Kazakhstan, Astana, Nov. 1 / D. Mukhtarov /
The Kazakh Ministry of Environmental Protection expressed its disagreement with the draft standards for maximum permissible discharge (MPD) for the Bolashak refinery of Agip KCO company, where the first oil field of offshore Kashagan field will be processed, the Liter Kazakh newspaper quoted the chairman of the Committee for Environmental Regulation and Control of the Ministry of Environmental Protection Daniyar Yerenchinov as saying.
"Having considered the draft of maximum permissible discharge standards, the ministry issued a negative opinion," Yerenchinov stated.
According to him, Agip KCO is only going to bring advanced treatment of industrial waste water in accordance with all international standards.
However, in his words, it is not clear what action the company is going to take to resolve the issue.
"They promise to urgently prepare another package of documents, but the issues raised by us, are so severe that I do not see how they can be resolved in such a short time" Yerenchinov said.
According to the Ministry, the oil production in Kashagan, which is scheduled for the first half of 2013, is impossible without commission of Bolashak refinery.
Some 2.6 million cubic meters of water are used on the production needs of Bolashak refinery. The water is completely reset in a special dug pits, the so-called evaporation fields. The content of harmful substances many times exceeds maximum residue limits of VCP projects.