Soviet Writers and Artists Assail Baltic Oil Drilling Plans

A group of Soviet writers and artists Wednesday criticized government plans to proceed with offshore oil drilling in the Baltic Sea, saying the project posed a grave risk to the area’s ecology.

The warning, published in the weekly Literary Gazette and signed by 18 intellectuals, including Andre Vosnesensky, a leading Soviet poet, was the latest in a series of writers’ initiatives aimed at protecting the environment.

The writers said four drilling platforms are to be built off Kurskaya Kosa, a thin finger of sandy beach stretching out from the Lithuanian coast.

Citing studies showing that Baltic weather conditions sharply increase the probability of accidental oil spills and would complicate cleanup efforts, they warned that the coastal region would turn into a dead zone if the project went ahead.

“We very well recognize how important oil is to the country’s economy, but having become familiar with the drilling project, one simply has to wonder,” they said.

The Literary Gazette article followed a similar item in last week’s issue which warned of the ecological danger posed by dams being built off Leningrad to stem flooding.