"The enterprise has been illegally dumping industrial waste with increased levels of pollutants into the lake [Baikal]," the prosecutor general's website said.
Russia's environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzor said in late January the contamination of Baikal, the world's largest freshwater lake, by the Baikal pulp mill will cost Russia 2 billion rubles ($83.9 million) per month.
Rosprirodnadzor imposed in early December 2007 a five-day ban on the dumping of waste into Lake Baikal from the mill, and filed a lawsuit against the company for damages of over 475 million rubles ($19.9 million). The watchdog eventually increased the size of the legal claim to 4.2 billion rubles ($176 million).
The Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill, which produces 200,000 metric tons of pulp and 12,000 metric tons of paper per year, is located in East Siberia. The mill is owned by the timber industrial company Continental Management (51%) and the State Property Committee of Russia (49%).
