the piece corresponds to the
average depth of the Baltic Sea, which is no more
than 54 metres. I wanted this to illustrate the
vulnerability of the Baltic Sea. I hope the work will
be a gleaming symbol of a cleaner Baltic Sea.’
www.puhdasitameri.fi | www.cleanbalticsea.fi
Joint campaign of the John Nurminen Foundation
and the City of Helsinki acknowledges the names of
donors who support the Baltic Sea in an artwork
located in Jätkäsaari, Helsinki
In association with the Tall Ships Races
Helsinki 2013, The John Nurminen
Foundation and the Baltic Sea Challenge
of the cities of Helsinki and Turku, kicked
off in May a joint campaign to promote the
Baltic Sea. As the campaign moves ahead,
Horisontti, a work of art built of steel name plates or ‘gleams’, will be created on
the Jätkäsaari pier, where it will be handed over to the City of Helsinki during The
Tall Ships Races Helsinki 2013 event. The net profit of the campaign will be used
by the Foundation’s Clean Baltic Sea projects, which work for the reduction of
eutrophication-inducing phosphorus in the Baltic Sea. The campaign aims to raise
roughly €210,000 before expenses.
For private individuals, the campaign sets the challenge of donating €50 in
support of the John Nurminen Foundation’s work for the Baltic Sea. After making
a donation, all campaign participants will have a plate, i.e. a ‘gleam’, with their
name on it; the gleams will be used in the artwork created in Jätkäsaari, Helsinki.
Designated ‘gleams’ can also be given as presents. The work of art will be built
piece by piece, as donations accrue. The design of the work is donated by the
designer and professor Hannu Kähönen from the Creadesign design agency.
Other companies involved in building the work also contribute to its costs. High
Metal Production Oy will donate the assembly of the piece, and the company has
also participated in implementation design. Suomen Vesileikkaus Oy donates the
cutting of the plates. Outokumpu donates the materials and Ramboll donates the
extra design work required for the street and park constructions.
Horisontti (the horizon), a work of
art designed by Hannu Kähönen,
reminds us of the uniqueness of
the Baltic Sea during The Tall Ships
Races Helsinki 2013
Clean baltic sea news 1 / 2013 · 2
The City of Helsinki participates in the campaign via the Baltic Sea Challenge and
The Tall Ships Races Helsinki 2013 event. The ownership of the work of art will be
handed over to the Baltic Sea Challenge and received during The Tall Ships Races
Helsinki 2013 by one of the two initiators of the challenge, Mayor Jussi Pajunen.
Study commissioned by John Nurminen Foundation
confirms risk for major phosphorus leaks from
phosphogypsum stacks in Gdansk and Police, Poland
Kun lahjoitat
50 euroa
Sinun Nimesi
Foundation commissioned study to support HELCOM research
jää Itämeren
suojelun historiaan.
www.tallshipsraceshelsinki.fi/lahjoitus
2013
How to participate?
Make a donation of 50 euros at
www.tallshipsraceshelsinki.fi/lahjoitus.
After completing the process, you will
receive the number of your gleam.
You can also designated “gleams”
as a present.
MAX EDIN
The John Nurminen Foundation has commissioned a risk evaluation of phosphogypsum
stacks that have been formed as a result of phosphorus production in the catchment
area of the Baltic Sea. The study was made by engineering and consulting company
Pöyry. According to the evaluation, there is a risk of a major leakage from the
Fosfory gypsum pile located in Gdansk, Poland, potentially as high as 500 tonnes of
phosphorus annually. In addition, the largest phosphogypsum stack in the area of
the Baltic Sea, located in Police in the western coast of Poland, may leak hundreds of
thousands of phosphorus annually.
In the spring of 2012, the John Nurminen Foundation worked in co-operation with
the Russian company EuroChem to curbe the leakage to the Luga river from their
fertilizer factory situated in Kingisepp, northwestern Russia. As a result of the cooperation, the phosphorus discharges that previously amounted to as high as 1700
tonnes are now being treated.
After the Luga river leak became public, concern for other similar sources in
the Baltic Sea catchment area was expressed by the organizations involved in the
protection of the Baltic Sea. The fertilizer factory leakages within the catchment area
of the Baltic Sea have consequently been researched by The Baltic Marine Environment
Commission HELCOM together with the member states of the Commission. In
support of this work, the John Nurminen Foundation wanted to provide HELCOM an
independent outside evaluation of the discharges from the phosphogypsum stacks
and their environmental protection measures. The idea was to provide a report as
background material for the HELCOM Heads of Delegation Meeting, which is the
highest decision-making body within HELCOM after the Ministerial Meeting.
First tankers now deploying ENSI navigation service
The Tanker Safety co-operation project has now progressed to the deployment phase
of the ENSI (Enhanced Navigation Support Information) service. During this spring,
ENSI service has been installed and deployed in all Neste Shipping tankers. These
tankers have also started sending their route plans. In early autumn, the goal is to
extend the deployment to other shipping companies and the final goal is to bring
ENSI onto all tankers sailing in the Gulf of Finland by the year-end.
The Finnish Transport agency is responsible for implementing and maintaining the
ENSI system. ENSI was integrated in Transport Agency traffic management systems
in May and the piloting continues until year-end.
www.puhdasitameri.fi | www.cleanbalticsea.fi
Clean baltic sea news 1 / 2013 · 3
TUULA PUTKINEN
Why is ENSI service needed?
The safety of marine traffic will improve, when the vessel traffic management has
more knowledge of the vessels’ intentions, and also the vessel traffic management
can check the route plans made by the vessels. As for the vessels, they can now send
their route plans to the vessel traffic management and get feedback on the risks on
their planned route. In addition, ENSI portal will provide the vessels e.g. warnings
and weather information digitally, i.e. on the Internet.
Construction works and equipment procurement led
by the John Nurminen Foundation, seeking to boost
the efficiency of wastewater treatment, are now
underway at three Belarusian wastewater treatment
plants
The visit to Finland was a first for all of the
guests. Tommi Fred from the Helsinki Region
Environmental Services Authority hosted the visit
to Viikinmäki, and explained that in Helsinki,
chemical phosphorus removal was first deployed
in the late 1970s. During the 1970s, the annual
phosphorus load discharged to the waterways
from Helsinki was still roughly 400 tonnes.
Today, the figure is only around 20 tonnes.
The guests were also interested in tariffs, biogas
production by means of sludge decomposition,
and the reuse of composted sludge in soil
improvement.
www.puhdasitameri.fi | www.cleanbalticsea.fi
The PRESTO project, or the Project on Reduction of the Eutrophication of the Baltic
Sea Today, is moving ahead according to schedule, improving wastewater treatment
and wastewater knowhow in Belarusian cities. In May, the leaders of the committees
in charge of three Belarusian water utilities and regional wastewater treatment
plant infrastructure came to Finland for a four-day visit. During the visit, the John
Nurminen Foundation and the Belarusian project partners discussed practical,
investment-related questions. The guests also visited the Viikinmäki wastewater
treatment plant – the largest not only of Finland but of all the Nordic countries – and
acquainted themselves with Finnish wastewater treatment technology.
The PRESTO equipment investments for improving the efficiency of nutrient removal from the wastewaters of Grodno, Molodechno and Vitebsk have now moved
on to the competitive bidding phase. The international bidding competitions for
equipment delivery are open until the end of May. Bids are requested for chemical
phosphorus removal equipment and for equipment that boosts biological nutrient
removal. The PRESTO target with the greatest potential environmental impact is to
have the treatment plants treat their wastewaters in line with the recommendation
of the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission HELCOM (maximum of 0.5
mg of phosphorus per outgoing litre of wastewater). Through their achievements
in wastewater treatment, the water utilities participating in the PRESTO project
and its predecessor PURE, one of which is located in Brest, Belarus, set an example
to other Belarusian wastewater treatment plants. The target is to finalise PRESTO
project investments during the summer of 2014. The investments also support any
major rebuilding efforts of the future.
Director Sviatoslav Karpinski explained that the water utility of Grodno, a city
with 340,000 inhabitants, is strongly committed to the objectives of the PRESTO
project. ‘Spurred on by the PRESTO project, the Grodno wastewater treatment
plant is renewing its existing technology. This will lead to permanent improvements
in the quality of wastewater treatment. Our visit to Finland was both useful and
very interesting. At the seminar and during the visit we were able to find mutually
acceptable answers to many open questions.’
Stanislav Bakun, the director of the water utility of Molodechno, a city with
100,000 inhabitants, said that wastewater treatment in the city has to deal with
Clean baltic sea news 2 / 2013 · 4
Onninen GROUP
Onninen Group continues to support
the John Nurminen Foundation’s
Clean Baltic Sea projects
Photo up left: Marjukka Porvari, Director,
Phosphorus Removal Projects, Secretary
General Erik Båsk from the Foundation, and
Timo Mänty, CEO of Onninen Group.
Front: Chairman of the Board of Onninen
Group, Maarit Toivanen-Koivisto and
Chairman of the Board of the Foundation,
Juha Nurminen.
the Clean Baltic Sea blog
Minister of the Environment Ville Niinistö’s
column about Luga river and
Ralf Klenberg from Onninen Group in
Me and the Baltic Sea series.
http://www.cleanbalticsea.fi/
the additional challenge of discharges from the food industry, including milk and meat
processing plants. ‘The board of directors of the Molodechno water utility is very grateful
for being invited to join the PRESTO project. After our visit, we understand Finland’s
concern for the status of the Baltic Sea. Belarus is located inland, but after our visit to
Helsinki, located by the sea, as well as the eastern parts of the Gulf of Finland, we now
understand the Finnish view of a shared Baltic Sea.’
Director Aleksandr Sahovski from the Vitebsk water utility said that the wastewater
treatment plant receives wastewaters from the city’s 370 000 inhabitants and the
12 smaller villages that surround the city. The plant will deploy chemical phosphorus
removal and obtain equipment, such as pumps and blowers, that improve the efficiency
of biological processes. ‘Naturally, the new equipment is very important to us. I would,
however, wish to emphasise that the training provided by the PRESTO project to the
staff of the water utility is equally significant and crucially important for our efforts
in the long run. It has also been a joy to work with our new partners from the John
Nurminen Foundation.’
The audience of the Helsinki Festival helps the Baltic Sea
The Helsinki Festival and the John Nurminen Foundation have launched their cooperation
in support of the protection of the Baltic Sea. When purchasing tickets for events,
visitors of the Helsinki Festival can pay a support donation which is directed in full to
the Foundation’s Clean Baltic Sea projects. ‘As the largest festival in the Baltic Sea
area, we want to do our share of the concrete work done to protect the Baltic Sea’,
explains Erik Söderblom, Director of the Helsinki Festival. This year, the Helsinki Festival
takes place 16 August – 1 September. The programme of the festival is available at
http://www.helsinginjuhlaviikot.fi/en/
Onninen Group continues to support the John Nurminen
Foundation’s Clean Baltic Sea projects
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www.lahjoitapuhdasitameri.fi
Onninen Group and the John Nurminen Foundation have concluded a two-year
agreement in support of the Foundation’s Clean Baltic Sea projects. The agreement is
a continuation of the cooperation established in 2011. According to the agreement,
Onninen will donate a total of €100,000 to the John Nurminen Foundation’s Clean Baltic
Sea projects in 2013–2014. The equipment support of €100,000, designated for use at
two targets in 2011–2012, was changed in the newly-signed agreement to monetary
support, which can be flexibly used by any of the Foundation’s phosphorus removal
projects in the Baltic Sea catchment area. Maarit Toivanen-Koivisto, Chair of Onninen
Group’s Board of Directors, and Juha Nurminen, Chair of the Board of Directors of the
John Nurminen Foundation, signed the agreement on 27 May at the Vantaa head offices
of Onninen, a company that celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
Name of the fund
Clean Sea Fund
Domestic payments
NORDEA 159630-76523
Fundraising permit
John Nurminen Foundation/National Police Board 2020/2012/4285,
January 10, 2013 - December 31, 2014, whole Finland excluding Åland