Caspian Sea 2011

State of the Environment of the Caspian Sea

of solid domestic waste, 135.7 thousand tonnes of drilling waste, about eight thousand tonnes of oily waste, over 400 kg of galvanic production wastes and about 32,000 mercury-containing lamps. There are approximately 27 waste disposal sites in the Republic of Dagestan. These include the drilled pits of “Dmitrovskaya” and “Izberbash”; the oil sludge storage and mechanical treat- ment of wastewaters (RGUP “Dagnefteproduct”); project sites located on the territory of OSA “Su- doremont”, the storehouse of industrial waste and other project sites at the “Dazdiezel” plant; project sites located on the construction sites “Dagestanskaya generatsiya”, OSA “YUGK –TGK – 8” (Mahachkala & Kaspiisk thermo – electrical heating station), all located in an area between 300 and 700 m from the coast. One of the most important problems in Dag- estan is the lack of procedures for handling pesticides in an ecologically safe manner. There are about 400 registered dump sites, covering more than 100 hectares. Most of these waste dump sites are located within 100 km of the Caspian Sea. At present, 248 tonnes of worth- less or banned pesticides, including 120 tonnes of unidentified pesticide mixtures and 100 kg of granosan, are stockpiled in the main store- houses of SUE “Dagagropormchemistry” and of the Ministry of Agriculture. Pollution from the Republic of Kalmykia can be described as insignificant compared with that in Astrakhan oblast and that of the Republic of Dagestan. Agricultural activities are the major source of pollution. The population is about 289,000, of which over half live in rural areas. There are significant oil and gas reserves, both on land and in coastal waters. At present, nine operating oil and gas fields are located within 15-30 km of the Caspian Sea. Turkmenistan: The major activities in the coastal provinceofBalkanvelayat inTurkmenistan are oil and gas production, oil refining, power generation, food and light industry, fishing and cattle breeding. Oil and oil product storage

spots are potential sources of pollution; some of these are located near oil terminals such as Ufra and Ekerem while others are located some distance away.Special attention and compliance with all environmental protection measures is necessary for the functioning of the oil terminals and oil storage facilities of “Dragon Oil” company and state enterprise “Turkmeneft” in the city of Khazar (TACIS 2009). There are three main waste disposal areas asso- ciated with oil and gas companies OGPA “Nebit- dagnebit”, OGPA “Goturdepe” and OGPA “Gumd- agnebit.” The main waste products are formation water, which after the separation of oil and wa- ter are discharged into so-called “evaporation ponds”, which are used as natural topographic lows (takyrs and salt marshes, rarely lows be- tween crescentic dunes). On the territory of the Khazar chemical plant (Khazar) the radioactive waste has been accumu- lated (TACIS, 2009; “Environment and Security” Initiative, 2008). Waste storage facility was locat- ed 200 meters from the coastline. Khazar chemical plant (Khazar) and Iodine Bal- kanabad plant (Balkanabad) produce iodine and bromine. Activated carbon is used as a sorbent, collecting natural radionuclides (primarily ra- dium), which leads to the accumulation of radio- active waste. Production of iron bromide (FeBr 2 )

Cheleken Peninsula pollution sources

TURKMENISTAN

Belek

Yangadzha

Turkmenbashy

Avaza National Turism Zone

3 m

5 m

10 m

20 m

Koturdepe

Cheleken Garagol

50 m

Oil and gas

Industry and waste

Environmental hotspots

Environmental sensitive areas

Fields Offshore prospects

Radioactive waste site Industrial waste site

Main industrial infrastructure

Sources: EIA maps, 2002; Friends of the Earth mission report: Kazakhistan , 2007; UNEP, Environment and security. The case of the Eastern Caspian region, 2008.

Main pipelines

Tanker terminal

Untreated sewage

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