ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
Fire danger in forest and green areas
Inside the administrative borders of the city of Narva there are several forest areas, which during dry periods of the year can become fire dangerous. Larger forest areas, mostly consisted of dry pine forest, are located in the western and north-western parts of the city, in between the Pähklimäe district and the village of Olgina. The forest area is spread from the Narva river up to the Narva-Tallinn motorway, as well as partially to the other side, in the southern and south-western directions. The forest area mentioned above is characterized by the high frequency of popular attendance. In the Pähklimäe district, apartment buildings are located relatively close to the forest. To the south of the Narva-Tallinn motorway a forest area is surrounding garage cooperatives and a gas station of the company Statoil Eesti. Farther to the south from the forest area just mentioned, to the other side of a railway, there is an area covered by brushwood and waste, which can also be characterized by high fire danger during certain periods of the year. Besides that, fire hazardous forests inside the borders of Narva are located between ash dumps of the Baltic Electric Power Station and the Narva reservoir – this area is mostly filled by bog forest. The accessibility to the necessary supply of extinguishing waters, in case of such an emergency, is considered by the specialists to be at least satisfactory.
Accidents with dangerous substances
In the city of Narva among dangerous substances the following are used: chlorine, ammonia, liquid fuels, acids, bases, leather processing materials (polluting the environment), stronger disinfecting and washing devices, etc. As for the dangerous substances, the risk of an accident can be connected with both local handling of chemicals and their transportation.
Besides local risk sources, which have been considered in connection to concrete objects in the part 5 of the present work, transportation of various dangerous substances is conducted via railways, motorways and streets to enterprises and gas stations, as well as through the border checkpoint. Dangerous freights travel mostly by railway, also via the Tallinn-Narva motorway, Auvere road, Elektrijaama (Electric Power Station) road, and Kadastiku road. Local freightage (for instance, fuel transportation to gas stations) is conducted also via other roads and streets.
The quantities of above mentioned freights and transported substances were not known during implementation of this work, therefore principles of indirect assessment were applied. It was relatively hard to find information regarding companies engaged with transportation of chemicals, since the companies mentioned are not considered to be hazardous enterprises, independently of the danger from and amount of chemicals they are transporting. For this reason they are not directly obliged to publicise the structure, amounts and ways of transportation of those dangerous freights (section 2 of article 1 of the Economy and Communication Minister’s decree # 86 of 12. May 2003, concerning dangerous chemicals and hazardous enterprises, stipulates (subsection 3) that the requirements of this decree should not be applied to:
-transportation of a dangerous chemical outside the enterprise by motorway, railway, sea, inland water body, air;
-interim storage in a freight carriage with a purpose of further transportation;
-uploading and downloading at a sorting station, wharf or dockage;
-transportation from one freight carriage to another).
Pollution of drinking water
Pollution of drinking water can be more obvious in those city districts, which are not connected to the joint water network. The reasons can be casual, including getting of polluting substances either directly to a well due to negligence or intentional misdeed, or to the ground next to a well by soaking or together with precipitations. The biggest part of the city is supplied with quality drinking water by the company Narva Vesi, who is getting waters from the Mustajõe river water collectors. In this case, the worsening of water quality is possible, if some considerable amount of polluting substances happen to get into the waters of the Mustajõe river or if some significant abnormalities happen during the technological process of water processing. In both cases there are preconditions for quick detection of the pollution before getting of the polluted water to the final consumer. In those cases it is possible, as a primary solution, to use the reserve from water reservoirs, which would enable a time reserve for planning of the following actions. Theoretically, intentional pollution of the drinking water with a criminal purpose is possible, but those places, where it could be possible, are well protected.
Accidents in communal systems
Generally, as accidents in communal systems more common defects in water supply and canalisation were considered. Herewith, a circumstance was taken into account that those systems and/or their components are old and amortized. This creates possibilities either for discontinuation of water supply or for getting of impure sewage into the environment, dependently on what kind of system is touched by the accident.
From the point of view of systems inaction, among the most significant reasons are interruptions in electric energy supply. In case of the city of Narva, most of water consumers depend on the water disposal plant. The plant has a pure water reserve in case of interruption of the purifying process due to a longer stoppage in the electricity supply, or some other reasons.
Floods
The city of Narva is crossed by the Narva river, on which a dam for the Narva Power Electric Station was built. For this reason the basic part of the water stream was directed round the natural river-bed. The bigger flood danger in the low areas next to the river valley can be caused either by very high water positions or by a breakdown of dam constructions. Problems connected with maintenance of the dam on the Narva reservoir mostly arise from the fact that the structure is located right on the Estonian-Russian state control line. The biggest part of the city of Narva is situated on relatively high coasts of the Narva river, for what reason there is no flood danger even in case of a significant rise of the water level. In more dangerous position are low areas in the beach district next to the city centre, and the northern part of the city. In case of high water position the Jõe street, which lies beneath the bastions, could partially remain under the water. In case of high waters the areas next to the Narva reservoir would also run the danger, as well as low areas in the Paemurru ponds district. Local floods could happen in the Daumani street district, where possible obstructions in water effluence could be caused by particularities of the drainage system.
Extraordinary natural phenomena (storms, snowfalls, etc.)
As for extraordinary natural phenomena, in the course of the initial risk analysis there were no elaborated researches, for what reason the assessment was made on the base of indirect information, relying on events, which have recently taken place in Estonia and Europe.
Worth mentioning separately are possible effects of extraordinary natural phenomena on the systems of electricity supply. In recent years in Estonia several whirlwind storms happened, whose strength and destructive effect were sharply increasing. In spring of the year 2002 a whirlwind storm crooked 110 metal corner masts of the high-voltage lines. In the worst case it is not excluded that such a whirlwind storm could somewhere in the nearest future touch the most important distribution devices of the region. It is possible that the restoration of crooked metal constructions and broken apparatuses and transformers will take more time and money than the construction of a new substation on a new place. This is much more probable than a simultaneous destruction of several big high-voltage lines by a whirlwind storm or a hurricane. Hence, it would be necessary to consider a possibility that the most important substations of Narva and Vaivara could drop off for a long period of time.
Even more dangerous might be situation, when by the influence of natural powers (for instance, accumulation of ice-hummock on the Narva river) the water level in the Narva reservoir decreases. In this case there is a danger that both Estonian and Baltic Power Electric Stations don’t receive enough water necessary for working in full capacity, which will cause serious interruptions in the electricity supply over the whole region (Estonia, other Baltic States, the north-western part of Russia) and in heating of the city of Narva.
Very heavy showers could favour floods and inundations, including overload of sewage pipe-bend systems in bigger settlements with streets and roads with hard cover, floods in basements of buildings, etc.
Animal pestilences and dangers caused by animals
In the course of the initial risk analysis no data was received concerning dangers caused by animals.
To be used as an indirect data, materials regarding rabies as the most dangerous animal pestilence were taken from the Internet server of the Estonian Health Protection Inspectorate in order to make the initial risk assessment. In addition, the problem of animal bites was surveyed. There were no specific materials regarding the city of Narva, therefore the data on Ida-Virumaa was used. The relative incidence of rabies in the years 1999-2002 was below the average among all Estonian counties for both domestic and wild animals. In terms of animal attack indices Ida-Virumaa didn’t belong to the Estonian “leaders”, but the correspondent figures as for dog attacks in the years 2000-2003 were totally considerable.
1)As a result of the initial risk analysis, implemented in the course of this work, it is possible to sum up, that in the city of Narva various accidents with very hard consequences, which could cause an emergency situation, are possible with low or moderate probability. At the same time, different accidents with hard consequences and their combinations are possible with quite considerable probability. For that reason it might be necessary to elaborate on the accident possibilities, and to develop and apply the supplementary methods of crisis management.
2)Among the dangerous substances, one of the most problematic is the gaseous chlorine, used at the water disposal plant of the company Narva Vesi. According to the data of the risk analysis of the enterprise, the area of danger in case of a more serious accident in a warm period of the year would extend to 2 kilometres from the spot of leakage, which means that first of all the danger could threaten a big part of the Narva population, and after that the effect could transcend the Estonian-Russian state control line, which could be conditionally considered an international effect. From the point of view of possible accidents, a significant importance belongs to liquid fuels, which are being delivered via both railway and motorways, sold at gas stations, and used for motor transport and agricultural machinery. In the course of the initial risk analysis no comprehensive data was received regarding nomenclature, amounts and density of fuels moving along railway and major motorways, since at the present moment deliverers of dangerous freights have no corresponding obligation to inform public authorities.
3)Informational materials devoted to the danger of big accidents and demanded by hazardous enterprises, are mostly prepared on the base of the Internal Affairs Minister’s decree # 64 of 01. June 1999 “The procedure of risk analysis at a hazardous enterprise, the requirements for accident prevention and actions in case of an accident, and the procedure of drawing-up and handing-in of the informational bulletin, safety report and emergency plans at an enterprise with a danger of a major accident“, which has already expired by now. Currently in force is the Internal Affairs Minister’s decree # 55 of 12. May 2003 “The procedure of drawing-up and handing-in of the informational bulletin, safety report and plans of emergency solutions at a hazardous enterprise or enterprise with a danger of a major accident, and listing of enterprises with a danger of a major accident”, which, for instance, sets much more elaborated requirements for chemical related informational bulletins.
4)As regards natural combustibles, attention should be paid to forest tracts located on the territories of the city and parish, especially to dry pine forests. A big part of forest tracts of the Vaivara parish is quite remote from the salvage service commandos, for what reason the reaction period could turn to be longer than optimal. In some areas there are problems with the access to the extinguishing waters.
5)The water and heating supply in Narva is very much dependant on normal functioning of two enterprises – the joint-stock company Narva Vesi and the Baltic Power Electric Station correspondingly. More serious interruptions in the work of these enterprises could significantly damage the functioning of vital spheres in the entire city, and cause urgency situations.
6)The electricity supply of the whole republic and neighbouring regions depends to high extent on the functioning of the Estonian Electric Power Station. Providing normal work of the Station has a precondition of maintaining a certain water level in the Narva reservoir. If for various reasons it is not possible, and the Station comes to a full stop, this could cause an emergency situation on the entire territory of Estonia, with a need to declare a state of emergency.
7)Relative incidence of infectious diseases in the region is above the average in Estonia, but during recent years the corresponding indices have improved. Spreading of rabies, which is one of the most dangerous (for humans as well) animal pestilences, is below the whole-Estonian average.