Oil spills in the Republic of Komi didn’t stop and became more frequent in the past year. At the same time, oil companies continue to hide them. This conclusion was reached at the XII report-elective conference of the Save the Pechora Committee held in Izhma.
"Environmental and social irresponsibility of companies that use natural resources, with the connivance of local and regional authorities has become commonplace," it is said in a draft resolution.
That is why the participants supported the requirements to the company LUKOIL-Komi and other oil companies previously nominated by the Save the Pechora Committee and residents of the Izhemsky and Usinsky districts:
1. To remove the borehole №2, under construction in the North-Ipatsk oil field, located in the waterlogged meltwater place.
2. To stop the construction of boreholes in the Izhemsky district to full replacement of an old pipeline to a new one.
3. To stop the spill of formation waters to the terrain throughout a whole oil production area in the Republic of Komi. Term — 1 month.
4. To remove (take away) all traces of chemicals from the territories of pastures and reindeer migration routes to ensure the impossibility of access of the animals (deer) to the places of storage of chemicals. Term — 1 month.
5. To increase the pace of replacement of the end-of-service pipelines at least 3-4 times.
6. To stop the cover-up of violations of environmental laws. To bring to justice those responsible for the cover-up of emergency oil spills and other environmental violations.
7. To carry out all the public hearings on the construction or reconstruction, expansion of oil production facilities and transportation of oil in the localities in the immediate vicinity of the planned facility.
8. To stop the biased coverage of violations of environmental laws by the oil companies in the media.If these requirements will be ignored, protests will be initiated in the villages of the Izhemsky and Usinsky districts. “If these requirements will not be met, the ecological situation will deteriorate. The oil pipes rot. At present, 60% of the pipes, operated by the "LUKOIL", are old. I heard this percent when we had a meeting with Gaizer [Head of the Komi Republic]. At this rate, we will have an accident, which was in 1994. We demand that the rate of replacement of pipes increased several times,” chairman of the Save the Pechora Committee Fyodor Terentyev said in an interview to «7x7».
"The Conference fully supports the proposals to improve the regulatory framework governing issues related to environmental pollution by oil, petroleum products and other toxic substances in the extraction and transportation of oil, developed by the Russian branch of Greenpeace and the Save the Pechora Committee. Conference calls upon the power structure of the Republic of Komi to join the implementation of these proposals. Conference endorses the positive results of cooperation of the Public Committee with the Pechora environmental prosecutor and considers it important to strengthen these contacts in order to a full and effective monitor compliance with environmental regulations in the Pechora basin," said in a draft resolution.
Maxim Polyakov, «7x7»
