The FCE enlisted the help of the Siberian Institute of GeoChemistry to conduct investigations on the Bratsk Reservoir and its biological resources. Some 934 samples were taken from 198 lake-bottom sites. Tests also were made on vegetation surrounding the chemical plants, as well as on fish, aquatic birds and 93 residents of the neighboring town of Komovalovo. The studies found extreme mercury contamination in soil, water and living things. In some areas downstream from the plants, mercury levels measured 3,000 times higher than normal.
Mercury continues to seep into the waterways, via the factories' waste heaps and drainage canals.
The Usolye and Sayansk companies continue to defend the use of mercury-cathode electrolysis in the production processes, despite the fact that the region's life expectancy continues to drop, and health statistics show high incidence of birth defects and other health problems. Local activist groups, such as the Baikal Environmental Wave, are attempting to educate people about this urgent problem, while seeking to identify methods to end mercury use and clean up the pollution. But the problem may be too immense for any clean-up plans. The extent of mercury pollution in the ground around Usolye is equal to half the total global production of mercury in 1992.