Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 17 -– Russia's Federal Service for the Regulation of the Use of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor) estimates the cost of rectifying environmental damage at the Sakhalin-2 project at $10-50 billion.
"This sum is determined by the high cost of land reclamation and the cleaning of the sea bed in the Aniva bay," said Rosprirodnadzor Deputy Head Oleg Mitvol, who led an inspection carried out the agency at the facilities of project operator Sakhalin Energy Co. (SEC).
The final damage figure cannot be calculated until the end of next summer, Mitvol said, adding that the SEC "has not proposed any engineering solutions for eliminating the environmental violations."
Meanwhile, Russian Natural Resources Minister Yuriy Trutnev plans to visit Sakhalin on Oct. 24-26. His aim will be to determine the degree to which environmental protection legislation has been implemented at the two oil and natural gas deposits of the Sakhalin-2 project.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
