The Clean Country program for waste removal will be implemented in three separate locations in the Arctic region, the press service of the Russian Natural Resources and Environment Ministry reported, citing Director of the Ecology' National Research Institute of Ecology (VNII Ekologiya) Sergei Fokin as saying at a meeting of the State Commission for Arctic Development's working group on providing environmental security and rational use of natural resources.  

The program includes removal of waste on the Franz Josef Land Archipelago, elimination of oil pollution in the water protection area of Kuznetsov Ruchei (Brook) (the Arkhangelsk Region) and in the tailings dam of Kular Gold Mill in the Ust-Yansky District in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

In 2017, geo-ecological assessment of contaminated areas of the Franz Josef Land Archipelago's islands will be carried out and followed by the collection, shipment and disposal for recycling purposes of at least 8,000 metric tons of industrial waste and consumption products from polluted areas. Approximately 476 million rubles will be allocated for the program in 2017, and 1.4 billion rubles total in three years, 2017-2019.

It is vital to reclaim the polluted water in the protection area around Kuznetsov Brook in the Mezen River basin in the Arkhangelsk Region's Mezensky District because of the risk to the environment and to public health. Costs are estimated at 15.6 million rubles, of which 13.3 million will be provided by the federal government. About 4,000 square meters will be cleared of 15,000 metric tons of oil product waste and oil contaminated soil, improving the ecology in an area with 3,500 people.

In 2019, the Kular Gold Mill tailings dam in the Ust-Yansky District of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) will be removed. The site is considered hazardous due to ore processing waste and toxicants. The cleanup will mitigate the residue from the tailings dam. In all, 12.3 hectares of land will be reclaimed. An allocation of 279.5 million rubles will be used for this project, including 248.7 million in federal funding.