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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Azerbaijan According to the Azerbaijan National Aerospace Agency and the State Committee on Ecology, air pollution in 1990-1995 caused of $320 million in spite of the industrial recession. The water basin pollution for this period damages of $302 million. At present 500,000 ha of irrigated agricultural land are salinized. 10,000 ha on the Apsheron are covered with fuel. The annual losses caused by salinity, pollution, thickening and degradation of the soil amount to over 450 million USD. Soil erosion has caused damages of about $2.6 billion, including $1 billion for the occupied areas. One of the main polluters of the environment is the petroleum industry. The ecological problems of the petroleum industry have been inherited from the past. To make the petroleum industry ecologically sustainable the program "Caspian Protection against Industrial Pollution" proposes the following actions.
It is very important to build a sewage system in dwelling areas to separate the collectors and sewers for stratal and domestic wastewater.
Therefore a decontamination plant should be build along with a complex monitoring system for radioactive pollution to provide safety for the workers of the deposits and the people living on their territories.
Following actions would improve the ecological state of the industrial region in Sumgait: Construction of a wastewater sewage system and reconstruction of the wastewater treatment plant Construction of a biological cleaning unit for fecal sewage from the dwelling area Construction of a storage facility for toxic solid industrial waste Construction of a municipal garbage processing unit Planting trees in the recreational area of the city To provide the following actions for the plant "Organic Synthesis":
To substitute the mercury cell technology by ion exchange membrane technology at Sumgait’s chlorine production Improvement of waste recycling at all plants To develop the complex monitoring system of the Caspian and to modernize its technological basis the following actions should be undertaken:
Iran In Iran the ecological balance of the Caspian and connected water bodies is at risk. Stocks of fish, in particular the caviar producing sturgeon are under threat. Iranian laws and regulations are meant to stop pollution from harming the Caspian. However, their implementation only partially successful at present. The most significant pollutant in the Iranian section of the Caspian is domestic sewage. Steps have been taken to construct treatment plants in larger cities. It will take at least another five years for the first of these plans to become operational and effective. The Iranian legislation on discharge of waste and the environmental regulations for establishing new industries contain preventive factors against industrial pollution. These laws pertain also to oil and gas installations, which may be constructed in the Caspian region in the future.
Kazakhstan Industrial enterprises on the Caspian coast or on rivers falling into the Caspian are the main sources of industrial pollution of the region. Most industrial pollution flows with the river Volga from Russia into the Caspian. The most polluted area is the northern part of the Caspian . Pollution of the Kazakh part of the Caspian is mainly caused by the petroleum, mining, metallurgical and chemical industries. The major part of these enterprises needs modernization of outdated and worn-out equipment and installation of purifying systems. Polluted areas and territories and earth-excavated depositories for oil and drilling wastes are potentially dangerous for the Caspian region. This problem comes as a result of the rising level of the Caspian and the flooding of oil field and waste depots.
Recommendations for further analysis The Azgeer range at the northern part of the Caspian coast shows radioactive contamination of the bottom sediments from nuclear tests and hiding of the radioactive waste in the Soviet era. From these sediments radioactive elements and the products of the their disintegration penetrate the Caspian . Thawing snow and infiltration of ground water aggravates the situation. Amount and composition of the radioactive contamination should be investigated and a map of its distribution should be drawn. A special research work and analysis should be focused on the "black silt", which generates large quantities of hydrogen sulfide and affects the ecology of the Caspian . Special standards and limitations for particularly sensitive ecological zones should be imposed in the part of the Caspian where Kayakhstankaspishelf’s offshore oil extraction will start soon. A study, presented at the Ministry of Environment in Almaty on October 4, 1996, by the British consulting firm ERT Environment and Resource Technology, predicts a sulfur production of 24,000 tons daily as a by-product of the oil extraction. This forecast should be reexamined, and if it is accurate, a plan has to be made for the utilization or appropriate disposal of such gigantic quantities of sulfur. ERT’s study also predicts that the mouth of Ural river will not be deep enough for the transportation of heavy equipment that is needed for the offshore project and that it will have to be further excavated. In this area, however, are the spawning grounds for sturgeon, which would be seriously affected if not destroyed. A study for alternative ways of transportation of the equipment is recommended.
Recommendations for monitoring It is important to work out a national environmental monitoring program for Kazakhstan as a part of an integrated regional monitoring program for the Caspian . Special consideration and attention should be paid to choose optimal locations for the fixed and mobile monitoring stations. A set of parameters, methods and norms must be established with consideration of the specific situation in Kazakhstan and harmonized with the other littoral states.
Recommendation for remediation Rehabilitation programs of the existing sources of industrial pollution of the Caspian should be drafted. The depository of waste from the boron production in the Aktijubinskaya Oblast and the radioactive and toxic substances depository "Koshkar-Ata" in Mangistau Oblast are of particular concern.
Recommendations for pollution prevention For cleaner industrial production outdated and outworn installations should be replaced or refurbished. Existing treatment plants have to be modernized, repaired and adapted in their capacity to the current and future needs. The reconstruction of the following industrial objects has a very high priority:
Some objects may be threatened by flooding, e.g., in Aktau’s industrial zone, if the level further rises. In this case, it will have to be decided if these objects can be protected or have do be relocated or closed down. Every industrial enterprise should have an environmental plan that includes measures for the prevention of accidents and leakage. Besides, the enterprises should have emergency plans for the case of accidental spillage. The government of Kazakhstan should in cooperation with the municipalities and industries elaborate a plan for the processing and storage of solid industrial waste. This plan should include waste recycling.
Recommendations for projects to be submitted for international assistance Training of personnel for monitoring Training for environmental management and cleaner production Adopting a set of internationally recognized norms and standards Upgrading existing laboratories and creating new modern laboratories Establishing an internationally compatible environmental database
Russia The industrial development of the Caspian region of Russia is connected with extraction, processing and transportation of oil and gas, machine building, light industry, food and fishery industry, construction and reconstruction of ports and railroads. An environmental program should accompany the industrial development for pollution prevention, waste management and prevention of accidents. The Caspian is the final basin for discharges of numerous anthropogenic substances. The annual discharges into the rivers Volga, Terek and Sulak of different pollutants are gigantic. The Russian coast of the Caspian is an environmental disaster. Objects of industry, transport, residential, agricultural, recreational and protected area are threatened by flooding or have been flooded already. The situation is further exacerbated by present transitional character of economy of Russia and the lack of financial resources. By the beginning of 1996 the estimated cumulative economic damage for the Republic of Daghestan, Republic of Kalmykia and Astrakhan Oblast as a result of the Caspian level rise has already reached 13.2 trillion rubles (about 2.8 billion US$). The most important field of cooperation is the use of international experience in controlling implementation of activities in the Caspian on extraction and transportation of oil and gas, introduction of unified norms and rules for all Caspian states in the course of those works. The establishment of an international information service on the state of the environment, environmental phenomena and accidents in the Caspian basin is a prerequisite for the improvement of the situation in the Caspian. To cope with the rising level of the Caspian and to improve the quality of the environment of Russia’s Caspian region the following measures are recommended. Reduction of the anthropogenic load on coastal waters by elimination of pollution sources Removal of structures, installations and solid waste from areas, which are threatened by flooding and cannot be reasonably protected Moving settlements from the zone of flooding to safe locations Reconstruction of water supply and wastewater removal systems Minimizing the use of fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture, especially on land threatened by flooding A catalog of criteria should be established for environmental impact assessment studies. The studies must take the fluctuating level and the vulnerability of the ecosystem in consideration. This should ensure that environmentally dangerous and harmful industries would not be allowed in the future in the coastal zone and in the Caspian water body. Very strict requirements should be applied to the offshore extraction of petroleum in the shallow water of the northern Caspian. Accidental spillage of hydrocarbon can cause great harm in this environment. In the winter, when the water freezes, it is extremely difficult to intervene in case of an accident. For the transportation of oil in the shallow water area pipelines are preferable to comparison with tankers for similar reason. Wastewater treatment plants for industrial and municipal waste should be built, expanded or repaired. Participation in an integrated regional monitoring system Implementation of programs for prevention oil pollution and combating spillage. Modern technologies deserve special attention for the remediation of oil contamination of the . It is imperative to have an action plan and a task force in place wherever spills could occur. Eventually, the littoral countries could organize a joint regional task force with an action plan agreed by the member states. Construction of modern wastewater treatment plants for industrial and municipal wastewater Updating Russia’s environmental legislation and harmonizing it with the other countries Creation of an environmental database and a system for exchange of information Establishing regional coordination centers in the littoral countries. In the Russian Federation such centers may be located in Astrakhan and Makhachkala.
Turkmenistan The coastal countries have no effective programs on protection against the rising level. The construction of dams is only temporary protection, since the potential amplitude of the fluctuation is unknown. Some studies suggest draining excess water from the Caspian to depressions, such as Karabogazgol (Turkmenistan), Ashishor, Karagne, or the east part of a gulf “Komsomolets” (Kazakhstan). This was tried experimentally in 1992, a dam in Karabogazgol was removed and the water from the Caspian could flow to the basin. In 2.5 years about 75 - 80 cubic kilometers of water were withdrawn from the Caspian . That has reduced the rate of level increase by 5 -6 mm per year. However, the collateral environmental effects of such measures cannot be predicted, if they are implemented on a larger scale. New construction should not take place close to the water and only on locations well above the level. Construction for oil and gas extraction should be flexible to level rises and employ floating structures or structures that can otherwise be adapted to level fluctuations. The level fluctuation should be closely monitored with modern methods, so that precautions can be taken in time. At the Nebit-Dag’s iodine production plant and at Cheleken’s chemical factory cleaner production technologies ought to be introduced. These factories should also be equipped with adequate wastewater treatment plants. New solutions have to be found for the treatment, recycling and disposal of solid waste. The most severe problem on the Cheleken peninsula is the large amount of radioactive waste and contamination from the coal that was used in the iodine production. Since the peninsula has been partially flooded already and is threatened by further flooding, the waste should be relocated to a safer place and the installations should be decontaminated. They whole Cheleken peninsula should be mapped in terms of radioactivity. The old installations at Turkmenbashi’s an oil refinery should be replaced or reconstructed. This would reduce leakage and the frequency of accidental spillage. Productions with high water consumption should be changed to closed cycle water use, both for water economy and wastewater reduction. The soil on the territory consists of gravel, sand and loam. It is very susceptible to infiltration by hydrocarbon. Several kilometer of the west coast of the Gulf or Turkmenbashi (Krasnovodsk gulf) have been already contaminated. This area should be cleaned up and measures, such as the construction of antifiltration veils, should be taken to prevent in the future infiltration of hydrocarbons into the ground. In general, for the economic development of West Turkmenistan both industry and agriculture should be reoriented to more efficient and less wasteful production. The industries, which use mineral resources, should be capable of more complex manufacturing in order to add more value to the raw materials by making more sophisticated products. The agricultural production should focus on crops that grow under the hot and dry climatic conditions of the region.
General Recommendations Recommendations for further analysis Feasibility studies In all five littoral states feasibility studies should be done for the introduction of cleaner production technologies at the most polluting plants. If a study shows that a production cannot be modernized profitably, because the expected development of the market would not justify the investment, the production should be phased out.
Market studies Each industry should reevaluate its production profile in regard to the changed situation that has resulted from the demise of the USSR and other developments. Detailed studies of domestic, regional and international markets will not only allow reassessing the requirements for new technology, but is also essential for building up new productions and services. The emerging of small and medium-sized enterprises will facilitate the continued employment of the workforce in the industrial zones. The governments should encourage this process and create favorable conditions for private entrepreneurs.
Recommendation for monitoring A comprehensive integrated regional network of laboratories and environmental monitoring stations should be established. The objective is to have at all times a clear picture of the pollution of the whole Caspian region, including air, water and ground pollution. The network should also monitor the fluctuation of the level and the key hydrometeorological parameters. This will make it possible to record a dynamic image of the flow of pollutants and locate their sources. It will also record the development in the different industrial centers in real time and thus show improvement or deterioration of the environmental situation, differentiated by location and including accidental spills along with their frequency and sources. In regular periods, e.g., every month, a detailed report should be published with maps of the region, showing the concentration of key pollutants at the sources and how the are dispersed over the region. At a later stage, when a corresponding agreement has been signed, the data could also be used for determining financial compensation according to the principle “polluter pays”, also for border crossing pollution.
Prerequisites for the realization of such a monitoring network are:
Recommendation for remediation Some detailed recommendations for different industries and countries are given in the country sections of this report. Others will result from additional studies as suggested above. The best remediation is the prevention of pollution at the source (see below). Processes that create less waste are far more economic than end-of-the-pipe technology. However, clean-up measures are necessary, nevertheless, because not all types of waste can be avoided.
Recommendation for pollution prevention Cleaner production The most effective way to alleviate industrial impact on the environment is the introduction of cleaner industrial production for an ecologically sustainable industrial development. Although ecology has its cost, new technologies sometimes can even augment the profit of an enterprise. Outdated and outworn equipment causes leakage and accidents. Newer installations consume less energy, raw materials and water. At the same time, they produce less waste. Some discharges can be reused (recycled).
Environmental impact assessment For all new installations an environmental impact assessment study (EIA) has to be made. The study should correspond to a set of regionally internationally agreed guidelines.
Incentives and disincentives For investments in cleaner technology, monitoring, quality control, research, ecologically favorable substitutes (e.g., for CFCs), the governments should grant certain incentives. These incentives can include, but are not limited to:
In order to discourage polluters and to create competitive equality for all manufacturers, certain disincentives should be applied, e.g.:
Some countries have started to sell “pollution certificates” that grant the right to a certain amount of emission of a certain substance. These certificates can be traded bilateral between enterprises or on a “certificate exchange”, much like stocks on a stock exchange. The underlying idea is that at a location only the total amount of a substance emitted is relevant, regardless from how many sources it comes. It is extremely important to reduce the bureaucracy involved with the implementation of the measures. Since locations and countries compete for investments all over the world, the bureaucratic procedures must be fast, fair, transparent and just. It is recommended to create an environmental agency in each country that substitutes the currently existing multitude of different authorities. The personnel of the agency should watch over the environment, but also understand the needs of the industry. The investor would have to deal with this agency only. Such a simplified structure would be less prone to corruption, too.
Recommendation for dealing with the rising level Apart from local measures, such as dams or drainage canals, not much can be done against the rising level. As recent studies have shown (in particular the IAEA’s comprehensive study of 1995/96) neither the amplitude of the fluctuation cannot seriously predicted, nor the point of its inversion. The fluctuation appears to be determined by global climatic phenomena rather than regional natural or anthropogenic influence. Consequently, the only effective step that can be taken is to relocate industries and settlements to places on substantially higher elevations or remote from the coastline. Certainly, new construction close to the submersion zone should be prohibited.
Recommendation for cooperation between the littoral states The creation of a regional monitoring network is a prerequisite for managing the environment of the Caspian. All five countries support this concept. At least two major regional meetings were held on this issue already. A good basis for such a network could be the revival of the hydrometereological network of the FSU and linking it with the corresponding institution in Iran. The hydrometeorological services still exist in all states, but have presently very little communication and are also underfunded. Nevertheless, they have the potential and the necessary principal knowledge. Also, they seem to be interested in cooperating. Harmonization of laws and regulations, incentives and disincentives, norms and standards is crucial for a functioning cooperation. Even if agreement cannot be reached immediately on all issues, a gradual approach is very useful.
Recommendation for international cooperation with other countries Cooperation with foreign investors will also help to acquire better production technologies, but also knowledge on international standards and procedures that help to raise product quality and environmental compatibility. The medium term objective should be compliance with the norms ISO 9000 and ISO 14000. Foreign partners can also contribute marketing knowledge and sales and advertising techniques. The countries should aspire to create favorable conditions for both domestic and foreign investors. Today, many regions in the world are competing for investment. Openness, reduced bureaucracy and fiscal incentives influence the investors’ choice. Obviously, enterprises of the gas, petroleum and petrochemical industries are very interested in the region. They are also willing to invest in environmental issues and could be sponsors in some programs. In some cases they might even support projects that do not offer a financial return, but enhance their brand image. The monitoring network could be such a project.
Sustainable development and competitiveness Ecology and product quality are closely related. Together with pricing and marketing, they form the “Tetrahedron of Competitiveness”: Each of the parameters Quality, Price, Environment and Marketing is directly connected to each of the others, like the corners of a tetrahedron. Together, they determine the competitiveness of a product in the market. Factors, influencing competitiveness
Industrial development is only sustainable, if it uses as much recyclable and as little non-recyclable raw material as possible (this pertains to the energy production as well). It also should create as little waste as possible, since the planet’s capacity for accepting waste may be even more limited than its reserves of raw materials and fossil fuel. Furthermore, industrial development is only sustainable if its products and services are competitive.
For the realization of the outlined program the creation of a Caspian Network for Monitoring, Pollution Prevention and Industrial Development is suggested (Nuclei of Synergy). In each littoral country a coastal city should be chosen for establishing such a center. It is important to choose the city with consideration of its socioeconomic significance and its industrial and scientific tradition. For Azerbaijan this could be Baku or Sumgait, where the “Special Economic Zone” project will recreate the chemical, metallurgical and other industries with cleaner production technology. In Iran, Bandar-e Anzali could be such a center, especially as far as monitoring is concerned. Other possible places are Rasht and Sari, although they are not directly on the coast. In Kazakhstan, Atyrau or Aktau are possible choices. In the Russian Federation, Astrakhan, and to a degree, Makhachkala have the longest tradition in Caspian research. The largest center in Turkmenistan on the coastline is Turkmenbashi (Krasnovodsk). In these cities modern research and monitoring laboratories can be installed, but also centers for pollution prevention, cleaner production and sustainable development. The proposed environmental agencies could have offices there, too. All these units could cooperate with each other, with the industries, municipalities and the corresponding centers in the other countries. Their scientific and economic branches should maintain close links to international organizations (e.g., GEF, IAEA, IMO, TACIS, UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO, UNIDO, WMO), financial organizations (e.g., Asian Development Bank, EBRD, OECF, OPIC, World Bank), and to interested organizations in other countries (universities, academies, research institutions, chambers of commerce and industry, etc.) In addition to dealing with common tasks as described, each Nucleus of Synergy could focus on issues particular to its expertise or location. The center in Azerbaijan, e.g., could take a coordinating role in monitoring, because the Goscomhydromet of Azerbaijan did much of the monitoring of the Caspian during the Soviet era and also has suitable ships for the purpose. It could also do pilot projects for cleaner production in Sumgait’s Special Economic zone. The Iranian center could specialize in ecological studies of coastal wetlands and biodiversity and on caviar production. The center in Kazakhstan could focus on offshore drilling in shallow water. Russia has ample capacity for all sectors, but as the largest polluter it should certainly also focus on cleaner production and perhaps also on the fishery industry and caviar production. Turkmenistan could focus on gas industry and the problem of radioactive contamination. The Nuclei of Synergy concept strives for an integral solution for reducing environmental pollution, establishing monitoring and advancing at the same time the economic and industrial development in the littoral region. |
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