In the article discussed history of building Astrakhan and Selenga paper and cardboard mills. The author on base archival materials is analyzing the impact of expert commentary on the building paper and cardboard mills. The main purpose of the article is to show, on the example of the construction of the CCC, the process of relations between scientific expert groups and government representatives on the issue of environmental safety in the design and location of the country's production facilities. In addition, the author emphasizes that for the Soviet leadership, issues of the environmental component of enterprises often became secondary, departing from economic necessity. At the same time, the scientific community itself did not in some cases have a single position on a particular issue, since a conflict arose between representatives of departmental and scientific academic structures, which was most pronounced during the construction of the Selenginsky pulp and cardboard plant. In the case of the Astrakhan pulp and cardboard plant project, it is shown that underestimating the capabilities of the resource base of production can lead to environmental problems. Author marked that despite of scientific and technological inspection, scientific opinions was ignored by government leaders in cases large technological objects.