Kazakh oil spills response base to be established

A North-Caspian oil spills response base will be built near the
village Damba not far from Aternau, said Kazakh Minister for Natural
Resources S. Mynbaev in an interview with a VK correspondent.
The construction of such a base, equipped with rescue ships and modern
facilities for oil skimming, has been on the agenda for several years.
Ecologists and public organizations protested against the construction
of the base, located in a protected area, saying it was too close to
the mouth of the Ural River. Mynbaev noted that the location of the
base was moved one kilometer away from the river's mouth.
"We won't be allowed to start oil extraction at the Kashagan
oil-fields if this base isn't constructed. More than $27 billion has
already been invested in the project. The base is indispensable in
case of an emergency to prevent spreading of the oil slick. So oil
companies and public organizations should go for a compromise, to
start the construction as fast as possible," Mynbaev said.