Arkhangelsk, Irkutsk and the Baikal Region are also contaminated by dioxin generated from paper and pulp mills. The lower Volga Region, the Altai, Novosibirsk, Dzerzhinsk and other areas where chemical industries are located are also areas with a potentially high level of dioxin contamination. Russian and American project participants will travel to these regions in 1997 to begin assessing the problem and formulating strategy. In the US, the number one source of dioxin is incineration of municipal and industrial wastes. Several cities, including Moscow, are now under extreme pressure to grant construction permits for incinerators.
Incineration is seen as a viable means to dispose of the increasing volume of solid waste.
Opponents to incineration hope that public education on the dangers of dioxin and incineration will lead to responsible decision making and public involvement in waste management strategies for Russian municipalities. The CEC meetings in October supplied both sides with a basic understanding of the dioxin problems in each other's countries. The US delegation had a stronger interest in dioxin-related health issues, but lacked expertise in dioxin source reduction. In the future, more emphasis will be placed on understanding the sources of dioxin that exist in Russia and methods for eliminating them. This will require consultation with specialists in non-chlorine technologies, pollution prevention, economics and environmental law.