2. Description

Recovery Methods

Amber has historically been extracted from the sea and land by a number of different methods. Extraction methods have become more efficient and, at the same time, more harmful to the environment. Early records show fishermen actually casting their lines for amber, which storms and winds brought up from the bottom of the sea. Natives of the Baltics also gathered amber by using nets, which separated the valuable substance from seaweed, allowing the amber to be scooped out. This method led to the coining of the layman's term "scoopstone," another, more colorful, name for amber. Other methods of recovery included raking the bottom of the sea with long sticks and, in marshy areas, the collection of "Northern gold" by men on horseback. ( See Susie Aber's Article) In ancient times it was found by searching in sandstone and loose shale, but these land-based deposits have been exhausted. Most recently, the development of open pits has allowed amber to be extracted more quickly and efficiently. However, this method has proved most detrimental to the environment.

Uses

Although the Romans believed that amber possessed medicinal qualities, current medical practitioners would certainly disagree. Despite its lack of healing powers, amber still serves a number of useful purposes. The best specimens contain exquisitely preserved life forms and command high prices from private collectors and museums. However, ninety percent of all extracted amber is of poorer quality and can be used only as an ingredient in other products. These include varnish, amber oil and distilled acids. Craftsmen mold the remaining ten percent into jewelry and ornaments, some of which fetch fairly high prices on the international market.

Trade

The ancient amber trade route ran from the Baltic Sea, down the Elbe River, and on to the Danube. From there roads led overland through the Brenner Pass into Italy, the heart of the Roman Empire. Rome was the undisputed center of the amber industry. The Romans used amber in a number of different objects, including coins. They apparently valued amber even more than the fair-haired Baltic slaves, the harvesters of amber, whom Tacitus regarded as savages. Not until the third century A.D., when wars with the Goths made such trade in luxury items unsustainable, did the Roman domination of the amber industry come to an end. (See Spekke)

Part of the Amber Trade Route

During medieval times amber was the property of the finder. However, the Baltics eventually came under the rule of the Dukes of Pomerania and, later, the Teutonic Knights, who exercised absolute control over all aspects of the amber trade. They even prohibited the unsupervised collection of amber on beaches under penalty of hanging. (Grimaldi 160) As late as the 17th century fishermen were obliged to swear the "amber oath," a denunciation of amber smugglers. As the Knight's power waned, guilds became increasingly important players in the amber trade. The guild established in Danzig in 1477 still exists today. (Grimaldi 167)

In modern times amber has remained a valuable substance as ornamentation techniques have become more complicated and the creations of the masters more exquisite. As more value is added to the raw material, the new product becomes more expensive. Ironically, amber deposits tend to be located in countries which lack the required technology and skilled labor for adding value to the raw form.

Modern Extraction

Amber is typically found not where it was formed, but where it was transported. In the past, Baltic amber tended to wash up on the shoreline after storms, mostly on the Samland (today's Kaliningrad) Peninsula. The top layers were exhausted by the mid-1800s, however. In order to extract the amber located in lower strata, engineers had to begin dredging operations. Dredging on the (then) East Prussian shore began in 1854 and reached 35 feet below sea level. This mining process led to an enormous increase in amber recovery. In one day at Palmnicken (the site of the mine) in 1862, workers extracted 4,400 pounds of amber. By 1865 the Stantien and Becker mining firm's 1000 employees were operating 22 steam barges, and three years later they collected 185,000 pounds of amber. In 1875 the first open pit amber mine was established at Palmnicken, and the million pound mark was reached in 1895. The extraction process had undergone complete mechanization by 1930, and the procedure has changed little since then. Conveyers dump earth containing amber into waiting freight cars, which then transport the earth to spray houses. Next, high-pressure hoses separate the "blue earth," the name which the Germans gave the amber-containing soil, from the amber. (Grimaldi 47-53) Amazingly, experts estimate that more than 180,000 tons remain in the Palmnicken (now Yantarny) mine, enough for another three centuries of extraction at the current rate.

Environmental Consequences

In addition to the damage done to the environment by mining itself, the processing of amber also harms the local ecology. The Baltic Sea, which has been deteriorating at an alarming rate for the last 50 years due to rapid industrialization, bears the brunt of the harm. Since strip mining started over a century ago, more than 100 million tons of waste has been discharged by the Yantarny plant into the Baltic. The mining and processing of amber produces matter which the Baltic's brackish water cannot dissolve. Sewage produced by the plant is discharged onto the recently built dam, over which it flows into the sea. The amber plant is one of the world's biggest culprits in the environmental crime of anthropogenic suspended material expulsion, the results of which cause the sea to become turbid as pulp from the plant impedes the natural flow of water. (See Sivkov) Since the Baltic is largely cut off from the Atlantic Ocean, it cannot easily refresh itself. Water renewal in the pollution-sensitive Baltic takes 25-30 years. (See the World Bank article.)

Other Consequences

Amber-related crime has recently become an issue in the Kaliningrad Oblast as well. A Wild West atmosphere reigns at the Yantarny mine, where amber treasure hunters fish for pieces discharged from the malfunctioning sewage tube. When they are lucky, the amber seekers retrieve sizable specimens which are sometimes worth more than four times the average monthly salary in this region. The mines are huge and poorly patrolled, and underpaid bureaucrats often facilitate the "loss" of stones in transit. The local authorities imposed a fee of $35 on the free-lance retrievers, but mine management concerns itself mainly with large-scale theft and mafia connections. Shootouts over control of the black market are not unheard of. According to a 1996 estimate, annual losses due to illegal extraction and smuggling amount to $1 billion.

In the tiny village of Muromskoe, not far from Kaliningrad, an "amber rush" began when a farmer happened upon a large piece while plowing his field. One resident referred to the ensuing free-for-all as "Klondike." Overeager residents dug up the field so haphazardly that several people died, including a 12 year old boy, who was crushed by a pit wall. The locals quickly stripped the pits, which are now water-filled holes usable only in the summer. The authorities cracked down somewhat in 1996 with 200 arrests and the confiscation of ten kilograms of amber, but they have so far failed to address the sources of the problem- umemployment and a low standard of living. (For the full story, go to this eyewitness account. )

New Laws

In 1996, legislation passed by the Duma put the State Committee for Precious Metals and Stones in charge of all amber activities in the Kaliningrad Oblast. Although the new law might offer better protection for the amber left in the region, most residents are skeptical of Moscow's intentions. In addition to fears of government tinkering with their livelihoods, workers at the Yantarny Kombinat worry that the new law will impede privatization and consequently restrict hard currency earnings. Furthermore, Committee officials are under investigation for illegal diversion of more than $170 million in diamonds, gold and silver to colleagues abroad. As a result of the legislation, amber will have to be guarded in vaults like other precious stones. Its movement will have to be documented from the mine to the factory to the retail outlet. Needless to say, the appropriate funds are not readily available, leaving even less money for environmental concerns.

3. Related Cases:

• SPICE Case [SPICE]
• RUM Case [RUM]
• BALTIC Case [BALTIC]
• ESTONIA Case [ESTONIA]
• ORESUND Case [ORESUND]
• MAMMOTH Case [MAMMOTH]
• BRONZE Case [BRONZE]
• DIAMOND Case [DIAMOND]
• COBALT Case [COBALT]
• SHETLAND Case [SHETLAND]
• EXXON Case [EXXON]
• SHELLRIG Case [SHELLRIG]
• AQABA Case [AQABA]
• MARPOLL Case [MARPOLL]

Keyword Clusters:

1. Trade Product= AMBER

2. Bio-geography= SEA

3. Environmental Problem= Pollution Sea [POLS]

4. Draft Author:

Douglas Jacobson, Fall 1997

II. Legal Clusters

5. Discourse and Status: AGREEMENT and INCOMPLETE

The Baltic Sea Joint Comprehensive Environmental Action Program (BSCJEAP) was signed by Russia and approved in Helsinki in 1992. The states surrounding the Baltic Sea signed this agreement to restore the ecological balance of the Sea. It includes the following components that could be related to amber extraction and processing:

1. "Infrastructure investment in specific measures to control point and nonpoint sources of pollution and to minimize and dispose of wastes."

2. "Aid in the management of coastal lagoons and wetlands."

Although the agreement contains no specific references to amber, Russia could possibly exploit the accord to receive funds from its richer neighbors to help clean up the waste created by amber extraction.

6. Forum and Scope: