Oil spill detected in Caspian Sea
Executive Director of Globus non-profit organization Galina Chernova posted satellite images of the Caspian Sea on her Facebook account, where she noticed an oil spill, Kazinform News Agency reports.
"According to space monitoring data, received from Sentinel-1A (02:43 UTC), an oil spill was detected on March 30 in the area of Kashagan field in the Caspian Sea. The spill area is about 7 square kilometers. The spill was drifting to the north of the Caspian Sea," the publication reads.
Galina Chernova says, there might be several reasons for oil spill, such as accidental or emergency leak of oil during production works; the discharge of production waters containing petroleum products that must be stored and transported to land for disposal; and an emergency situation involving service ships.
The Ecology Committee of the Kazakh Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources responded to the information saying that a visual inspection and on-site sampling will be carried out.
“If these facts are confirmed by Atyrau region’s Ecology Department, unscheduled inspection will be conducted at the North Caspian Operating Company. The results will be reported additionally,” the Ecology Committee says.
