HUNDREDS RALLIED NEAR MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY ON FRIDAY TO PROTEST A SIBERIAN OIL PIPELINE WHOSE ROUTE WILL TAKE IT CLOSE TO LAKE BAIKAL, THE WORLD'S LARGEST FRESHWATER LAKE, AP REPORTED. YOUNG PEOPLE HELD PLACARDS READING KEEP BAIKAL ALIVE AS SPEAKERS RAILED AGAINST THE CONTROVERSIAL, KREMLIN-BACKED PROJECT. ANY RISK FOR BAIKAL IS A RISK FOR THE GLOBE. IT SHOULD BE CLEAR TO EVERYONE, ONE SPEAKER EXHORTED TO AN ESTIMATED 500 PEOPLE. THE 4,100-KILOMETER (2,550-MILE) PIPELINE IS SET TO RUN FROM SIBERIA'S IRKUTSK REGION TO THE AMUR REGION ON THE CHINESE BORDER THEN ON TO RUSSIA'S PACIFIC COAST. IT WILL ALSO PASS LESS THAN A KILOMETER FROM BAIKAL, AND ENVIRONMENTALISTS WARN THAT THE LAKE'S UNIQUE ECOLOGY COULD BE DESTROYED IF THE PIPELINE WERE TO RUPTURE. WE THINK THAT IT IS VERY DANGEROUS PLAN WHICH CREATES SERIOUS THREATS FOR THE ECOSYSTEM OF THE UNIQUE LAKE, SAID GREENPEACE ACTIVIST SERGEI TSYPLENKOV. REACHING MORE THAN 5,300 FEET (1,620 METERS) AT ITS DEEPEST POINT, LAKE BAIKAL CONTAINS ONE-FIFTH OF THE WORLD'S FRESH WATER AND UP TO 1,500 UNIQUE SPECIES OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS. THE HEAD OF RUSSIA'S PIPELINE MONOPOLY ON THURSDAY INSISTED THAT THE PIPELINE POSED NO DANGER TO BAIKAL. TRANSNEFT CHIEF SEMYON VAINSHTOK SAID THAT IN THE COMPANY'S WORST CASE SCENARIO, JUST A HANDFUL OF BARRELS OF CRUDE OIL COULD SEEP INTO THE LAKE _ WHICH HE CALLED A FRACTION OF THE 500 TONS OF OIL THAT ENTER THE LAKE ANNUALLY THROUGH LEAKAGE INTO ITS TRIBUTARIES. -- SPA 0010 Local Time 2110 GMT
