In July 2005, a Russian court upheld the appeal of environmentalists who claimed in a petition that Sakhalin Energy's
environmental impact assessment, was inadequate. Sakhalin Energy denied the claims and stated them as vague and inaccurate. The environmental and social concerns came to a head at the end of November 2005 when the chief executive of
WWF, Robert Napier, said that it would have a "negative impact on Sakhalin's people and environment". The WWF asserted that Sakhalin-2 threatens marine life as well as potentially damaging the local communities in the region. Sakhalin Energy responded to the WWF's assertion by saying that the project meets lenders' policies and that environmental and social issues have been met. In September 2006, Sakhalin Energy briefly suspended construction work on its pipelines.
Oleg Mitvol, the deputy chief of the Russian Federal Service for Natural Resources, had announced in early August 2006 that, according to his data, Sakhalin Energy failed to take all actions required to eliminate the danger of the mud flow. This was supported by
President Vladimir Putin. For more than 20 years of operation Sakhalin Energy exercises industrial environmental control of its assets to ensure the compliance with legislation on environmental protection, to observe established environmental regulations, and to provide the rational use of natural resources and fulfilment of the plans for minimising the environmental impact. The company exercises industrial environmental control in the following areas: – air emissions; – water use and discharge; – waste management. The company has developed and implements the Air Emissions and Energy Management Standard, Water Use Standard and Waste Management Standard. For more details see Sustainable Development Report
Gray whales One key concern from environmental groups is that the Sakhalin-2 project will harm the western
gray whale population. The whales summer feeding grounds are close to the project's offshore platforms in the Sea of Okhotsk. In 2006, the
International Union for Conservation of Nature set up the Western Gray Whale Advisory Panel (WGWAP). Its members are marine scientists who give independent advice to Sakhalin Energy about managing any potential risks to the
western gray whales. The
Russian Academy of Sciences has identified an increasing population of western gray whales in the Sea of Okhotsk during a photo identification research programme. However, in February 2009 the WGWAP issued an urgent warning that the number of western gray whales observed in the primary (near shore) feeding area had decreased and the panel called for a "...moratorium on all industrial activities, both maritime and terrestrial, that have the potential to disturb gray whales in summer and autumn on and near their main feeding areas." In a meeting in April 2009, the WGWAP reiterated its urgent plea for a moratorium. Sakhalin Energy then agreed to suspend its planned summer 2009
seismic testing. The Far Eastern Regional Hydrometeorological Research Institute is involved in regular monitoring of the western gray whales near the oil and gas developments on the Sakhalin Shelf. In December 2008, Sakhalin Energy won the Environmental Project of the Year award. The company's protection of the western gray whale population was recognised in the Environmental Efficiency of Economics category. The award was presented by Yuri Trutnev, the Russian Federation's Natural Resources Minister. The population assessment in 2008 resulted in an estimate of 130 individuals in the western population. No new reproductive females were recorded in 2010, resulting in a minimum of 26 reproductive females being observed since 1995. Sakhalin Energy in cooperation with
Sakhalin-1 operator implements the integrated monitoring programme near the north-eastern coast of Sakhalin Island. It shows that the distribution of whales in feeding areas did not vary significantly during the whole period of the study; the number of individuals in the aggregation is increasing, and its reproduction rate is stable. A study was conducted to research the composition, distribution and variability of the communities of gray whale food organisms.
Salmon fishing Other concerns are that the project will threaten the livelihood of tens of thousands of fishermen, destroy the key
salmon fishing area off the island by dumping one million tons of dredging spoil waste into the sea, and imply a long-time threat of a large oil spill in the
Sea of Okhotsk and
Sea of Japan. Dredging of Aniva Bay was completed in 2005. In 2005 the salmon harvest was recorded as an all-time high of more than 134,000 tonnes. In 2007 this record was overturned with a salmon catch of 144,181 tonnes. Sakhalin Energy paid compensation of $110,000 to the Russian Federation to cover potential fish impacts from the Sakhalin-2 project. This compensation was paid regardless of whether any impact was recorded on the fishing industry or not. Part of these funds was used to set up thriving salmon hatcheries on Sakhalin Island. In 2007, the company started a programme to identify the taimen (a rare protected species of salmon) habitats in the river systems along the pipeline to ensure that production activity will not put the existence of this species at risk. At the first stage, the distribution and the number of young taimen in several rivers were studied. In 2011, a new phase was launched under the programme, based on the basin-oriented approach to the study of ichthyofauna, including the Sakhalin taimen. In 2017, ichthyological studies were carried out in the Val River basin. In the course of the work, 29 stations were completed in the main channel, eight — in the tributaries of the river, and two — in the adjoining lakes. In total, 19 species of fish from nine families were identified in the Val River, watercourses and reservoirs in its basin. The family of salmonids was represented by the largest number of species: all four species of the Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus) reproducing in the rivers of Sakhalin, three species of the Arctic salmon of the genus Salvelinus, and the Sakhalin taimen. The family of cyprinids was represented by four species; the remaining families were represented by one species each.
Impacts on rivers and streams According to the Sakhalin Environment Watch, the following environmental changes have occurred: • Pilenga River:
Erosion control is visible on one bank but not on the other bank as of April 2006. • Mereya River: Active slope erosion and
water pollution as of July 2005. • Woskresenkovka River: The clear river is threatened by the creation of a junction of two pipeline trenches filled with mud as of December 2005. • Golubichnaya River: Normally this river would not be frozen solid in winter but the digging of the trench has provoked the complete lack of river flow as of December 2005. • Bystraya River: The river ice is covered by soil as a result of the river crossing, which will result in additional contamination when the ice melts as of December 2005. • Stolichnyi stream: Ploughed-up channel of spawning stream and active erosion and silted processes as of August 2005. Nevertheless, these concerns were doubted. While preparing for work execution and during the construction, Sakhalin Energy conducted baseline studies and operational monitoring of all crossing areas of water bodies. For the operations phase, a comprehensive observation programme was developed to monitor the most environmentally significant and hydrographically complex water bodies, which allows the company to monitor any changes, to identify critical areas, to develop and take timely corrective measures. In 2017, the monitoring of hydrological and hydrochemical characteristics and condition of bottom sediments was implemented at 24 water bodies crossed by the pipelines, as well as in the area of potential impact from OPF at the Vatung River, and in the area of the Prigorodnoye production complex at the Mereya River and the Goluboy Brook. In the course of work under the special programme, at the request of oversight bodies, a study was conducted of the Nabil River (with a nameless tributary) and the Nayba River, whose under-river crossings were performed using the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) method. Monitoring was performed during three hydrological seasons: spring floods, summer low water and autumn high water. Sampling was carried out at two cross sections — the upstream baseline (with no impact from the company's infrastructure assets) and downstream monitoring sections. On most investigated river-crossing sites (from the upstream to the downstream cross sections) no significant horizontal or vertical deformations of river beds were found. The crossings are in satisfactory condition, and no damage to utility lines was found. In 2017 the River Ecosystems Monitoring did not reveal surface water contamination with oil products. All measurement values were insignificant and in line with MAC standards. ==See also==