Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ALMATY2048
2005-06-01 12:34:00
UNCLASSIFIED
US Office Almaty
Cable title:  

KAZAKHSTAN ENVIRONMENT UPDATE - MAY 2005

Tags:  ECON SENV ENRG EPET KZ ECONOMIC 
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UNCLAS ALMATY 002048 

SIPDIS


DEPT PASS TO OPIC - BALLINGER
DEPT PASS TO TDA FOR STEIN, EXIM FOR GLAZER
DEPT PASS TO AID - EE - PHILLIPS/RUSHING
DEPT PASS TO EPA - WFREEMAN
TREASURY FOR 4231/ITA/MAC/MLONDON, 4201/BISNIS/TGUNN
USDOC FOR 6110/ITA/TD/BI/RHALPERN
ANKARA FOR CFC
TASHKENT FOR EPUTNAM

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON SENV ENRG EPET KZ ECONOMIC
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN ENVIRONMENT UPDATE - MAY 2005


Summary: This information is drawn primarily from the
Kazakhstani local press, and has not been verified. The
opinions expressed in this report, therefore, should not be
interpreted by readers as conveying positions and/or policy
of the U.S. Government.

UNCLAS ALMATY 002048

SIPDIS


DEPT PASS TO OPIC - BALLINGER
DEPT PASS TO TDA FOR STEIN, EXIM FOR GLAZER
DEPT PASS TO AID - EE - PHILLIPS/RUSHING
DEPT PASS TO EPA - WFREEMAN
TREASURY FOR 4231/ITA/MAC/MLONDON, 4201/BISNIS/TGUNN
USDOC FOR 6110/ITA/TD/BI/RHALPERN
ANKARA FOR CFC
TASHKENT FOR EPUTNAM

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON SENV ENRG EPET KZ ECONOMIC
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN ENVIRONMENT UPDATE - MAY 2005


Summary: This information is drawn primarily from the
Kazakhstani local press, and has not been verified. The
opinions expressed in this report, therefore, should not be
interpreted by readers as conveying positions and/or policy
of the U.S. Government.


1. U.S. Grant Finances Feasibility Study for Reconstruction
of Gas Storage Units in Southern Kazakhstan

2. Nura River Fish Poisoned With Mercury

3. Danish Company Ready for De-mercurization Project in
Temirtau

4. Kazakhstan Ranks Third Globally in Nuclear Fuel
Production

5. Central Asian Conference on Renewable Energy Set for
November 2005

6. New Textbook on Ecology Compiled in Central Asia

7. International Experts Train Kazakhstani Scientists to
Detect, Guard Radioactive Material

8. Mazhilis Approves Draft Law on Ecological Audits

9. First Part of Syr Darya and Northern Aral Sea Project to
Be Completed Soon

10. New Gas Treating Unit to Be Tested At Mittal Steel
Temirtau in September

U.S. Grant Finances Feasibility Study for Reconstruction of
-------------- --------------
Gas Storage Units in Southern Kazakhstan
--------------


1. The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is
providing a $640,000 grant to modernize the Poltoratskoye
and Akyrtobe underground gas storage units (in Southern
Kazakhstan and Zhambyl oblasts respectively). Kazakhstan's
First Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources
Baktyrgozha Izmukhambetov and Ambassador Ordway signed a
relevant agreement on May 11, the ministry's press service
reported. The cost of the feasibility study, which will be
implemented by BSI Industries, is $912,426, including
$272,426 provided by the company (Interfax-Kazakhstan, May
11, 2005).


Nura River Fish Poisoned with Mercury
--------------


2. Fish caught in the Nura River are poisoned with mercury
- a grave consequence of carbide production in Temirtau.
According to ecologists, the Samarkand and Intumak

reservoirs on the outskirts of Temirtau have concentrations
of 0.10-0.76 mg of mercury per kilogram of water. A dose of
0.006 mg per day is considered dangerous to human health.
Nevertheless, people living in the area have to use Nura
water in their vegetable gardens (Megapolis, April 30,
2005).


Danish Company Ready for De-mercurization Project in
-------------- --------------
Temirtau
--------------


3. The Danish company "COWI" plans to clean up the mercury-
contaminated premises of the former "Carbide" plant as well
as the Alash industrial waste treatment plant. The company
also plans to build a hazardous waste site in the Apan area.
This site, which will be ready in 2006, will be used for
safe storage of contaminated materials. The hazardous waste
site will be used from 2007 through 2009. The waste site
will be cleaned and rehabilitated in 2010. The total cost
of the project is $31 million. (Karaganda News, May 6,
2005).


Kazakhstan Ranks Third Globally in Nuclear Fuel Production
-------------- --------------


4. According to the U.S.-based trade publication UX Weekly,
Kazakhstan ranks third in the world in uranium production.
In 2004, Kazakhstan produced 3,719 tons - 9.4% of the
world's volume. The leading uranium producer is Canada
(29.2% share); Australia ranks second (22.6%).
The National Atomic Company Kazatomprom's production in 2004

was 3,363 tons. By 2010, it plans to produce 15,000 tons per
year, which would make Kazakhstan the world's top producer
(www.gazeta.kz, Kazakhstan today, May 3, 2005).


Central Asian Conference on Renewable Energy Set for
-------------- --------------
November 2005
--------------


5. On November 14-15, 2005, the Central Asian Conference on
Renewable Energy will take place in Karaganda. It is
organized by the Karaganda Oblast Ecological Museum,
Ukraine's Agency on Renewable Energy and INFORSE of Denmark.
The first day of the conference will be devoted to the
status of and prospects for development of all types of
renewable energy. The second day will be devoted to the
prospects for developing biogas technology in Central Asia
(www. earthwire.org/kz, May 15, 2005).


New Textbook on Ecology Compiled In Central Asia
-------------- ---


6. Recently, the program for Central Asian Regional Economic
Cooperation (CAREC) conducted its final meeting on its
ecological education program, which has been implemented in
2004-2005 with the support of the Embassy of Great Britain
and UNESCO. The goal of the project is distribution of new
Kazakhstani ecology textbooks in Central Asian schools. The
textbooks were compiled according to new educational
standards that envision the active participation of pupils
in environmental protection and the development of ecology-
mindedness in the young (Panorama, May 6, 2005).


International Experts Train Kazakhstani Scientists to
-------------- --------------
Detect, Guard Radioactive Material
--------------


7. Experts from Australia and the U.S. conducted a five-day
training course for nuclear companies of Kazakhstan that
covered the detection and securing of radioactive materials.
"Training participants are learning to detect radioactive
sources using the equipment supplied by American
colleagues," according to a press release from Kazakhstan's
Institute of Nuclear Physics. After the seminar, the
equipment was donated to the Kazakhstani organizations
taking part in the training. The training was conducted by
American experts from the National Nuclear Security
Administration and the Sandia, Oak Ridge and Argonne
National Laboratories, and Australian specialists from a
Canberra-based company (Interfax-Kazakhstan, May 17, 2005).


Mazhilis Approves Draft Law on Ecological Audits
-------------- ---


8. On May 18, Mazhilis (lower house of Parliament) deputies
approved a draft law amending Kazakhstan's legislation on
ecological audits. The main goal of the draft law is to
establish the legal and organizational bases of ecological
audits. According to the Minister of Environmental
Protection, Aitkul Samakova, the draft law elaborates the
concept and goals of the ecological audit. In particular,
ecological audits are necessary to reveal and assess
ecological risks as well as to improve the process for
developing recommendations on ecological security.
According to the draft law, the central executive body on
environmental protection is vested with the additional
functions of evaluating auditors and determining the need
for mandatory ecological audits. Mandatory audits are
carried out in limited cases, e.g. in cases of environmental
damage, for the purpose of increasing the ecological
security of an enterprise's activities and in the case of
reorganization or bankruptcy of an enterprise (Gazeta.kz,
May 18, 2005).


First Part of Syr Darya and Northern Aral Sea Project to Be
-------------- --------------

Completed Soon
--------------


9. The first stage of the project to regulate the Syr Darya
river-bed and Northern Aral Sea, which is being implemented
by the GOK and financed by the World Bank, is about to be
completed, said the World Bank's Permanent Representative in
Kazakhstan, Loup Brefort. The cost of the project is $85.79
million. It is co-financed by the World Bank ($64.5
million) and GOK ($21.29 million). The goal of the project
is the conservation of the northern Aral Sea and the
enhancement of the environmental situation in the Syr Darya
river ecosystem. According to GOK official Anatoly
Ryabtsev, one of the main facilities involved in the project
- the hydraulic structure "Aitek" has been put into
operation, at a cost of $11.6 million. The construction of
a new dam in the Northern Aral, the Aklak hydraulic power
system, will be completed this autumn (Gazeta.kz, May 18,
2005).


New Gas Treatment Unit to Be Tested At Mittal Steel
-------------- --------------
Temirtau in September
--------------


10. A new gas treatment facility that would effectively
recycle waste gases will be tested in September at the
Mittal Steel Temirtau metallurgical plant (previously known
as Ispat-Karmet). "The industrial module of the facility
will be ready in September, and we will test it at the
plant," said the facility's inventor Alexander Borisenko.
The first vice president of Kazakhstan's National
Engineering Academy, Nadir Nadirov, called the technology
invented by Borisenko "revolutionary" and said that "mankind
has waited long" for this invention (Interfax-Kazakhstan,
May 19, 2005).

Asquino


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