norwegian environmental engineers say that at least half a million people on the Kola peninsula in northern Russia are drinking water contaminated with raw sewage and heavy metals. They warn that these people may suffer major epidemics of diarrhoea because urine from chicken farms is leaking into the River Kola, a major source of the city's drinking water.

The Norwegian environmental engineers, who had conducted a two-year study on the drinking water quality in the region said that sewage pipes are old and broken. The water filtration plants are inadequate and chemical treatment, ineffectual. The study was commissioned by the Barents Euro-Arctic Region, an organisation that brings together nine regional governments including Russia, Norway, Finland and Sweden.Rune Rafaelsen, who is working with the project, says that stomach problems caused by dirty water may contribute to the high death rate among children in the area and could lead to several diseases. They point out that untreated sewage is dumped in the River Kola at Kilkinstroy, just 10 kilometres upstream from the main water intake for Murmansk.