News and events

Shtokman Development AG jointly with Administration of Kola District Municipal Entity of Murmansk Oblast, under organizational support of FRECOM Ltd. (developer of the List of Environmental Protection Measures), has successfully held public discussions on Integrated development of Shtokman Gas and Condensate Field, Phase 1, Project materials as regards offshore facilities, including the List of Environmental Protection Measures, including Environmental Impact Assessment (OVOS) Section and DED, substantiating technology of process water treatment in SGCF (Barents Sea shelf), including Materials on the Environmental Impact Assessment (OVOS).

Public discussions were held in the form of public hearings and registration of public opinion. Information on the start-up of public discussions process was distributed via advertising in federal, regional and district print media, sending written notification to stakeholders, as well as through consultants in public reception rooms. Public consultations were aimed to collect comments, proposals and recommendations on Project materials.

In order to inform wide circles of people and provide possibility for receiving of comments and proposals from general public and the stakeholders, public reception rooms were opened in Moscow (SDAG office), Murmansk (FRECOM Ltd. Representative Office), Kola town (Intersettlement Library) and Teriberka settlement (SDAG Representative Office and Central Library) of the Kola District since April the 9th till May the 12th 2010. Abovementioned materials were available at the public reception rooms both in hard copies and electronically. Project materials were also available at the web-sites of SDAG and FRECOM Ltd.

 

As part of public discussions in the public reception rooms registration of people’s opinion on Project materials was carried out in special comments and suggestions register. 98 persons in total have left their comments in the reception rooms.

Public hearings in the frame of public discussions were held on the 12th of May in the Cultural Center of Kola District in Kola town and on 13th of May in Lodeininsky Comprehensive School in Teriberka.

Deputy Head of Administration of Kola District Municipal Entity in Murmansk Oblast Alekseev P.G. acted as a chairman of public hearings in Kola and Teriberka.

At the public hearings, held in Kola, there were following participants: project-party companies (Shtokman Development AG and FRECOM Ltd.), representatives of Administration of Kola District Municipal Entity, Nature Use and Environmental Committee of Murmansk Oblast, Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (PINRO), Murmansk Marine Biological Institute of Kola Research Center RAS, Institute of Geology KRC RAS, Noncommercial Organization “Union of Fishery Operators of the North”, Barentsevo-Belomorskoe territorial department of Federal Fishery Agency of RF, Council of Saami authorized representatives of the Murmansk Region, МООО “Kola Saami Association”, Saami Social Organization of the Murmansk Region, WWF-Russia Barents Sea office, Murmansk section of Social organization “All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation”, Noncommercial Organization “Association of coastal fishery operators and farms of Murman”, as well as representatives of the North Coalition member companies (Bellona-Murmansk, Nature and Youth, Kola Center of Wild Nature Protection and Kola Ecological Center “Geya”). Unfortunately, in spite of comprehensive information in mass-media and active visiting of public reception rooms by local population, where they were informed on the date and place of public hearings in Kola, they didn’t participate in this event.

At the public hearings in Kola the following persons have been reporting on the planned activities: Zaitcev Gennady Sergeevich, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, SDAG; Sharifullin Marat Sirinovich, Deputy Technical Director оn the Environment Protection, SDAG; Shakhin Dmitry Alexandrovich, Head of Department for Environmental Engineering Survey and Environmental Baseline Assessment, FRECOM Ltd.

 

At the public hearings in Kola 88 persons were presented, over 30 questions have been asked; over 19 speeches have been given. The most number of the questions were issued by MMBI KRC RAS. They were mainly related to engineering survey and monitoring issues. The primary issue of concern for the representatives of the Institute was as follows: were there results of earlier surveys, conducted by MMBI and other organizations, used for development of OVOS or not? Comments on the lack of a number of information in OVOS were addressed by MMBI to developers. Clarifications made by developers said that OVOS have been developed in strict compliance with Russian legal requirements and aimed at environmental impact assessment, so it shouldn’t be overloaded with results of engineering surveys. More detailed data were represented in the relevant Survey Reports.

Questions raised by the Institute of Geology KRC RAS were mostly technical ones. Specialists of the Institute were concerned of geodynamical situation in the development area, control over operational activities, and also information on whether or not dismantling of equipment at SGCF was stipulated. Comprehensive answers were given by developers to all questions.

Social ecological organizations actively participated at the hearings. First of all, questions were addressed by representatives of Bellona-Murmansk and All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation. The main comment by Bellona was the lack of climate impact assessment as part of OVOS. Specialists clarified that the climate is a long-term weather regime, and there are no methodic available for assessment of climate influence by economical activity. Moreover, such assessment is not stipulated by Russian legislation, in compliance with which “List of Environmental Protection Measures” has been developed.

Rosprirodnadzor in North-West Federal Okrug interest was attracted by new produced water treatment technology.

 

In general, the Project was accepted by participants of public hearings. Everybody agreed that this is a Project of state importance necessary for the whole region and it should be implemented. At the same time comments and proposals spoken in the course of public discussions shall be obligatory considered by developers.

Over 70 persons were presented at the hearings in Teriberka, including: staff of Administration of the Municipal Entity “Kola District”, representatives of the Nature Use and Environmental Committee of Murmansk Oblast, project-party companies (Shtokman Development AG and FRECOM Ltd.), WWF-Russia Barents Sea office, Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (PINRO), Saami Social Fund of Nature Conservation (Saami Nature Fund), Kola Branch of Geophysical Service RAS; North Coalition member companies (Bellona-Murmansk, Nature and Youth, Kola Center of Wild Nature Protection and Kola Ecological Center “Geya”) and other stakeholders.

In Teriberka there were following speakers: representatives of Shtokman Development AG (Zaitcev G.S., Deputy Chief Executive Officer; Suvorov S.F. – Deputy Head of Department of the Offshore Production Facility; Sharifullin M.S., Deputy Technical Director оn the Environment Protection) and FRECOM Ltd. (Shakhin D.A., Head of Department for Environmental Engineering Survey and Environmental Baseline Assessment).

Participants of the hearings have marked high quality of performance for Environmental Impact Assessment Section as part of Shtokman GCF development Project (Phase 1), acknowledged by a wide scope of specialized surveys in the frame of OVOS.

Yarantcev Valeriy Vladimirovich – the Head of Administration of the Municipal entity of Teriberka settlement has drawn attention to the positive effect of Shtokman Project implementation upon the social and economical situation in the region and development of its infrastructure.

The questions of participants of public hearings were mainly related to impact upon fish resources, transportation of extracted gas, geodynamical risks and dismantling of the facilities. Developers have answered all question asked by participants of the hearings.

 

In the frame of the hearings attendees have marked the importance of Shtokman Project implementation and proposed to support the planned activities.

As SDAG representatives communicated, proposals received in the frame of public discussions and hearings shall be reviewed and considered.

As result of conducted public hearings, their participants came to the following conclusions:

-  consider public discussions as completed ones;

- accept implementation of the planned activities on comprehensive development of the Shtokman GCF, Phase 1, as regards offshore facilities, including the use of the new produced water treatment technology at the Shtokman GCF, provided consideration of public and specialists’ comments and proposals and compliance with legal requirements and standards, including those ones, related to ecological safety;

-  submit materials of the public discussions to the State Environmental Expert Review.