Azernews.Az

Over 3,000 hectares of land in Azerbaijan have been polluted by oil while only 200 hectares have been cleaned up so far, an official of the state oil company, SOCAR, has said.
Azer Aliyev, who heads the company`s department on ecology, told journalists following an event dedicated to environmental issues that although up-to-date equipment has been purchased using World Bank funds, all contaminated lands are being cleaned at SOCAR`s expense.
As for the amount spent per hectare of polluted land, Aliyev did not cite a specific figure. He said, however, that while in other oil-rich countries this cost ranges between $100,000 and $200,000 per hectare, it is less than $100,000 in Azerbaijan.
Mukhtar Babayev, another SOCAR expert dealing with environmental issues, warned that in light of falling crude prices in world markets, the amount of funds to be allocated for cleaning oil-polluted areas may be reduced.
On June 18, World Bank Executive Directors meeting in Washington approved three projects on cleaning the oil-polluted areas on the Absheron Peninsula, which is a key industrial hub of Azerbaijan. Total WB lending for these three operations is $164 million. The clean-up is intended to rehabilitate the land polluted by the legacy of onshore oil production in Absheron, as well as dispose of radioactive waste from defunct iodine enterprises and improve management of solid waste in the Baku metropolitan area.
Mammad Nasibov, who heads the environmental monitoring division at SOCAR`s ecology department, said that although the level of radiation in oil-polluted areas poses a threat, the danger is not considered life-threatening. The highest radiation levels have been found in areas where layer waters flow, he said.
Nasibov added that in most oil-polluted areas, radiation and concentrations of heavy metals are below the danger limit, however, there are some areas where radiation levels are considerably above average norms.