KPO Response Regarding Concernsabouthealth Andenvironmental Hazards Related Tooperations
KPO response regarding concernsabouthealth andenvironmental hazards related tooperations at Karachaganak field
1 October 2013
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited KPO to respond to the following video:
- «Five Kilometers of Indifference»,Crude Accountability,9 August2013
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In response, KPOsent the following statement:
Dear Ms.Skybenko,
With reference to your invitation extended to KPO for comments on a videoraising concerns abouthealth andenvironmental hazards related tooperations at Karachaganak Field, please find the following response reflecting the shared position of KPO and its joint operators BG Group and Eni:
Karachaganak Petroleum Operating BV (KPO), which is the operator of the Karachaganak gas condensate field in Kazakhstan, takes its environmental and social responsibilities very seriously and is disappointed by Crude Accountability's misleading film. Regular environmental monitoring in and around the field, carried out by independent third parties as well as KPO, continues to demonstrate that safe levels of concentrations of pollutants have not been exceeded as a result of our operations in any of the villages nearby.
The alleged environmental impacts and the need for resettlement in relation to the definition of the Sanitary Protection Zone (SPZ), cited by the video, have already been the subject of both a process in Kazakhstan and verification by the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the independent recourse mechanism for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) compliance mechanism with no negative outcome to KPO. During the site verification process in 2008, CAO attempted to mediate a solution to the satisfaction of all concerned, including Crude Accountability and the local NGOs. However, it was the local NGOs, not KPO, that refused to engage constructively in the mediation process proposed by CAO. The administrative decisions on determination of the size of Karachaganak Field SPZ , cited by the video, were taken pursuant to the legal and regulatory framework that applies in the Republic of Kazakhstan (RoK), judicially confirmed by the RoK Supreme Court.
Moreover, KPO continues to make substantial investments aimed at improving the environmental performance and social impacts of our operations. These include installing state of the art technologies to further minimise emissions and carrying out extensive consultations with local communities on recent work and planned developments at the field. More information on these initiatives as well as a wide range of other activities is detailed in the independently audited public sustainability reports which are released annually by KPO and prepared in conformity with the Global Reporting Initiative's G3 guidelines, and available at
Thank you
Kind regards,
Zulfiya Muzafarova,
Sustainability & Community Relations Manager
KPO