Report - UNDP Russia

per year (50-60). In 2001, there were 42,000instances of leaks from field pipelines, resultingin spillage of at least 65000 m 3 of oil and stratawater [Russian Oil, 2003, № 1; № 2] 10 . Accordingto Neva-Ladoga Water Authority, there were atleast 35 oil spills each year in the city ofSt.Petersburg and Leningrad Region due toshipping accidents in 1999–2003 [Barenboim,2005] 11 . Six major oil spills amounting to 42,290tonnes of crude oil (and, on one case,combustion of the spillage) were officiallyregistered in 1993–2001 on pipelines in IrkutskRegion operated by Transneft (the nationalpipeline monopoly) between Krasnoyarsk andIrkutsk and Omsk and Irkutsk (reported in letterNo. 4-9-758, dated August 23, 2002, from theIrkutsk Regional Branch of the Ministry of NaturalResources of the Russian Federation) [cited in‘Green World’, 2006]) 12 .Impact of oil spillages from pipelines areessentially disregarded in accounting of disturbedland. This seems to be because most spillagesoccur in ‘undeveloped’ areas – areas, which havenot been put to any (or to minimal) use in theeconomy. Local impact of spillages are ofteneliminated (though not completely) by springfloods within a year or a few years without thepipeline owner or emergency or environmentalservices taking any action. The fact that nearlyevery spillage of oil or oil products entailscontamination of water bodies is not taken intoaccount by official statistics on adverseenvironmental impacts, because suchcontamination does not come under any of thestatistical headings: ‘atmospheric pollutantemissions’, ‘waste water discharge’, ‘wasteformation’, ‘land disturbance’, ‘radiationcontamination’, ‘electromagnetic radiation’, ‘noise’,and ‘vibration’. The hydro-ecological sub-systemof environmental monitoring shows that oilcontamination of water bodies ranks fourth byvolume among types of water pollution (aftersuspended solids, phosphorus, and ironcompounds). Discharges of oil products andeffluent from oil operations were 5600, 6600,3700, 4600 and 3100 tonnes in respective yearfrom 2003 until 2007, and oil industry pollution isthe main type of pollution in many of Russia’srivers lakes and (particularly) reservoirs) 13 . Thesources of pollution in specific cases (andtherefore the responsible parties) are rarelyidentified, mainly because there is no nationalsystem for monitoring chief sources of oilpollution and no information on the shares ofdifferent economic sectors in pollution of waterbodies. However, the figures adduced above leaveno doubt that the share of oil production andpipeline transport in pollution is very high. Minorleakage from underwater pipelines (due to thehigh rate of wear, which is typical of most Russiantrunk pipelines) makes a steady contribution towater contamination. One example is anunderwater pipeline across the Sura River, whichflows into the Cheboksary Reservoir, where a leakwas detected by accident in the course ofprospecting work [Barenboim, 2005] 14 . But sharesof the processing industry and the transportationsector (mainly water and road transport) inpollution of water bodies are also large.To conclude, therefore, official data on oilspills and related environmental damage to soil,terrestrial ecosystems, ecotones and waterbodies are lacking or are highly inadequate , butthere is no doubt that such damage is very large.7.6. Impact of the fuel & energysector on the environment:pressure on ecosystemsThe outcome of economic impacts onecosystems depends on both the degree and10Oil of Russia, 2003, No.1, pp.104-107; Oil of Russia, 2003, No.2, pp.84-88.11G.M.Barenboym, Tha Main Scientific and Practical Results of GTsVM Operation and their Development Perspectives, M, 2006, 34 p.;12Quote: “Green World”, 2006, No.2 (471), p.13.13For example, the average annual oil product content in the Okhinka River (Sakhalin) in 2000 was 368 times higher than the official limitand the maximum recorded concentration was 640 times above the limit The Russia National Environmental Report, 2000, M., The NationalCenter for Environmental Programs (Gosecocenter), M, The National Center for Environmental Programs (Gosecocenter).14Quote: G.M.Barenboym, Works.128 National Human Development Report in the Russian Federation 2009