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Каспинфо апрель 2002 |
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Название: Экологические проблемы Каспия на англ. языке Главные Пункты: * Аргументы компании ТШО против предъявления ей штрафа в размере 72 млн. долл. за хранение 5 млн. т серы на открытом воздухе: - по словам представителя Cnevron Texaco в США, в Канаде и США компания хранит серу таким же образом; - нет свидетельств значительного влияния серы на экологическую ситуацию в регионе; - с октября 2001 г. ТШО строит завод для переработки серы. * Иран стал полноправным членом Каспийской Комиссии по Биоресурсам, в задачи которой входит распределение ежегодных квот на вылов осетровых на Каспии. * Общественность обвиняет компанию ВР в загрязнении территории Азербайджана: - на свалке отходов ВР в Карадагском районе захоронены асбест, химикаты и другие опасные радиоактивные отходы; - на свалке отходов ВР в Сангачалах, рядом с терминалом захоронены химические, нефтяные и радиоактивные отходы. НПО на данный объект не допускаются; - шлам, буровые растворы, ядовитые химикаты, пластовую нефтяную воду и производственные воды ВР сбрасывает с платформы Чираг и Сангачальского терминала в Каспийское море. * Главная цель второй фазы проекта ПРООН/ГЭФ <Сохранение биоразнообразия водно-болотных угодий Нижней Волги> - разработка проекта сохранения биоразнообразия и устойчивого использования водно-болотных угодий в регионе Нижней Волги на основе укрепления системы планирования и управления в данной области; совершенствования законодательной и правовой базы, укрепления структуры природоохранных органов; улучшения осведомленности населения в области сохранения биоразнообразия водно-болотных угодий и их ценности. * и др. сообщения. (18.04.2002) Полный Текст Экологические проблемы Каспия на англ. языке Экологические проблемы Каспия на англ. языке *** Heavy fine levied against Tengiz oil field developer The developer of Kazakhstan's Tengiz oil field has reportedly lost an appeal against a $72-million environmental fine. The Supreme Court ruling may raise new questions about the continuing conflicts with foreign firms, which have been fighting the terms of a new investment law for more than a year. Boston, 29 March 2002 (RFE/RL) -- Kazakhstan's biggest oil venture is facing a huge environmental fine as questions continue about the country's relations with foreign investors. On 27 March, Kazakhstan's Supreme Court denied an appeal of the $72-million penalty imposed on the developer of the Tengiz oil field, the Interfax news agency reported. The Tengizchevroil joint venture was charged in February with causing environmental damage by storing 5 million tons of sulphur in the western Kazakhstan region of Atyrau. Kazakhstan's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection argued that the sulphur is classed as industrial waste under a recently issued government regulation. The ministry accused Tengizchevroil of creating a public health hazard with the piles of sulphur near the oil field, Interfax said. The company argued in its appeal that the sulphur is a raw material or product, not an industrial waste. The court did not agree. The venture has been processing the high-sulphur petroleum from Tengiz for years to make it suitable for export. Tengizchevroil is the oldest oil venture in Kazakhstan and its biggest taxpayer, with operations since 1993. The company produced 12.5 million tons of oil at Tengiz and other fields in the country in 2001. Fred Gorell, a spokesman for ChevronTexaco Corporation in the United States, which owns 50 percent of Tengizchevroil, insisted that the material in Atyrau is not hazardous. In a phone interview, Gorell told RFE/RL, "There is no waste material stored at the Tengiz field." Sulphur is stored in the same way at ChevronTexaco operations in the United States and Canada, Gorell said, adding, "It's benign." In a later, written statement yesterday, Tengizchevroil said it is "disappointed" by the decision of a member of the Kazakhstan Supreme Court to uphold the environmental rule. The company said it is examining the decision "to determine our next steps." It also argued that "there is no evidence of any significant environmental impact" from its storage of sulphur. According to earlier reports, the venture has been working on several plans to handle the sulphur, which accumulates at the rate of 4,500 tons per day, according to DPA news service. The company has found few buyers for the substance in its lump and granular states. Since October, it has been building a plant to turn the sulphur into coated pellets for export. Gorell said the company is investing $40 million to $50 million in the plan in 2002. The fine may be the largest levied against a Western oil firm in a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) country since the Soviet breakup. Interfax quoted the press service of the Kazakhstan Environmental Ministry as saying that Tengizchevroil has not exhausted its appeals, but it is unclear what the recourse from the Supreme Court ruling would be. Despite its history of good relations with the government, Tengizchevroil has been feeling pressure over its operations in Atyrau. In May, a special commission of lawmakers visited the region following complaints of health problems and high infant mortality rates in the nearby village of Sarykamys, Kazakhstan television reported. In November, Kazakhstan's state oil and gas company said it would pay $5.7 million, or half the cost of relocating the residents of Sarykamys. Tengizchevroil had agreed to pay the rest, Interfax said. Gorell disputed the account, saying, "There are no environmental conditions involving Tengiz that have resulted in the relocation of anybody." The akim, or governor, of Atyrau pressed for the designation of the sulphur as industrial waste and was backed by the government in imposing a fine. Tengizchevroil said the Supreme Court decision related only to the imposition of a storage fee. But the blame may be further complicated by the government's knowledge from the start that sulphur would be a by-product of oil development. While ChevronTexaco's affiliate in Kazakhstan is the operator of Tengizchevroil, Kazakhstan owns 20 percent, which may put it in the curious position of fining itself, if the costs are distributed. The remaining shares in the venture are owned by U.S.-based ExxonMobil and the Russian-British firm LUKoil-BP. The dispute may also be hard to separate from a series of recent frictions between Kazakhstan and foreign investors. The government has been preparing a new investment law for more than a year, despite strong objections from Western oil companies and business interests. The law would curb the rights of foreign firms to take disputes outside Kazakhstan courts to international arbitration. President Nursultan Nazarbaev and other officials have stated repeatedly in recent months that all existing contracts will be honored, after suggesting in 2001 that the terms would be reviewed. But investors remain wary. In February, foreign companies appealed the entire draft law to the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, according to a Kazakhstan television report, relayed by the BBC. Kazakhstan officials have argued that changes in contracts are needed to make conditions equal for local businesses and to compensate for reduced tax rates. Most recently, on 26 March, Foreign Minister Qasymzhomart Tokaev assured members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan that signed contracts "would not be reconsidered even despite the demands from many Kazakh ministries and agencies." The statement may have been less than reassuring, since it cited the pressures within the government itself. Government officials have said that many foreign companies have been approached to renegotiate terms of their contracts. Under the circumstances, it may be harder to evaluate the trouble for Tengizchevroil and the charges of environmental damage, particularly since the industrial waste rule was apparently issued years after the company's contract with the government was signed. But it seems clear that the trend toward more difficult relations with foreign investors is continuing in Kazakhstan. Officials have said that enactment of the draft law on investment is likely in the spring. http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2002/03/29032002100755.asp By Michael Lelyveld RFE/RL 04 Apr 2002 http://www.eurasia.org.ru/ *** Iran joins Caspian resources commission MOSCOW, April 1 (AFP) - Iran has become a full member of the biological resources commission set up by Caspian states, Russian officials said Monday as quoted by the Interfax news agency. The Caspian Bioresources Commission, set up in 1992 by Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, is tasked with annual distribution of quotas for exploiting the Caspian sea's resources. Since the collapse of the former Soviet Union a decade ago, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia have not been able to agree on sharing out the oil reserves of the Caspian. Iran and Turkmenistan favour a division on the basis of five equal parts, while Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, whose coastlines are substantially bigger, want a share-out proportional to the length of their sea frontage. The Caspian, thought to hold the world's third largest oil and gas deposits, has oil reserves estimated at 200 billion barrels, and 600,000 billion cubic metres (21,200 trillion cubic feet) of gas. http://www.iranmania.com/news/ArticleView/Defaul...9598&NewsKind=CurrentAffairs IranMania.com 04 Apr 2002 http://www.eurasia.org.ru/ *** Azerbajan: CONSTRUCTION OF FISH HATCHERY TO BEGIN IN 20 DAYS Construction of a sturgeon hatchery with the capacity of 15m fry per year in Khylly, Neftchal region, will begin in 20 days, says Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Guseyn Bagirov. According to him, the contract was signed with the alliance of Germany's Ferrostaal and Azerenergytikintigurasdyrma as far back as the late 2001, the World Bank which finances the operations had a number of questions for contractors. Besides, problems arose with under which form letter of credit should be opened. All the urgent issues were co-ordinated by the parties at the negotiations held last week. The construction is carried out within the Project for Urgent Environmental Investment financed by a $20m low-interest grant by WB. Under the contract, the construction should take ten months and cost $6m. www.top.az *** Azerbajan: PREPARATIONS FOR DEVELOPING NEW PRINCIPLES OF DISTRIBUTING CASPIAN BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES UNDERWAY The quotas of sturgeon catches in 2003 will be defined based on new principles of distributing the Caspian's biological resources. Minister of Ecology Bagirov says a working group is being formed which will develop the principles. Until 30th May, the group will have to submit proposals to the Committee for Water Biological Resources of the Caspian. In September the new principles will be approved at a session of the Committee. The Minister said he was anxious about the fact Azerbaijan has only a 6% quota of sturgeon catch, whereas its water territory is as large as those of other littoral states. www.top.az *** ВР TRANSFORMS AZERBAIJAN INTO WASTE DAMPING SITE When well-known British oil company British Petroleum began its activity in Azerbaijan the hopes were arisen. Hopes that the new ecological era will start in the petroleum industry of Azerbaijan. Hopes that ВР will bring to Azerbaijan new technologies and the new industrial culture based on the continuous, careful and ecologically friendly approach to use its biological and natural resources. But it looks like our hopes do not come true. And we feel that it is time to sound the alarm. During last few years the republican society, the non-governmental organizations many times raised a question about establishing the new modern facility on disposal and utilization of waste products of the petroleum industry. And each time leaders of BP company with characteristic for them politeness answered: "We are working on this problem and will give you information at the next society meeting". And this has been continuing during 7 years, from the moment of the first society meetings at Baku and Sangachaly in 1996 when the document of the Ecological Impact Assessment for the oil production in Azerbaijan was discussed. What is the situation today? ВР Waste Damping Site in Karadag district where they have buried asbestos, chemicals and other dangerous radioactive waste products. According to the information from republican newspapers more than 10 million US dollars were spent for this project. The facility is closed and not functioning. ВР Waste Damping Site at Sangachaly adjacent to the terminal, where chemicals, oily and radioactive waste products are buried. BP has been ignoring NGOs repeated requests to get access to this facility. After NGOs pressure ВР has closed this facility and it is not functioning. ВР Waste Damping Site in Sirindja where ВР stores all dangerous radioactive waste products, including petroleum cuttings. The facility is still functioning. Further use of this facility will lead to the ecological disaster, to the re-occurrence of Sumgait ecocatastrophy with its consequences of increased rate of children's death and various heavy diseases, including cancer. Because on opinion of experts of the Azerbaijan Ministry of Ecology subsoil waters in this area are located rather close to the surface. It is strange, how the Azerbaijan Ministry of Ecology could authorize the construction of this waste damping site in such an ecologically sensitive place. Again according to the mass media reports BP spent more than 5 million American dollars for construction of this site. ВР Waste Damping Site in Balahani where ВР is dumping all waste products. All these waste products are causes for children illnesses and dangerous for , living both in the settlement of Balahani, and in nearby villages. CONSTANT ВР Waste Damping Site - Caspian Sea. Today all cuttings, drilling solutions, poisonous chemicals, produced water and industrial waters, sewage water are being dumped from Chirag platform and Sangachaly terminal directly into the sea. Is not it the cause of seals and sprats deaths, and disappearance of sturgeon and salmon - crowns of the Azerbaijan cousins, from waters of Azerbaijan sector of Caspian. Is not ii the reason for sturgeon population decrease with catastrophic rate. NEW ВР Waste Damping Site - Cement plant in Karadag district - According to the Ministry of Ecology of Azerbaijan ВР has prepared its strategy for waste products disposal at the Cement plant in Karadag district, ignoring opinions of leading experts of the Azerbaijan Ministry of Ecology. ВР is paying huge amount of money to this new Cement-Garbage factory for elimination of its waste products - petroleum cuttings, containing heavy metals, oily contaminated soils and waste products, produced waters containing radioactive impurity, and also industrial waters, including sewage waters. This delayed-action ecological bomb will make strong influence on all of us in the future. Because all these poisonous substances will be a part of produced cement, which will be used by all our people. The question of quality of the cement containing heavy metals and radioactive substances causes special alarm. And we call the wide publicity, the ordinary people using cement to pay serious attention to this issue. Our future and the future of our children are under danger. The cement plant may be the a good option for BP oil company . But it was not exactly what the society of the republic was expecting. And the society was expecting the construction of new modern facility, which would use the highest technologies of the developed European countries on recycling of the petroleum industry waste products. We would like to ask the president of the BP oil company Mister Dayvid Vudvort. Mister president Vudvort, when will ВР Oil Company at last listen to the opinion of the society? When will ВР construct the modern facility for recycling the poisonous waste products? And at last, when you, Mister Vudvort are going to execute your promise - allow us, the public of Azerbaijan, the ecological organizations to get access to ВР facilities with the purpose of conducting the public monitorings. We still hope that ВР will answer the raised questions. "AzEkoSos" Agency *** UNDP/GEF project "Conservation of wetland biodiversity in the Lower Volga region" Recently the Global Environment Facility (GEF) approved a second project development phase (PDF-B) for the project "Conservation of wetland biodiversity in the Lower Volga region", to be implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). A national Project Management Team (PMT) is established and located in Astrakhan, Russia. Wetlands International was subcontracted to provide technical, informational and managerial support to the PMT on the regional, national and international level. Parallel co-financing is provided by the Netherlands Institute for Inland Water Management & Waste Water Treatment (RIZA). The PDF-B is expected to be completed in the second half of 2002. The overall objective for the PDF-B is to develop a comprehensive full project proposal for the conservation and sustainable use of unique wetlands and associated globally significant biodiversity in the Lower Volga region. Successful conservation measures will be based on the development of an responsive management system to ensure the protection of the wetlands biodiversity under conditions of changing environmental conditions and socio-economic development processes. During the PDF-B, sectoral teams of regional and national experts in the fields of biodiversity, hydrology, socio-economy, institutional structures and economic assessment will compile and analyse existing information on wetland biodiversity, its relation with changing environmental conditions and its complex and varied interrelation with human activities. Results will provide a better insight into threats to biodiversity, local and regional root causes, and be used to elaborate targeted measures for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in the Lower Volga wetlands. The proposed sectoral measures will be integrated into a full project proposal following multi-stakeholder consultations. The resulting full project proposal will focus on the conservation of the region's wetlands and provide for their sustainable use by: 1) strengthening planning and management capacity for wetland biodiversity conservation; 2) developing and demonstrating more responsive local land and water management practices to maximise the conservation of biodiversity and the promotion of sustainable resource use under fluctuating environmental conditions; 3) strengthening the relevant legal and regulatory base and enforcement capability; 4) developing alternative livelihood projects to relieve direct pressure on biodiversity; 5) improving broad awareness of wetland conservation issues and biodiversity values; 6) establishing sustainable financing mechanisms to ensure sustainable project benefits. Contact: Ludmila Kiseleva UNDP/GEF Project Manager Tel: +7 8512 303450 E-mail: wetlands@mail.astrakhan.ru |