Vaade Kohtla-Järvele, september 2011.Kuigi Ida-Virumaad nimetatakse tihti tuhamägede maaks, siis tegelikult on tuhamägesid rohkem kui 30-st mäest ainult 2. Ülejäänud on kaevanduste aherainemäed (ehk põlevkivist eemaldatud paas) ja õlitööstuse jääkidest koosnevad poolkoksi mäed. Pildil nähtavasse poolkoksimägede ahelikku kuulus vähemalt enne sulgemistöid ka tegelik Eesti kõrgeim tehismägi – vastupidiselt Kiviõli mäele tehtavale reklaamile. Kumb mägedest pärast sulgemistööde lõppu peale jääb, seda näitab aeg.
Kui mul oleks Ida-Virumaa iseloomustamiseks võimalik valida üksainus pilt, siis osutuks valituks just see. Antud pilt on minu jaoks otsekui lühikokkuvõte Ida-Virumaast - lagunev eramu esiplaanil, kaevandatud maale ehitatud Kohtla-Järve linnaosa keskplaanil ning taamal tossav tööstus oma jäätmetega.
Boonuspildiks talvine vaade samast kohast.
Käva kaevanduse aherainemägi, september 2011.Minu käest on tihti küsitud, et miks ma teen Ida-Virumaale antireklaami või et kas ma tahan hirmasti töösturitele „ära panna“ – ma ei püüa ei ühte ega teist. Ma pildistan seda, mida mulle meeldib ning mitte kellelegi ära panemine ei suudaks mind sundida aegajalt kell 4 hommikul tõusma, et taas mõne kaevanduse aherainemäe otsa ronida või jäätmehoidlate auru hingata. Kindlasti saaks iga minu koleilusa tööstusmaastiku kõrvale panna vähemalt võrdväärsed pildid Ida-Virumaa puutumata loodusest – rabadest, metsadest, pankrannikust ja kasvõi ELFi vapiloomast lendoravast, keegi peaks lihtsalt kätte võtma ja need pildid ära tegema. Minu looming püüab pigem näidata meie elu tavapäraseid teemasid (nagu seda on kaevandamine ja elektri tootmine) veidi nihestatud perspektiivis.
Mitmed neist aherainemägedest on aegade jooksul ka põlenud, Kiviõli poolkoksimägi aga tossab siiamaani.
Vaade Käva kaevanduse aherainemäe otsast, mai 2011.Reisikaaslastega mööda Ida-Virumaad sõites on mult palju küsitud, et kas ühest või teisest kohast läheb kaevanduskäik alt läbi. Meie kaevandused pole siiski kullasooni jälgivad käigud – kuna põlevkivi paikneb maa all kihina, tuleb sellest niipalju kui võimalik välja võtta ning tulemuseks on sõltuvalt kaevandamismeetodist kas suured sammastega saalid või vajunud maa. „Kui suur ala tühjaks õõnestada kukub see ju sisse“ öeldakse selle peale – jah, varisebki, just selle tulemusena tekkinud „vahvelmaastikku“ on antud pildil näha. Kas tegemist on põlevkivile kaotatud maaga (nagu seda vahel nimetada tavatsetakse) või mitte jäägu igaühe enda otsustada.
Lained põllul on lihtsam versioon sedasorti järelmõjudest, lodumetsas on efekt selline.
Ekskursioon Kohtla Kaevanduspark-muuseumis, september 2009.Kuigi põlevkivi ja kaevandused on mu fotodel hästi esindatud, pole mul endal töötavat kaevandust külastada õnnestunud. Et maa-alust pilti siiski kätte saada olen veetnud kümneid tunde kaamera ja statiiviga Kaevandusmuuseumis. Tegemist on muuseumiks kohandatud endise Kohtla kaevanduse osaga ning kuigi sealne tehnika ja olu on arhailine, on see siiski lähim asi päris kaevandusele, mida tavainimesel kogeda on võimalik. Soovitan seda kõigile, kel vähegi huvi selle vastu, kust nende pistikusse vool tuleb. Alternatiivina võib Ida-Virumaalt läbi sõites omale ette kujutada, mis parasjagu sõitja jalgeall maapõues toimub – sarnaseid kaevanduskäike jagub nii Tallinna kui ja Tartu maantee alla.
Kaevandusmuuseumist on mul läbi aegade palju pilte, nii lihtsat dokumentalistikat kui ka kunstilisemat taotlust.
Ahtme kaevanduse väljavool, aprill 2011.Keset metsa maa seest väljapurskav vesi toob tahtmatult mõttesse paralleeli Tuhala nõiakaevuga ja kuigi põhjustajaks on neil seesama ühendatud anumate seadus, on antud juhul selleks ühenduseks suletud ja nüüdseks vett täis valgunud Ahtme kaevandus, mis paikneb Jõhvi kõrgustiku serval. Selle kaevanduse mastaapide hoomatavamaks muutmiseks võib tuua lihtsa võrdluse – kui Ülemiste järves on vett umbes 17 miljonit kuupmeetrit, siis Ahtme kaevanduses on seda hinnanguliselt 36 miljonit kuupmeetrit, seejuures pole tegemist üldse kõige suurema kaevandusega.
Väljavoolud on tekkinud või tekitatud ka teiste kaevanduste juurde, näiteks Tammiku kaevanduses, kus liigvesi pääseb välja läbi korrastatud varinguaugu või siis suletud Kohtla kaevandusest Aidu karjääri voolavad Aidu kosed (karjäärile on need ainult nuhtluseks, sest see vesi tuleb uuesti välja pumbata).
Vanaküla karjäär, august 2010.Fotograafi silm otsib tahes-tahtmata kontraste ja visuaalset intriigi. Kuigi seda pilti on nähtavalt töödeldud, on siin kõikide elementide proportsioonid nii nagu nähtud, midagi ei ole lisatud, eemaldatud ega teise pildi pealt juurde kleebitud. Kuigi ma ise pean oma töid rohkem vabas vormis eneseväljenduseks kui dokumentalistikaks, seab tööstusmaastike pildistamine omad piirangud – kuna tegemist on paljude jaoks väga tundliku teemaga, peavad ka mu pildid olema ausad ega tohi reaalsusest liiga kaugele minna. Neli aastat tööstusmaastike pildistamist ja blogimipidamist on mulle õpetanud, et kuigi äärmuslike seisukohtade võtuga oleks palju lihtsam odavat populaarsust võita, annan ma endale aru, et ma ei ole ligilähedaseltki ekspert oma piltidel kujutatule hinnangu andmiseks.
Ääremärkusena olgu öeldud, et see ekskavaator on üpris väike võrreldes Narva karjääris töötavate dragline'dega, mille noole pikkuseks on 90m.
Endine Sirgala karjäär, nüüdne Sirgala harjutusväli, november 2011.Üheks mu huviks on vaadata ja jäädvustada seda, kuidas inimesed tööstusmaastikele kasutust leiavad. Hea näide sellest on endise Sirgala karjääri territooriumil peetav Avo Šultsi Mälestusvõistlus, mille käigus maasturid mõõtu võtavad. Leidsin selle ürituse sõna otseses mõttes jälgede järgi – mahajäetud karjääris uidates hakkasid silma autojäljed kohtades, kuhu inimesed ilma väga selge motivatsioonita küll oma autodega ronida ei tohiks. Nüüdseks on mu iga-novembriseks traditsiooniks saanud seda võistlust pildistamas käia. Muul ajal aga võib sel maastikul kohata ainult metsloomi, jahimehi ja Eesti Kaitseväge oma õppusi läbi viimas.
Boonuseks pilt samalt võistluselt, mis annab hästi edasi karjääri mastaape.
Eesti Soojuselektrijaama settebassein, juuli 2008.Elektrijaamade „rohelised järved“ oli üks esimesi tööstusmaastikke, mille pildistamisega ma juba 90- ndatel algust tegin ning siia olen ma ikka ja jälle tagasi pöördunud. Kui endal enam üllatusmomenti ei teki, on huvitav jälgida neid inimesi, kes seda kohta esmakordselt külastavad. Üllatusmomenti ei teki ilmselt enam ammu ka kohalikel, kes sõidavad nendest tiikidest mööda, et jõuda oma Narva jõe äärsetesse suvilatesse. Ise olen ma käinud siin nii päikesetõusul kui ka loojangul, kevadel ja sügisel, kuid üks õnnestunumaid ülesvõtteid pärineb hetkest enne suvist äiksevihma.
Eesti Eelktrijaamast on mul pilte nii öösel, kui päeval, nii juhtimiskeskusest kui turbiinisaalist.
Ühte osa Eestist olengi ainult Sinu piltidel näinud. Vahel ikka vaatan ja imestan, mis üllatavaid moodustisi ja vaateid Sa püüdnud oled. Õnnitlused meediakajastuse puhul!
ReplyDeleteTänud ja viimane aeg ise Ida-Viru külastada, aktiivsem pildihooaeg just algamas :)
ReplyDeletePeab ka ikka ise vaatama minema... Lehte kätte võttes olid nood pildid esimene mis silma hakkas, ja kohe tuli Sinu nimi pähe :)
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDeleteKarel, could you kindly translate this passage of yours to English? It looks interesting, Google Translate produces certain garbage on this, and my Estonian is too poor to get a clear meaning...
ReplyDelete"Kuigi Ida-Virumaad nimetatakse tihti tuhamägede maaks, siis tegelikult on tuhamägesid rohkem kui 30-st mäest ainult 2. Ülejäänud on kaevanduste aherainemäed (ehk põlevkivist eemaldatud paas) ja õlitööstuse jääkidest koosnevad poolkoksi mäed. Pildil nähtavasse poolkoksimägede ahelikku kuulus vähemalt enne sulgemistöid ka tegelik Eesti kõrgeim tehismägi – vastupidiselt Kiviõli mäele tehtavale reklaamile. Kumb mägedest pärast sulgemistööde lõppu peale jääb, seda näitab aeg.
Kui mul oleks Ida-Virumaa iseloomustamiseks võimalik valida üksainus pilt, siis osutuks valituks just see. Antud pilt on minu jaoks otsekui lühikokkuvõte Ida-Virumaast - lagunev eramu esiplaanil, kaevandatud maale ehitatud Kohtla-Järve linnaosa keskplaanil ning taamal tossav tööstus oma jäätmetega."
It would be something like this:
ReplyDelete"Although Ida-Virumaa is often called a land of ash mountains, only 2 out of the 30+ mountains are actually made of ash. The rest are mineral waste (limestone that is separated from oil shale) and half-coke (thermically processed oil shale leftover) produced by the oil industry. The highest manmade mountain in Estonia is actually situated in the mountain range seen in this picture - on the contrary to the widely-held belief that it's in Kiviõli. Time will tell which mountain will be the highest after the closure works.
If I had to pick just one picture to illustrate Ida-Virumaa, this picture would be my choice. It's like a short summary of the county - disintegrating house in the foreground, city district built on mined land in the middle, industry with its smoking chimneys and waste mountains in the background."
Ah, that explains why the approximate meaning I got from Google Translate failed to compose a clear picture in my head!
DeleteI thought that "ash" was a poetic word for mineral waste. Now it appears, if I got your thought right, that more than thirty hills (including the Kiviõli so-called "ash" hill) are made of mineral waste, while only two hills (supposedly, Kukruse and Käva - am I right?) are made of actual ash that came from burning the oil shale or its derivatives. Is it so?
So in your original passage I failed to recognise that you juxtaposed ash and mineral waste... I guess, the misunderstanding might have derived from the fact that both ash and mineral waste are by-products of oil shale industry as a whole.
While your derogatory attitude towards phony "ash" hills is easy to understand, I am not sure why you believe that hills made of mineral waste will be degrading, while true hard-core ash hills will become the highest standing, shining in oncoming glory :)
Seriously, is there any physical / chemical reason for that? Is ash really stronger and more stable than mineral waste + coke?
Thanks a lot for the translation!
DeleteWiki says, "As some spoil tips resulting from industries such as coal or oil shale production can contain a relatively high proportion of hydrocarbons, they can commence spontaneous subterranean combustion, which can be followed by surface fires. Such fires can follow slow combustion of residual hydrocarbons. Their extinction can require complete encasement, which can prove impossible for technical and financial reasons. Sprinkling is generally ineffective and injecting water under pressure counter-productive, because it carries oxygen, bringing the risk of explosion." It is called "Subterranean combustion".
Deletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoil_tip
Did you mean this process as a possible reason for a mineral waste hills to degrade? I noticed smoke coming from the grass on your photo of Kivioli ash hill. Is that what you meant? Are ash hills immune to it?
Also, I was happy to find that Russian word "террикон" as a proper name for spoil tip / mineral waste hill comes from French "terre conique"!
There is no derogatory attitude towards anything, really :) My original text is a bit overcomplicated and some of it could also be lost in translation, so I'll try to explain differently.
DeleteMy main point was to bust the myth that the highest man-made mountain is in Kiviõli (I know there are even road signs saying it IS the highest), which is false - according to my best knowledge which is coming from high precision relief map of Estonia. But in both Kiviõli and Kohtla-Järve, the half-coke mountains are being "closed" - meaning they're flattened and covered with waterproof material. A picture of this can be seen here: http://pr.pohjarannik.ee/?p=5314. That's why their height is changing and I'm not sure which will stay the highest.
In general, there are 3 kinds of waste (and I'm probably overgeneralizing):
1) mineral waste that is left over from the mines - oil shale layers are mixed with limestone, limestone is separated and stored. Newer mines don't create mountains, but plateaus instead: http://karelkravik.com/2012/05/polevkivi-v-aheraine.html. The waste material used to contain relatively high percentage of oil shale, and that's why some of these mountains burned and some still do, most notably Kukruse - 45 years after closing the mine.
2) ash - produced by power plants (see tags Eesti SEJ, Balti SEJ, Ahtme SEJ, where SEJ=ТЭЦ), where oil shale is completely burnt and the no organics are left. Only Püssi power plant stored ash in mountain form, the rest of the power plants are creating immense plateaus with green ponds.
3) half-coke (probably not the right term, but I can't find a better one) - leftover from the oil industry. Oil shale is thermally processed, but not burnt, leaving high levels of organic material in the waste. This is what you can see in Kohtla-Järve and Kiviõli. I've witnessed myself the burning of older Kiviõli mountain and it's been in the news that burning is holding back the closing works in Kohtla-Järve.
Oh, I was joking about "derogatory" :)
DeleteYes, thank you, now the meaning of that passage is perfectly clear!
Where do you get all this information about oil shale industry? Are there some books you would recommend - especially about Ida-Virumaa? I know almost nothing about it! The only thing I read was a book in Russian I found in Kivioli, it was called somewhat like "Кивиыли: дважды рождённый". I found some details there - about living and working conditions of the miners in the shafts of Kivioli and Pussi. While the book seems rather biased towards "the Soviet is the best" and "there was no life in Estonia before 1944" (it was published more than 30 years ago, maybe even 40!), some details were really vivid - like the miners who paid for their explosives themselves! But I know nothing else about industries of Ida-Viru region :(
By the way, today I found a post with photos of Tallinn more than half a century ago:
http://visualhistory.livejournal.com/159463.html
My info is mostly coming from a couple of mining textbooks (Eesti Mäendus - Estonian Mining Technology), a lot of articles, blogs etc. Estonian Land Board is hosting very-very good and precise map with amazing possibilities - this was a game-changer when I found it. And of course you cannot downplay the importance of visiting all the places in real life and talking to people. I've probably sunk something like 2000-3000 hours into this stuff over the years.
DeleteI'm very particular about the information and knowledge - the topics are very sensitive and I don't want to spread any false info.
Sadly, there isn't anything I could suggest in English. Maybe there are some textbooks from Soviet era in Russian, but I'm not familiar with those. Where is such interest towards Ida-Virumaa coming from if I may ask :)?
[Your blog engine does not allow large texts, so I was to divide my story to parts]
ReplyDeleteWell, here is the story, and it is quite sentimental.
Heavy industry enchants me since my childhood, so I can endlessly watch power plants, chemical plants, shaft mining, railroad yards, and other stuff with large grey building, shining metal, infernal sounds, bright artificial light and enormous machinery. So that is why I am so interested in the oil shale industry in Ida-Virumaa. As for why my searchlight is focused on this region - well I did not choose it, it chose me.
Last year, it was a usual day in early February. I was sitting in my office, drinking my after-lunch mug of tea, when my wife called me. She said, "You know what, a guy I know wrote a post that his close friends are selling an apartment in Estonia, you might be interested," - I said, "Hardly so, Estonia is different from Latvia, they don't grant residence permit to real estate owners, so why should we need it?" - "But the price - you see, they are selling at 100,000" - "$100,000? In Estonia? Is it a chateau?" - "Not $100,000. They want 100,000 roubles!" - "Is it $3,000? Really? Why so cheap? Is it totally messed up? Anyway, where is it?" - "In a town I never heard of before. Kivioli" - "What?" - "Kivioli" - "I've got no idea where it is" - "Neither do I" - "But thirty hundred seem to me a real bargain" - "It certainly is" - "OK, I am calling the owners to arrange a meeting with them, in the meantime, I shall figure out what Kivioli is".
ReplyDeleteI opened the Wikipedia page. There was a photo of Kivioli, most likely it was taken from the Kivioli mountain - and the white cone-shaped mountain (supposedly, the Pussi mountain) was seen on the background. The small and widely separated 5-storey houses were dispersed between the mountains. It was really beautiful. I started reading. The entire world of forsaken industry, degrading towns and depressed economy came to my eyes. I looked over statistics of Kivioli population. The town was slowly dying. I looked at the pictures again. The whole place seemed desolated yet beautiful.
The next day, I met the owners of the flat. "why are you selling it?" - I asked, - "Because we want to buy a new car, this one is half-broken!" - "You want to actually exchange a flat for a car?" - "Should you be in our place, you would do the same!" - "But I don't want any car" - "That's why we met!"
It turned out, the owner was Russian. Her aunt died 2 years ago, she had been living in Kivioli almost all her life. The girl inherited the flat, she knew that having a flat in Estonia made it easier to get a multiple-entrance visa, but she did not need visa that much, she was more interested in travelling to some tropical country to enjoy the sunset on a beach and get pictures of herself in bikini. Estonia was no good for her.
ReplyDeleteI was reading more and more, getting aware that Estonian language is very far from any other language "alive" except Finnish, that Latvian and Estonian have almost nothing in common, that Estonia has a perfect Internet coverage (which was a big fat lie, Estonia is better covered by the Internet than Russian or Belarus, but outside of Tallinn there is no free Wi-Fi everywhere as it is advertised).
In March, I came to Kivioli to have a look on a flat and settle the deal if I am ready to. When I arrived to Kivioli, it was close to noon, while the town was still covered by snow and ice, the sun was shining in the blue sky, warming me up. I asked the locals to show me the way to the house. They were not sure so they gathered around me, maybe five of them, discussing where it would be better for me to go. It was like if I travelled to Russia as it should be - where the people on the streets are nice to each other, where it is clean and where provincial buses meet the schedule!
While I was on my way to the house, I've seen the mountain. It was white of snow, shining and very unexpected, like if I were in the Alps, not in Estonia.
I bought the flat, and when I closed the deal at the notary bureau, it appeared to me that I bought not only an apartment in the godforsaken town in the middle of nowhere, but my true identity, my true motherland. I never saw Russia as my motherland - foremostly, because it is always more hostile than friendly. I love and enjoy Russian as my native language, but the motherland is not about the language - and also they speak nice Russian in Ida-Virumaa. Even the native Estonians speak Russian pretty well there, and I adore this Baltic accent! Every time I visit Estonia or Latvia, I tend to "sing" while I speak - for a week after the journey.
So I decided that if I like that much everything I saw there, I shall treat that region as if I was born there. I had three more trips to Ida-Virumaa and Estonia last year. I read about the towns, industry, history of the region, I spend my holidays there, and - we both, me and my wife - decided to learn Estonian after our visit to Ida-Virumaa in December!
You see, Ida-Virumaa was my love at first sight. That's how it was!
Wow - what a story :) And good luck learning Estonian, it's probably one of the hardest (and irregular) languages around...
ReplyDeleteJah, Eesti keel on raske!
ReplyDelete