21 February 2004 16:35
Gas well blow-out raises pollution concerns in southern Russia
Krasnodar, 21 February: The ecological situation has got worse in the coastal zone of the Azov Sea where gas and gas
condensate (reservoir fluid) has been gushing from a depressurized gas production well belonging to Kubangazprom since
17 February. Hydrocarbon levels here have gone up to 63 times the permissible limit in the last few days, and methane
levels are up 4.3 times, according to deputy governor of Krasnodar Territory Aleksandr Sidorenko. He was addressing a
session of a territorial emergency commission today.
According to preliminary calculations, more than 50,000 cu.m. of gas and around 200 cu.m. of gas condensate are being
ejected into the atmosphere from the faulty well each day. As a result, there has been a steep increase in the number of
residents and emergency workers reporting to local hospitals with a diagnosis of `hydrocarbon poisoning'. Residents
of the village of Prorvenskiy in Slavyanskiy District have been worst hit because the well, more than 3,000 metres deep,
was drilled on its outskirts. More than 400 villagers had to be temporarily moved to the village of Chernoyerkovskaya
because of the high level of air pollution. [Passage omitted]
A plan to set fire to the reservoir fluid is now being drawn up.
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
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