MAIN SOURCES OF INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION

Azerbaijan

The main sources of the Caspian pollution is untreated sewage water discharges from the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), power plants, chemical and petrochemical plants, the industrial association "Caspian Steam-Navigation", the Sumgait non-ferrous metallurgical plant "Sumgaittsvetmet" and "Azerboru" steel plant, as well as drainage water and fecal waste from residential areas.

The maximum concentrations in sewage water exceed the fixed sanitary norm for hydrocarbons by 8 - 25 times, for phenols by 10 - 12 times, for mercury by 2 - 8 times and for detergents by 1 - 2 times. High concentrations of phosphates, ammonium nitrogen, nitrites and nitrates have been found in the coastal water.

According to the observations conducted over many years, the pollutants accumulate in the bottom sediments. Each kilogram of the upper layer of sediments contains 10 – 40 g of hydrocarbons, 0.5 - 5 g of phenols and 1 g of mercury and heavy metals. The complex hydrochemical pollution index characterizes this water as dirty and very dirty.

Across the whole water area of the central and southern Caspian the concentrations of heavy metals, detergents, pesticides, biogenic elements do not exceed the fixed norm. The mouth coastal waters, the Sumgait coast and Baku bay are exceptional.

The Ecological Situation of the Industrial Complex in Baku

The Baku bay is affected by anthropogenic factors to the greatest extent. Over decades about 500 million m³ of sewage water have been discharged into the bay, of which 187 million m³ were polluted. The greatest portion of pollutants are petroleum products and phenols. The sewage contains low concentrations of mercury, copper, iron, zinc, detergents, suspended, biogenic and organic matter, exceeding MPC norms. The sewage discharge results in an increase of the concentrations of a number of pollutants in the bay. Hydrocarbons in the bay exceed the MPC by 10 - 50 times, phenols by 18 - 30 times, mercury by 2 - 5 times and detergents by 1 - 2 times. Disruption of the oxygen regime is common. Besides, the concentrations of phosphates (12 - 15 mkg/l), nitrites (2 - 4 mkg/l) and nitrates (2 - 3 mkg/l) are two times higher, of silicon (50 - 150 mkg/l) and ammonium nitrogen (25 - 60 mkg/l) 40 - 50% higher in the Baku bay than in other parts of the Caspian . The water of the Baku bay is classified as very dirty. The degree of the bottom sediment pollution in the Baku bay is quite high. Observations and analyses show that each kilogram of the sediments contains 250 g of hydrocarbons, 50 - 100 g of phenols, 0.2-2.0 g of mercury.

The city of Baku on the coast of the Caspian (population 2.8 million people) consists of 11 administrative districts with a total area of 192,000 ha. 60% of industrial potential of Azerbaijan is concentrated in Baku. It covers less than 3% of the country’s territory and houses 27.6% of the population. The second largest industrial center of the country is Sumgait, which lies 35 km north of Baku on the northern coast of the Apsheron peninsula.

Baku is the center of the oil producing, oil refining and oil engineering industry. The whole Apsheronian zone, Baku and Sumgait included, is a territory with critical ecological problems. The reproduction indices over the territory are extremely low: oxygen reproduction is 0.8 million m³/year with an index of 0.04; water resources - 10.5 million m³/year with an index of 54.0 (the lowest index in the country).

Daily sewage discharges from Baku into the Caspian are 1.5 million m³, out of which 550-600 thousand m³ are biologically purified. The mechanical purification facilities, used over many years, have become unsafe and inefficient (e.g. the treatment plants in Zikh, Gadji-Gasan and Mardakan).

The main sources for the Caspian pollution are oil-producing and oil-refining plants. The imperfect system of monitoring of the Caspian does not allow to make a proper ecological forecast.

Long and intensive exploitation of oil and gas deposits without proper technical equipment, usage of primitive technology, particularly at the initial stages of prospecting and exploiting oil and gas deposits, have influencing the environment in a destructive way.

For example, in 1995 the oil production was 9.16 million tons and the gas production was 6.64 billion m³. Over 600,000 tons of pollutants were discharged into the atmosphere (576,000 tons of hydrocarbons included), which is 64% of the total waste discharge in the country.

The 12-14 cm annual rise of the water level aggravates the situation and causes the need for changing the ways of oil- and gas-production.

One of the main problems in the city of Baku is the sewage system, including the Govsani purification facility. The total length of the sewage system is 1,167.2 km. The Govsani purification facility (with the capacity of 600 thousand m³) operates since 1988 and has no sediment processing equipment.

The lack of local cleaning facilities at the plants brings about the pollution of the Caspian by industrial sewage containing petroleum products, acids, lyes, dyes and salts of heavy metals.

The Oil- and Gas Producing Deposit (OGPD) "Bibi-Eibatneft"

"Bibi-Eibatneft" is situated in the southwestern part of Baku on the coast of the Caspian and covers 1,320 ha (460 ha of water surface and 860 ha of land). There are also residential buildings on its territory.

Due to the rising level of the Caspian the sites I and IV are ecologically dangerous. The operation of old and obsolete equipment also causes further pollution. At present, 62 hectares of the deposit territory are flooded, including 41 bore wells, 4 power distribution stations, roads and communication lines. The total losses caused by the rising level of the Caspian are estimated at USD 1.7 million.

Oil- and Gas Producing Deposit "Balakhanineft"

The "Balakhanineft" deposit is 15-16 km northeast of Baku. The deposit has operated since 1871. 11,000 wells have been drilled, out of which 1,067 wells are still in operation. "Balakhanineft" covers 2,865 ha.

Industrial sewage from the deposit as well as municipal sewage from the residential districts of Balakhani, Sabunchi, Ramani and Zabrat are flowing to the Stratal Water Canal, then to the Southern Canal and the Govsani channel and without any purification further into the Caspian .

After the overflowing of the 1902 built Southern Canal an artificial sewage pond was created on the territory of the deposit. The canal's tunnel is unsafe. In the event that the tunnel should destroyed, the Sabunchi district and the road from Baku to the airport will be flooded.

Production Association (PA) "Azerneftyanadjag"

PA "Azerneftyanadjag" was put into operation in 1953. Due to obsolete equipment and technology the plant pollutes the atmosphere severely. Since 1978 Azerbaijanian oil with low sulfur content and Siberian oil with high sulfur content were refined at the plant. Due to the absence of Siberian oil the refinery works now at 50-60% of its capacity.

Since the construction of a biological purification facility the quality of the waste water released to the Caspian has improved 20-25 times.

Production Association "Azerneftyag"

The PA "Azerneftyag" was established in 1883. In a century of its operation the plant has turned into a high-capacity oil-refining complex. In the1980s the plant was reconstructed.

The thermocracking equipment there was replaced by an ELOU-AVT-6 aggregate which meets modern ecological standards. New equipment of the types ELOU-AVT-2 petrofac (USA) and ELOU-AVT-2 (South Korea) have lately been installed at the plant. The obsolete equipment of the lines NN3 and 4 is not used any more. The discharge of polluted water into the Caspian has been reduced by 1 million m³/year

In 1995 sewage cleaning facilities with the capacity of 1,040 m³/hour were installed. After treatment the sewage is discharged into a water rotation system.

Ship Repairing Plant "Paris Commune"

This Ship-Repairing Plant covers 13 ha on the coast of the Caspian and is designated for the ferries and technical ship repairs. The main shops at the plant are hull welding, mechanical assembly, complex metal working, wood working and electric adjustment.

180 m³/day of sewage is discharged into the Caspian without purification.

Ship-Repairing Plant "I. Allakhverdiev"

The plant was established in 1942. It produces glass-reinforced plastic boats and repairs ships. The plant covers 8.45 hectares.

The sewage from the plant particularly from the ship repairing shops and services shops is discharged into the Caspian after purification. The capacity of purification facilities is 200 m³/day. There is a water rotation system at the plant.

Oil and Gas Producing Deposits "Neft Dashlari" and "28 May"

In 1996 the deposits situated on the Caspian, the Baku international port and the fishery port, and navy ships discharged 31.9 million m³ of sewage into the Caspian, out of which 25.4 million m³ (79.6%) were discharged from the deposit area.

In 1992 a strong storm destroyed the biological purification facility with a capacity of 500 m³/day. Now, as a result of this destruction, 493 m³ of untreated sewage are daily discharged into the Caspian.

The water area of the Caspian within the zone of "Neft Dashlari" and "28 May" operation is polluted by oil and stratal water discharged into the Caspian as a result of naval accidents, leakage of equipment and pipe-line ruptures.

Besides, 30 km of desolate piers, 98 sites, 42 individual bases and other communication systems are potential sources of pollution. The largest part of hydrotechnical facilities have been operative for more than 40 years but their regular period of service is only 17 years. Therefore they do not meet the ecological standards.

The Ecological Situation of the Industrial Complex in Sumgait

The coastal water of the northern Apsheron peninsula is less influenced by anthropogenic factors but the polluted water from Sumgait is transferred there by the main current of the Caspian. Therefore, in the coastal water of the northern Apsheron peninsula the concentration exceeds the MPC for hydrocarbons by 2 - 10 times, for phenols by 8 - 10 times. Nitrogen, phosphor and detergents reach 0.5 - 1.0 times of the MPC. The coastal water is categorized between dirty water and polluted water. The bottom sediments contain petroleum products up to 100 - 150 g/kg of the sediment, phenols up to 0.5 - 3.0 g/kg of the sediment and mercury up to 0.1 - 0.6 g/kg.

In 1946 the creation of the Sumgait industrial complex has started. Due to obvious reasons the development was not carefully planned. This has negatively influenced the industrial structure of the city, the physical and technical condition of the plants, cleaning facilities and installations at these plants, toxic waste cleaning facilities and the social environment of the city’s population.

Use outdated technologies resulting in great losses of material and energy resources due to inefficient processing of feedstock and wasteful energy consumption. It also caused the discharge of huge amounts of contaminants into the environment.

In 1946 began the construction of a pipe production plant, a synthetic rubber plant, an aluminum smelter and other chemical and petrochemical plants. The pipe production plant, the smelter, the rubber plant “Sintezkautchuk" and the plants "Organic synthesis", "Surfactants", "Sumgaitbytchim", "Superphosphate", "Compressor", "Additive", “Sumgait Chemical Plant,” as well as two thermoelectric power plants are the largest enterprises in Sumgait today.

Sumgait became during the last years of the Soviet Union one of the most polluted places in the world because of the many different harmful processes employed in its plants, including installations for the production of chlorine and caustic soda by electrolysis in cells with mercury electrodes.

Many processes were based on imported feedstock and produced for the Soviet market, which now has disappeared. Many plants produced intermediates, not final products. This made Azerbaijan’s industry totally dependent on the former USSR. About 120 products and 266 denominations of raw material used in Sumgait’s plants fall into the classes I-IV of ecologically toxic substances.

60 denominations of about 150,000 tons of toxic non-recycled waste have been annually discharged. This caused severe soil, water and air pollution and the accumulation of toxic waste on unsafe dumping sites. By now 5 million tons of waste have been accumulated on the territory of Sumgait.

Besides, the disproportion between the economic and social development of the city has resulted in the aggravation of water supply problems. According to statistics, when the plants operate the demand in fresh water is 500 million m³/year. The Djeyranbatan reservoir supplies 1/4 of this quantity, the Shollar water supply contributes 12-13 million m³/year. The remaining part of the water comes from the Caspian.

350-400 million m³ per year of industrial sewage are being discharged into the Caspian without treatment. The residential area releases daily about 100,000 m³ of polluted sewage, 25-30 thousand of which are being discharged into the Caspian without purification. The remaining 70-75 thousand m³ are being discharged into Intersectoral Cleaning Facilities (ICF). The polluted sewage of the most part of industrial plants is being purified at the Municipal Cleaning Installation (MCI) which is located at the "Organic Synthesis" plant. Its total capacity is 182,000 m³/day. The cleaning facility is now unsafe and its efficiency is very low due to massive damage and some construction faults. The neutralization stations for physical and chemical purification of the sewage at the plants "Surfactants" and "Superphosphate" are in terrible condition. Due to the lack of neutralizing agents and high concentration of acids in the discharge channels only 10-12% of the sewage are being neutralized. The remaining part is discharged without treatment. Besides, the sewage passing through the neutralizing stations contains many petroleum products and other chemicals. In the1980s the "Vodokanal" Institute in Rostov prepared a reconstruction project for a capacity increase of the municipal treatment plant up to 291,000 m³/day. The first stage of reconstruction was expected to start in 1990, the second in 1992, but only the construction of a sewage pipeline from the residential area of the city was started but later stopped due to financial difficulties and to the rising level of the Caspian. The rising level of the Caspian has brought about flooding of 5 km of road and an 8-10 km long and 300-500 m wide strip of beach area, including the rescue services building and recreation facilities. The total length of the littoral zone of Sumgait is 22 km.

Sumgait Structures Threatened by Flooding

• Purification facility at the "Organic Synthesis Plant " (operating since 1969, staff: 140, total area: 5 hectares, capacity: 182,000 m³/day).

• Water rotation system and torch installation of the ethylene-propylene plant “EP-300" (operating since 1987, staff: 49, total area: 2.1 ha, capacity: 624,000 m³/day).

• Water pumping station of the " Synthetic Rubber Plant" (operating since 1955, staff: 40, total area: 1 ha, capacity: 30 million m³/year of Caspian water.

• Water intake system of Thermoelectric Power Plant No.1 (operating since 1949, staff: 37, total area: 0.8 ha, capacity: 152 million m³/year).

• Fishery plant in the Tagiyev district (operating since 1950, staff: 50, total area: 1.7 ha, capacity: unstable).

Sumgait has a water rotation system for about 360,000 m³/day and local purification facilities for 369,000 m³/day, but these installations are not sufficient.

The social and ecological problems have been lately aggravated by the arrival of one hundred thousand of refugees from the war with Armenia. The most critical problems are water supply and discharge and energy supply.

"Organic Synthesis Plant"

The "Organic Synthesis Plant" is one of the biggest industrial plants in Azerbaijan. It has been operating since 1967. The plant produces divinyl, epoxy resin, chlorine and caustic soda by diaphragm electrolysis, polyether, polyethylene, etc.

All the productions and shops at the plant operate on a water rotation basis. There are four types of sewage being formed at the plant:

• sewage polluted by organic chemicals

• sewage polluted by inorganic chemicals

• conventionally clean sewage.

• domestic sewage

All sewage should be pumped to the biological cleaning facility. The pumping station is currently not operational. It cannot handle suspended matter. The pumps are clogged with suspended matter and have been stopped.. The intake of biological cleaning facility badly damaged, which results in sewage discharge into the Caspian . Reconstruction of the station has now been started.

The “conventionally clean” sewage is directly discharged into the Caspian. Its total volume is 57,000 m³/year. Although it is classified “conventionally clean,” this sewage contains petroleum products, copper and other contaminants several times above the permitted concentration standards. The copper content in divinyl sewage is 0.5 mg/l instead of the norm of 0.001 mg/l, petroleum products content is 1.2-1.5 mg/l instead of 0.05 mg/l.

The purification facilities were put into operation in 1973. These facilities treat the sewage not only the "Organic Synthesis Plant" but also from a number of other big industrial plants, as well as from the residential area of Sumgait. The nominal capacity of the purification facility is 182,870 m³/day, the capacity of the included biological cleaning facilities is 146,000 m³/day. In reality, 184,000 m³/day of sewage are being carried to the purification facility and 167,000 m³/day being carried to the biological cleaning facility. The amount of sewage directed to the cleaning facility exceeds the nominal capacities, which leads to discharge of non-purified water into the Caspian.

The "Organic Synthesis Plant” is a serious air polluter. The plant disposes 7-10 thousand of tons/year of waste gas into the atmosphere. The exhaust gas consists of 50% hydrocarbons The rest is dust, carbon oxides, chlorine, nitrous oxides, ammonia, hydrogen chloride and sulfurous gases. Though there is a torch installation hydrocarbons have been discharged into the atmosphere for a long time. Only 40-70% of the formed gases are being cleaned. 13 denominations of waste, totaling 2,765 tons, are annually formed at the plant. Seven denominations of waste are recycled.

"Synthetic Rubber Plant "

The "Synthetic-Rubber Plant" is a significant water consumer. The plant was put into operation in 1965. It used to make butadiene-styrene rubber, isopropyl alcohol, styrene, ethylene-propylene, butadiene, etc. Currently, it does not produce any type of rubber, since most raw materials would have to be imported. The only remaining major production is isopropyl alcohol (IPA).

For a long time the plant worked on a direct water use basis. At the same time non-purified water was discharged into the Caspian. At present three water rotation systems with a total capacity of 925 thousand m³/day are operational.

There are three types of sewage being formed at the plant:

• conventionally clean industrial;
• chemically contaminated;
• domestic.

Chemically contaminated and domestic sewage are being directed to the cleaning facilities of the "Organic Synthesis Plant". Conventionally clean industrial sewage is being discharged into the Caspian. This type of sewage, though classified "conventionally clean," is contaminated by copper, surfactants, styrene, aromatic hydrocarbons and other pollutants. Due to ineffective operation of four purification facilities some sewage is discharged unpurified.

14 denominations of waste (8,934 tons) are annually formed at the "Synthetic Rubber Plant", 7 denominations of waste are recycled.

The development plan envisages till 2010:

• Resumption of the butadiene production

• Installation of a polystyrene production facility

• Production of consumer goods from polystyrene

• Installation of a polypropylene production facility

• Production of consumer goods from polypropylene;

• Installation of an ethyl benzene production facility

• Installation of a styrene production facility

90% of the butadiene plant’s reconstruction has been accomplished, but due to financial constraints the construction was stopped in 1996.

"Surfactants Plant"

The "Surfactants Plant was put into operation in 1945. Later, the plant has been enlarged. It produces (by electrolysis on mercury electrodes), sulfanol and some other chemicals.

In 1973 local purification facilities were constructed and put into operation (the capacity is 8,300 m³), but these facilities failed to prevent discharge of sewage into the Caspian due to design faults.

Besides, five oil trapping cleaning facilities and sewage purification facilities for mercury were put installed, but their operation was also ineffective. All these purification facilities are unreliable now.

There are four types of sewage being formed at the plant:

• chemically polluted
• inorganic
• domestic
• industrial and emergency sewage

After initial purification at the local facilities chemically polluted sewage is carried to the municipal purification facility. The sewage discharged into the purification facilities contains a lot of petroleum products and suspended matter, which disturbs the purification facilities' operation. As a result, not adequately purified sewage is discharged into the Caspian.

Inorganic sewage is sent to neutralization facilities. Before 1973 the inorganic sewage was not purified. In 1973 a neutralization facility was built and a sewage pipeline leading to it was put into operation. At present the pipeline is unsafe. The inorganic sewage contains acids as well as petroleum products (30-140 mg/l) and synthetic substances (50-60 mg/l). The neutralization facility is unable to remove any other contaminants but acids. The inorganic sewage is formed during sulfanol production and chlorine paraffin production. Hydrochloric acid is formed during production of sulfanol and paraffin and reaches the amount of 40 tons/day. To neutralize this amount of acid an adequate amount of neutralization agent is required. Due to under-supply, some acid remains unneutralized.

The domestic sewage formed at the plant is carried to the regional purification facilities. For cooling of technological equipment water from the Caspian is used and subsequently returned to the Caspian. This water should not be contaminated, but long operation and obsolete equipment result in contamination by chemicals. According to chemical analysis the industrial sewage contains 50-60 mg/l of surfactants and 25 mg/l of petroleum products. 70 million m³ of sewage with a high concentration of contaminants are being discharged into the Caspian.

In 1992 the industrial sewage discharged contained 68.9 t of petroleum products, 673.5 t of suspended matter, 42.8 t of surfactants, etc.

Another main polluter of Sumgait is the "Surfactants Plant". The plants annually discharges into the atmosphere chlorine, chloro-hydrocarbons, ammonia, nitrous oxides, and other toxic gases. Five denominations (38,000 tons) of industrial waste are being formed annually. Practically all solid waste recycled with the exception of mercury slime, which is being formed during chlorine production. The annual amount of mercury slime is 6-7 thousand tons. Approximately 200,000 tons have accumulated as yet. There are no actions undertaken by the plant to utilize this slime. This mercury evaporates slowly and pollutes the atmosphere. One of the most critical ecological problems of Sumgait is the problem of mercury slime.

"Superphosphate Plant"

The "Superphosphate Plant " was put into operation in the 1960s. It has production lines for sulfuric acid, simple and granulated superphosphate and a number of small installations. These operate mainly on a direct water supply basis. Only two of them use water rotation systems.

There are three types of sewage water being formed at the plant:

• domestic;
• inorganic;
• industrial.

A part of inorganic sewage is directed to the neutralization station of the "Organic Synthesis Plant". Industrial, domestic and inorganic sewage are directed without purification to the Sumgait-chay river and further discharged into the Caspian. Construction of a pumping station and installation for acid discharges, purification and recycling has been started in two stages:

1. Construction of purification facilities for acid and emergency discharges

2. Construction of a pumping station for transferring discharges to purification facilities, construction of water rotation and recycling system.

The first stage was completed in 1990, but this installation has not been put into operation yet. The second stage of construction has not yet been started. As a result the sewage is discharged into the Caspian.

The "Superphosphate Plant" releases annually about 4-6 thousand tons of contaminants into the atmosphere. The main waste are: sulfurous gases, dust, fluorine compounds and carbon oxides. Very often there are emergency discharges of sulfurous gases.

"EP-300Ethylene-Polyethylene Plant "

The EP-300 plant started operating independently in October, 1994. The sewage water is discharged into the sewage of the "Synthetic Rubber Plant " and "Organic Synthesis Plant". A water circulation system with a capacity of 624,000 m³/day is installed at EP-300. The production of polyethylene has a water circulation system for 390,000 m³/day.

Because of design faults the EP-300 industrial waste water is merged with the "conventionally clean" sewage of the "Synthetic Rubber Plant" and discharged into the Sumgait-chay river without purification. In February, 1995 the total amount of contaminated sewage with phenol content of 2,340 m³ was discharged into this river.

Petroleum products were found 30-100 times and phenols 100-200 times above the maximum permissible concentrations.

If the existing water circulation system worked at full capacity the plant could operate without sewage discharge.

Production Association "Sumgaittsvetmet"

"Sumgaittsvetmet" is the second largest metallurgical plant in the city. It has installations for electrolysis, smelting, sublimation and other processes. The plant has been operating since 1955. The initial project of the plant did not envisage the construction of water treatment installations and the sewage water was discharged into the Caspian without purification. The oil trapping system has recently been put into operation. Unfortunately, it was not properly designed and is quite ineffective. Thus, sewage water containing petroleum products is being discharged into the Caspian.

There are 2 types of sewage water being formed at the plant:

• domestic

• industrial

This sewage water is discharged into the Caspian through the sewer of the Industrial Association "Azertrub". The pumping station for domestic water has not yet been completed.

"Sumgaittsvetmet" discharges yearly 8-16 thousand tons of toxic contaminants into the atmosphere. The main contaminants are dust, carbon oxides, hydrogen fluoride and sulfurous gases.

Production Association "Azerboru"

"Azerboru" is one of the big plants in Sumgait. It is situated in the urban area. South wind causes atmospheric pollution of the settlements "Inshaatchilar" and "Chemists". If there is no wind the whole city of Sumgait is affected.

It has been operating since 1949. It produces steel and steel tubes. The plants consumes much water. There are three water circulation systems, two of them servicing the compressor shop, one the melting shop No. 2.

There are three types of sewage water being formed at the plant:

• domestic

• conventionally clean

• industrial

The domestic sewage water is carried into the municipal sewage system through a pumping station. The conventionally clean and the industrial sewage water are discharged into the Caspian through the plant’s sewer.

There are horizontal water sedimentation tanks at the plant. The tanks consist of 48 sections, 8 sections being supplied with oil trapping systems. Due to poor design the sedimentation tanks are only 50% effective. The other sewage water from the tanks is discharged into Caspian without purification. The concentrations in the tanks do not correspond to MPC standards. The sewage water from the other installations is discharged into the Caspian.

In 1992 a project on recycling of sewage after purification was implemented. This made it possible to decrease the water consumption.

In 1985 a new project was launched to convert the plant into a regime free of sewage discharge. The project envisaged the construction of a new water circulation system with a total capacity of 190,000 m³/day and of a treatment facility. It would have saved 30-40 million m³/year and prevented sewage discharges into the Caspian. But the implementation of the project has been delayed. Sewage from the residential and industrial zones of Sumgait (1993-1995)

The amount of contaminants discharged into the Caspian by industrial plants in Baku in (1994-1995)

The amount of sewage, discharged into the Caspian by the deposits "May 28" and "Neft Dashlari" (1994-1996)

Amount of contaminants discharged into the Caspian by OGPD "May 28" and "Neft Dashlari" for 1994-1996.

The "Neft Dashlary" region

The "Neft Dashlary" region is particularly polluted by petroleum hydrocarbons. The "Neft Dashlary" deposit is located in a zone of hydrodynamic activity and strong winds, streams and waves, which result in the transfer of polluted waters to the south and southeast.

In the zone of the "Neft Dashlary" deposit the conditions for oxygen saturation of the water are very favorable, the concentrations of dissolved oxygen fluctuate within the limits of 6 - 12 mg/l. Consequently, the concentration of hydrocarbons in the water is relatively low compared to the Baku bay (about 0.06-1.25 mg/l).

There are rather high concentrations of hydrocarbons in the bottom sediments of the region. Each kilogram of the sediments contains 250 - 970 g of petroleum products. The contents of phenols (0.1 - 0.5 g/kg) and mercury (0.1 - 0.6 g/kg) are very low. According to hydrochemical index the "Neft Dashlary" water is classified as dirty.

The regions of Shikhov-Sangachali are affected by transit pollution from petroleum products, phenols and other chemicals transferred by water streams from the Baku bay and "Neft Dashlary" deposit.

In the water area the contents of petroleum hydrocarbons (0.06 - 0.56 mg/l) and phenols (0.006 - 0.014 mg/l) are high, exceeding the MPCs by 1 - 10 and 6 - 14 times, respectively.

The bottom sediments have a high concentration of petroleum products, reaching 100 - 900 g/kg. The phenol and mercury concentrations are lower (phenols 0.1 - 2.52 g/kg, mercury 0.1 - 0.6 g/kg). The region is classified as dirty.

Iran

Much attention has been paid to control the pollution of Caspian on Iranian coast line. Nevertheless, some important sources of pollution can be identified as follows :

Domestic Wastewater

Domestic sewage flows into the Caspian directly or through rivers.

Most pollution comes from the cities of Rasht and Anzali in Gilan and Chalus, Babolsar and Sari in Mazandaran.

Cities in these two provinces have no sewage systems at the present time, but steps are taken to supply them with appropriate sanitation systems. Sewage projects for Rasht, Babol and Gonbad are already being studied.

Municipal sewage flows into the rivers which then flow into the Caspian. The Sefidrud river in Rasht has often very low concentrations of dissolved oxygen. It is the most polluted river in the country. Many small river or streams in the coastal region sometimes resemble open sewers. Therefore, domestic sewage is considered to be the most important pollution source of the Caspian on the Iranian side.

Cities near the coast, which discharge their sewage directly or indirectly into the Caspian are Asrara, Hashtpar, Anzali, Kiashahr, Rudsar, and Ramsar in Gilan with an overall population of some 1.2 million. In Mazandaran coastal cities with the same problem are Tonekabon, Eslamshahr, Chalus, Noshahr, Noor, Mahmoodabad, Babolsar, Fereydoonkenar, Bandar-Turkaman with a total population of 1.8 million.

Also many villages, townships and small communities next to the Caspian pollute it by their effluent discharge.

Solid Waste Disposal

Almost all cities near the coast line dump their solid waste on the river banks. Flooding washes the waste into the river and into the Caspian. Cities further away from the Caspian, dispose of their trash by land fill. The dumping sites are not adequately built. The liquid run-offs flow into the rivers and create health hazards. Floating debris on rivers is quite evident in almost all regional rivers. Unauthorized dumping of hospital wastes is another major concern. Unfortunately, incineration of this type of waste is not widely practiced. About 30 medium sized hospitals in the above mentioned cities have problems with their solid waste.

Dumping of Solid Industrial Waste

Solid industrial waste is another pollution problem. Fortunately, very little hazardous waste is produced in this region, but nevertheless the lack of proper waste handling systems, incinerators or adequate land fill sites is evident.

Waste from food and fruit processing plants, paper, plastic, wood pulp, metal objects, building and construction materials are the main constituents.

One factory which produces chromium salts, was in the past dumping its solid residues into the Caspian. Now this waste is transported to a land fill.

Agricultural pollution

High consumption of chemical fertilizers such as urea, ammonium phosphates and pesticides have been a source of Caspian pollution.

The provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran produce over 90% of the rice in the country and many other crops, which are heavily treated with fertilizers and pesticides. The flow of nutrients into the rivers have caused eutrophy and algal bloom. The Anzali wetlands are the area affected worst. High concentrations of nutrients have been monitored there.

The flow of pesticides into the Caspian is also problematic. So far no precise analyses on the Caspian water have been carried out, but a report by a team of university students indicated that the level of some common pesticides are well above standards.

The Neka Power Plant

The Neka power plant produces 2000 MW of electricity and is one of the largest power plants in the country. This power plant runs both on natural gas and on fuel-oil. The cooling towers of this plant use Caspian water for cooling.

The water withdrawn from the Caspian is usually ten degrees warmer on return. Also 5 - 10 mg/l of chlorine is added to the water continuously to inhibit biological growth on the cooling tower plates.

Some calculations indicate that the flow of Chlorine into the Caspian runs to 3-5 tons per day, although this has not been admitted by the Neka Power Plant authorities. Chlorine and the higher water temperature have created a pollution problem on the point of discharge. Although a limited radius is affected, this pollution has changed the biological diversity within that area. So far no steps have been taken to stop this pollution.

It must also be mentioned that apart from chlorine other chemicals, such as acids, phosphates, sodium hydroxide, inhibitors and organic algaecides, are used in the Neka power plant, either as boiler compounds or as cooling tower additives. These chemicals have been discharged into the Caspian, too.

The CHOUKA Paper Mill

Chouka is a 400 ton /day paper mill in western Gilan. The plant does not use bleaching agents, but a part of the 30,000 m³ of wastewater flows in to the Caspian untreated. Aerated lagoons are supposed to treat the wastewater, but due to highly concentrated influent of black liquor and sulfides, treatment is inadequate for the high pollution load. The plant, which is owned by the government, has not made a serious effort to upgrade the treatment system due to high costs.

Many experts believe that Chouka is one of the single most polluting industrial enterprises in the region.

The Industrial Park near Rasht

The industrial park, situated south of Rasht is a rapidly growing complex. Some 50 factories are located here. Next year this number is expected to double. Factories for textiles, ceramics and home appliances discharge their waste into a river, which flows into the Sefidrud and finally into the Caspian through the Anzali wetlands.

Industrial parks must have their own treatment facilities, but due to lack of funds the wastewater treatment plant for Rasht’s industrial park has not yet been built.

Other Industrial Effluents

Some industries, situated along the coast line, discharge their wastewater directly into the Caspian.

The effluents are often only partially treated or not treated at all. Examples are

• The Khazar Khas leather factory near Tonekabon with some 600 m³ of wastewater with BOD of over 500 mg/l, high alkalinity, sulfide and chromium concentrations much above the standards.

• Several textile plants in the area between Rasht and Anzali. (Poushesh, Parsnit, Iran Poplin are larger textile firms which do not have efficient treatment systems but are not directly on the coast line).

• Two cardboard production plants, one in the Anzali area and the other in the Babolsar area.

• Several fish processing plants, mainly producing Kilka fish meal and canned fish. These factories are mainly in Gilan, e.g. in Tonekabon and Anzali.

• Three factories producing citrus fruit juice and concentrate near Tonekabon, Ramsar and Astaneh.

These sources of pollution do not affect a large area, and they mainly produce relatively small volumes of biological waste, but nevertheless they are polluting the Caspian.

The D.O.E. is currently pressing them to take action for reducing their pollution load. Some have already started some sort of treatment.

Ports and Shipping

Pollution from ships and ports are quite noticeable in the port yards and the adjacent waters. Examples are Astara, Anzali, Nowshahr and Bandar-Turkaman, where oil slicks and floating debris, discharged from ships, are clearly visible.

Small accidents have occurred, resulting in leakage of gasoline and oil into the Caspian. Since these ports are small, they lack the facilities to control pollution.

Kazakhstan

In general, the waters of the northern part of Caspian are moderately polluted. Average concentrations of copper are about 7 mg/l, of zinc 22.5 mg/l, of lead 1.3 mg/l and of cadmium 0.5 mg/l. For the last years the contents of copper in the Kazakhstan's part of the Caspian is 0.001-0.015 mg/l. The largest concentrations can be traced in the mouth of the Ural river (0.004 mg/l), on the roadstead of Atyrau (0.006 mg/l) and in Kazakhstan's part of the mouth of the Volga river (0.015 mg/l). The same hard situation can be observed because of chromium pollution. The content of chromium in the water of the open part of the Caspian is considered to be normal, but on the roadstead of Atyrau and in the avant-delta of the Volga river the concentration of chromium exceeds the norms 12-15 and sometimes 30 times.

Aktiubinskaya Oblast

The main source of chromium pollution of Kazakhstan’s part of the Caspian is the chromium plant in Aktiubinsk. The plant was built over a part of the mouth of the river Ilek, a tributary of the Ural river. Leakage of equipment and storage of raw chromium on uncovered ground, as well as the absence of hydroisolated screens lead to surface and ground water pollution with hexavalent chromium. The content of chromium in ground water is about 4.5 g/l. Chromium concentration of snow water varies between 0.05-42.4 mg/l. According to the analysis of ground water in the area, it contains about 3,000 tons of sodium dichromate. The chromium concentration of soil on the plant's territory is between 200 mg/kg to 10 g/kg. The average content of chromium is more than 5 g/kg. Moreover, there are high concentrations of lead, molybdenum, bismuth, antimony and mercury.

Sources of 6,300 cubic meters per day of urban drinking water cannot be used because of chromium pollution.

An ecological inspection of the plant pointed to 204 sources of air pollution. Only 139 of those were equipped with filters. Almost 45% of the air pollution in Aktiubinsk is caused by the plant. In 1996 the plant was supposed to buy 2000 filters but could only buy 770.

In 1995 the total amount of polluting substances released into the atmosphere was about 7,003 tons. In 1996 this was reduced to 1,400 tons, due to lower production. In 1995 the plant was purchased by the Japan Chromium Corporation.

Another polluter in this region is the boron producing enterprise "Phosphokhim". The plant was built in 1941 in the town of Alga in the Aktiubinskaya Oblast. Industrial sewage water and waste from this plant are collected in reservoirs beside the river Ilek. The lack of screens cause pollution of the rivers Ilek and the Ural which fall into the Caspian .

Aktiubinsk's storage lake and its sources of drinking water are also polluted. The boron concentration is 0.547-0.717 mg/l. In the ground water it is from 217.8 mg/l (well N1124) to 579 mg/l (well N1297).

The boron concentration in soil reaches 3 g/kg. Apart from boron there are high concentrations of phosphorus, strontium, lanthanum, sodium, cerium, lead, silver, arsenic, cobalt, bismuth, molybdenum, copper and zinc. Copper and zinc concentrations exceed normal values by 42-48 times. The arsenic content of soil reaches 800 mg/kg, which is 400 times higher than normal.

The plant’s production has been stopped meanwhile by the ecological authorities, but the pollution of the rivers Ilek and Ural is still being continued from sedimentation tanks. The Ilek river water is spoiled by heavy mud and pollution. The Ural river is considered to be moderately polluted.

Kazakhstan's part of the Caspian is considerably polluted by phenols. The phenol concentration of the water in 1995 was about 0.001 - 0.005 mg/l, and in the Ural river - 0.003 mg/l. Normally it should be 0.001 mg/l. Monitoring has shown that the of concentration phenols increased in 1996 up to 0.003 - 0.009 mg/l, and in some places it reached 0.011 - 0.018 mg/l. The average concentration of petroleum carbohydrates in water was 0.01-0.02 mg/l in 1995. In 1996 the oil carbohydrate concentrations were almost normal in general, but sometimes they could be 0.06-0.07 mg/l.

Aktau

Kazakhstan’s only nuclear power plant is in Aktau. It is not the same type of reactor like the one in Chernobyl, but works with fast neutrons. The power plant is threatened by flooding, if the water level rises further.

This is also true for some industrial plants in Aktau, such as the polymer factory.

Atyrau Oblast

Air pollution is an important factor for the ecological situation in Kazakhstan's part of the Caspian . There are 105 enterprises in the Atyrau Oblast. They have 5,689 sources of air polluting substances. In 1994 the pollution amounted to 72,000 tons, in 1995 to 81,200 tons. 50% of consisted of hydrocarbons. The main sources of air pollution are oil and gas enterprises. 88% of the total air pollution are caused by oil and gas plants, such as "Tengizoilgas"(28,800 tons), "Embaoilgas" (13,300 tons), "Tengizshevroil" (10,300 tons), an oil-refining plant (14,800 tons) and a thermoelectric power station (4,400 tons).

There are more than 40,000 vehicles in the oblast, which release more than 30,000 tons of exhaust gases.

The pipeline company "Zhaiktransgas" discharges over 20,000 tons of harmful substances. 50 % of them are toxic nitrogen oxides. There are frequent emergencies, which can release up to 10 million cubic meters of exhaust gas. In 1994 five emergencies occurred, caused by leakage and rupture.

An ecological inspection of the oil-refining plant found a number of serious problems. The plant needs a capital reconstruction and replacement of outdated equipment. There are more than 20 oil fields in the oblast, which have been exploited for 20 years, using outdated technology. Every year over 200 million cubic meters of associated gas is flared on 3,500 wells.

Mangistau Oblast

There are 9,536 sources of pollution in the Mangistau Oblast. Discharge of harmful substances into the air was 105,900 tons in 1994 and 90,500 tons in 1995. The major sources of air pollution are oil and gas enterprises, in particular "Kaskor", an atomic electric power station, a plastics manufacturer and motor vehicles.

The nuclear power station, which was built about 30 years ago, is in a serious condition. The equipment is worn out, the gas-washing system is out of order and protecting screens are broken.

Economic difficulties affect the technological state of the joint-stock company "Kaskor", with a chemical - hydrometallurgical plant, a nitrogen fertilizer plant, a sulfuric acid plant and a mechanical workshop. Frequent damages are mainly caused by worn out equipment. In 1995 an emergency with nitrogen oxide leakage occurred at the chemical - hydrometallurgical plant.

The nuclear power station and the plants of the "Kaskor" company emit about 70% of the harmful waste over the city.

One of the most important ecological problems of the region is toxic and radio-active dust from the storage "Coshkar-Ata" of the former Ministry of Engineering Industry. The total amount of toxic waste in this storage to the present moment is about 115 million of tons. 51.7 million of tons are radio-active substances. Harmful dust is widely spread at great distances.

Oil fields of this region have been exploited for more than 30 years. Outdated technology and worn out equipment are being used, which provokes emergencies, involving oil spilling and gas leakage.

Russia

During 1995 the level of pollution of the Caspian regions, adjacent to the territory of the Russian Federation, has somewhat decreased or stabilized. The average annual concentrations of oil hydrocarbons were 0.3-1.6 MPC, concentrations of phenols - on the average - 4-5, maximum 5-6 MPC. Concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons in bottom sediments varied within the range of 1-14 mkg/g, concentration of heavy metals varied from “undetectable” to 0.291 mkg/g, for Cu - 4.6-27.9 mkg/g, Pb - 0.1-4.2 mkg/g, Ni - 65-1571 mkg/g. Levels of nitrogen ammonia and SSAS didn’t exceed MPC. Of chloroorganic pesticides (COP) mainly pesticides of the DDT group were found in concentrations less than 0.1 ng/l. Concentration of DDT in bottom sediments varied within the range of 0.30-0.15 ng/l, concentrations became smaller from the Volga delta to the central part of the Caspian aquatory. The concentration of chloro- and nitro-phenols in water is below 1 mkg/l, in bottom sediments - below 0.002-0.004 mkg/g. The oxygen regime is normal in the surface layer, in the horizon deeper than 5 m saturation of water by oxygen made up 50-70%, in the horizon of 11 m an oxygen deficiency is observed. 0.49 mg/l (8% of saturation level), classified as “extremely dangerous phenomenon”. Caspian water in all surveyed areas is classified as “polluted”.

The main volume of pollutants (about 90%) comes into the Caspian with the flow of rivers. This correlation is observed practically for all ingredients (oil hydrocarbons, phenols, SSAS, organic substances, metals, etc.), concentrations of pollutants in the mouths exceed maximum permissible concentrations often significantly (10 and more times). The wash out of pollution has a permanent character and changes insignificantly from year to year and from son to son.

Discharge of wastewater from enterprises, households and settlements, located on the coast, is the second largest source of pollution washed out to the Caspian. The cities of Astrakhan and Makhachkala were the worst polluters of the Caspian from Russia in recent years. There are also discharges from settlements during rain-storms, wind induced surges and floods and other dangerous hydrometeorological processes. Large amounts of water discharge is typical of the region on the coast and in the zones of mass settlement.

Daghestan

In 1995 in Daghestan 732.8 million m³ of polluted wastewater was discharged, 1.1 million m^{3 of} normally treated wastewater. Due to significant overload of treatment facilities efficient treatment of discharged wastewater is not provided. Large amounts of untreated and not neutralized industrial and domestic discharges continue to reach the Caspian basin through open water outflows. This causes high levels of bacterial and chemical pollution of the Caspian water near towns. Due to overload about 30 million m³/year of untreated wastewater is discharged into the Caspian within the territory of the capital of Daghestan alone. In 1995 the total discharge of polluted wastewater from municipal treatment facilities of Makhachkala was 66.5 million m³ (9% of the total discharge in Daghestan).

Discharge into the atmosphere in Daghestan from stationary and mobile sources of pollution grows annually, and in 1993 the level of 390,000 tons has already been reached, against 162,000 tons in 1992. On the average 194 kg of harmful substances discharges fall on each resident of Daghestan annually, in Makhachkala 825 kg, in the town of Kizilyurt 317 kg. In 1994 43% of particle filter and gas scrubbers at enterprises were malfunctioning, inefficient or out of operation. In sectors such as agriculture and municipal economy harmful substances are discharged into the atmosphere untreated. At plants for power production from fuel and transport enterprises 0.1% of discharges was trapped, in the food processing industry - 1.8%, in mechanical engineering and light industry 25%, at the enterprises of the construction industry48%. According to data from 1995 23,300 tons of atmospheric pollutants were produced by industrial activity and 17,000 tons were discharged (26.8% of potential pollution was trapped). The largest sources of atmospheric pollutants are two oil and gas producing enterprises in the towns of Yuzhno-Sukhokumsk (4,700 tons) and Izberbash (1,100 tons). Exhaust from motor vehicles caused 60% (in Makhachkala - 80%) of the total air pollution in Daghestan.

Kalmykia

In Kalmykia the main source of polluted wastewater is the Sarpa irrigation system, which discharges drainage water from rice basins without treatment to the lake Sarpa. In 1995 discharge of polluted water made up 44.6 million m³ (100%).

Only the capital Elista has sewage treatment facilities for complete treatment, Gorodovikovsk and Lagan (on flooded shores of the Caspian ) have only partial treatment. These facilities are overloaded and work inefficiently due to design faults.

The main sources of industrial atmospheric pollution in Kalmykia are enterprises of oil production (up to 52% of total discharges in 1995), power production (21%), building industry and meat processing industry. In 1995 10.2 thousand substances, polluting the atmosphere, were produced in the course of industrial activities, 7,300 tons were discharged (28.4% of potential pollution was trapped). The share of motor vehicle emissions in the total atmospheric pollution reaches 80%.

Astrakhan Oblast

In 1995 in the Astrakhan Oblast about 89.8 million m³ of polluted wastewater (down from 102.3 million m³ in 1994) and 0.3 million m³ of normally treated wastewater. The municipal economy is the main polluter of water. The enterprise “Vodokanal” (Astrakhan) alone discharges 82% of all polluted water in the oblast (73.8 million m3). The treatment facilities are obsolete and require reconstruction.

The major source of pollution in the lower part of the Volga river is the Astrakhan gas condensation complex. There are big concentrations of zinc (up to 140 mkg/l), copper (up to 58 mkg/l), lead (up to 44 mkg/l) and mercury (up to 2.5 mkg/l) in water.

Agricultural enterprises discharge drainage water into water bodies of the oblast with increased mineral content and residual quantities of pesticides. It pollutes the Volga delta and the northern Caspian significantly.

Turkmenistan

The basic sources of pollution of the Caspian are industrial (drilling, leakage, water transport) and municipal waste.

On the eastern Caspian coast from Cape Seu up to Esenguli there are several large waste water facilities at industrial plants, including “Karabogazsulfate” in Beckdash, the joint venture “Larmag - Cheleken” with a volume of 560.0 million m³ per year; Turkmenbashi’s oil refinery, the corporation “Kuvvat”, The waste water facilities in Turkmenbashi million m³ discharge 7,3 million m³ per year.

The concentrations of polluting substances on the entire east coast of the Caspian in 1996 has not changes essentially compared to 1995. The concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons is 0,05 mg/l - 0.1 mg/l and of phenols 0,001 mg/l - 0,003 mg/l.

In spite of the fact that for the last five years on the east coast of the Caspian in Turkmenistan the petroleum concentration has not been rising and the concentration of phenols has decreased along with the amount of polluted waste water, the condition of the Caspian and a 2 km wide coastal strip is still alarming.

For the last 15 years no radical technical changes have been made in drilling and operation of offshore petroleum and gas wells, design of rigs, utilization and maintenance of equipment.

Ecologically hazardous objects on the coast of Turkmenistan

Turkmenbashi

• Oil refinery
• Power plant
• “Vodokanal”
• State corporation “Balkanbalik”
• Turkmenian shipping company
• Oil storage in Ufra
• State railroad

• Joint venture “Larmag - Cheleken”
• NGDU “Chelekenoil”
• Combine of the municipal enterprises of Cheleken

Beckdash

• “Karabogazsulfat”
• Oil storage facility

The measures of pollution prevention implemented by the industrial enterprises are not yet sufficient. Considerable concern in terms of pollution prevention and safety of navigation cause some old offshore rigs near Djanov, Lam and Gubkin that are losing economic importance. The create pollution and frequent emergencies and should be scrapped. However, the operating enterprises lack the means for removing them.

The rise of the level of the Caspian impairs the industries on the coast. In Turkmenbashi access roads to petroleum piers were destroyed. Part of the support structures for over-water pipelines were eroded and the pipelines submerged. The Caspian water reaches the storage areas and floods of oil tanks and parts of the refinery, GKPO “Turkmenbalik” and the port.

In connection with water level rise are the municipal sewage pipelines, managed by “Vodokanal,” are flooded. The sewage is frequently washed on the streets of the city and further into the gulf of Turkmenbashi.

On three kilometers a coastal strip in Ufra is flooded by Caspian water, along with 11 petroleum pipelines of 150 - 325 mm diameter.

The oil storage facility in Turkmenbashi has been flooded by rising ground water. Rising ground water also threatens the Turkmenbashi power plant, the fire station, coastal pumping stations and the waste water treatment plant. Its destruction will have severe ecological consequences.

In Cheleken the biological water treatment plant is submerged. Objects of the port Aladja, roads and oil storage tanks in Aladja, and also oil pipelines are flooded. A large part of offshore equipment for production of petroleum and gas is obsolete and subject to corrosion. It has not safety valves and is vulnerable to flooding.

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