RISING CASPIAN POSES THREAT

Fast rising water levels in the Caspian Sea have caused severe damage to low-lying coastal petroleum industry installations. In Turkmenia, on the Caspian's east coast, some oil wells formerly on dry land are now "a mile or more in the open sea," the Moscow newspaper lzvestia reported. Oil storage sites, power transmission lines, roads, and oil workers' housing have been "washed" by Caspian waves.

July 1, 1991

Fast rising water levels in the Caspian Sea have caused severe damage to low-lying coastal petroleum industry installations.

In Turkmenia, on the Caspian's east coast, some oil wells formerly on dry land are now "a mile or more in the open sea," the Moscow newspaper lzvestia reported. Oil storage sites, power transmission lines, roads, and oil workers' housing have been "washed" by Caspian waves.

Turkmenia's Cheleken Peninsula, where old oil fields are located, may become an island if the Caspian water level rises farther. Waves threaten dams and dikes built to protect Kazakhstan's important Buzachi Peninsula oil fields and possibly supergiant Tengiz field farther north.

On the Caspian's west coast in Azerbaijan, port facilities, railroads, houses, and some fixed offshore oil platforms are being flooded by rising water.

In addition, the newspaper Rabochaya Tribuna said many millions of rubles must be spent to protect petroleum and other installations along the Caspian's east and west coasts.