Environment and Security: Transforming risks into cooperation

Eastern Caspian

45

Environment and Security

be far greater than in other parts of the sea (Ministry of Environment Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan 2007). Some environmental experts suggest that damage caused by oil pollution could – in the long term – exceed short-term profits gener- ated by oil development (Nogaev 2007; Di- arov 2007). Experts point out that once the region’s energy resources are exhausted, it will have to cope with the results of several decades of oil and gas extraction (polluted environment, depleted biodiversity, etc.) without the financial resources to remedy the damage wrought by industry. Long-term damage and impacts could consequently far exceed current short-term benefits 48 . Several Caspian oil deposits contain natu- rally occurring radioactive elements. Long- term exploitation of these deposits, espe- cially in Mangystau province, has caused the formation of 10–15 000 tonnes of low- level radioactive oil waste and scrap metal, which is being temporarily stored on-site (Ministry of Environment Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan 2007). These radia- tion sources represent an additional threat to environmental security. There is a serious risk of industrial pollution in the northern Caspian. An accident already occurred in 1985, when Tengiz well #37 shot a column of flame 150–200 metres into the air. It took more than a year to put out, burn- ing 3.5 million tonnes of oil and half a million tonnes of hydrogen sulphide. This accident significantly impacted biodiversity and pub- lic health within a 50–100 km radius (Akhme- tov 2006; Ministry of Environment Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan 2007). In the Beyneu and Karakiyan districts industrial de- velopment has so severely damaged pasture that the population has started to move graz- ing cattle to neighbouring areas.

pacity currently is 9 million tonnes (Ministry of Environment Protection of the Republic of Kazakhstan 2007). This means that with low- er demand for sulphur and fewer exports the heap of sulphur stored in the open air may continue to increase, prompting concerns among local authorities and in the commu- nity. The Kazakh environmental authorities have recently imposed a US$309 million fine on TengizChevroil (TCO) – the field operator and a Chevron-led venture – for breaches of environmental regulations – including stock- piling sulphur 46 . In 2006 local authorities and TCO carried out an assessment of environmental and health effects of storing sulphur in the open air at Tengiz. The Kazakh Institute of Oil and Gas admitted that increased sulphur accumula- tion and storage could raise environmental pressures, and risks to the public and oc- cupational health 47 . With the introduction of stricter environmental targets, moderni- zation of production methods and facilities gas flaring on the Tengiz field was reduced from 1 800 million cubic metres in 1999 to 420 million cubic metres in 2006 (TCO En- vironmental Bulletin 2006). Further cuts in this type of pollution are planned after 2008, when a new plant will start producing granu- lated and block sulphur using the deposits stored on the Tengiz oilfield. Finally the new ecological legislation (Environmental Code of Kazakhstan 2007), coupled with stricter enforcement, will also contribute to improv- ing the situation in the region. On the other hand changes at Kashagan and Tengiz indicate that the Kazakh authorities – perhaps following the Russian example on the Sakhalin-2 oilfields in Siberia – seem to be stepping up pressure on energy multina- tionals operating in the Caspian region.