Environmentalists, who have been trying to protect Lake Baikal, have suffered a major setback with the reopening of the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill, as decided by the Russian president Vladimir Putin. This mill had spilled toxic wastewater into Baikal for four decades. The mill shut down in 2008.

The mill has been operating partially since November. In May, the mill is expected to resume the paper-bleaching process that produces the toxic chlorides.

Lake Baikal, in southern Siberia near the Mongolian border, is the oldest and deepest freshwater lake in the world. Baikal holds one-fifth of the planet's unfrozen fresh water supply. The lake is included on the United Nations' World Heritage List. The lake provides the habitat for a rare freshwater seal among other biodiversity. Many locals consider the 12,248 square miles lake sacred.

With the reopening of the heavily polluting paper mill, the future of twenty percent of the world's supply of pure fresh water is in danger. An environmental law had led to the closure of the Baikal mill in 2008. Putin has proposed changes in the environmental law, which has allowed the mill to operate again.

In the past, the paper mill, that was built in 1966, had produced bleached cellulose and discharged as much as 4 million cubic feet of toxic waste into Lake Baikal annually. The Russian government had tried for almost 20 years to stop pulp production and conv...