State of the environment in Khmao. In Khanty-Mansiysk, young people from ten countries discuss environmental problems
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION KHMAO
Dynamic development economic activity in the Autonomous Okrug, while having a positive impact on the economy of the Russian Federation, at the same time remains a powerful factor of anthropogenic impact, determining a complex of environmental problems and their negative impacts.
The specifics of the district's economy and industry are associated with the discovery of rich oil and gas fields here. In the industry structure, the oil and gas industry makes up 89.4%, electric power - 5.5%, mechanical engineering and metalworking - 2.4%, gas processing - 1.6%, logging and woodworking - 0.24%, production of building materials - 0.24 %, food – 0.17%, oil refining – 0.1%.
Currently, more than half of the total Russian oil production, and about a tenth of world production, is produced in the district. The total volume of oil extracted from the subsoil since the start of development of the first fields in Shaim (Kondinsky district) in 1964 amounted to more than 8 billion tons. According to forecast estimates, the district will remain for the period until 2020-2030. strategic base for the country's oil production. Leadership in the fuel and energy complex, and the associated intensive development of resources, contributed to the rapid development of infrastructure, population growth and the construction of cities. As a result of half a century of development of oil and gas-bearing territories, the natural environment of the Autonomous Okrug has undergone significant transformations and disturbances, the consequences of which can hardly be expected to diminish in the near future. In the current situation, the conservation and restoration of natural resources, the prevention of negative man-made impacts and the elimination of their consequences are urgent tasks of environmental policy in the district.
Features of technogenic impacts on the natural environment in oil production areas. The nature and degree of technogenic impacts on the natural environment that arise during oil production changes in accordance with the stages of production development from seismological exploration, geological exploration and exploratory drilling, field development and the post-operation period of oil field areas. Each stage is characterized by its own specific “relationships” between man-made objects and their host natural complexes; special types of technogenic flows that arise both during accidents in the fields and during the normal mode of their functioning. Thus, during the development of deposits, the entry of pollutants into natural components is associated, first of all, with the operation of vehicles and construction mechanisms (exhausts, washing, draining of used oils, etc.), leakage of the contents of sludge pits, liquids during pressure testing of pipelines, and the operation of boiler rooms. . At the operational stage, the main source of pollutants are accidents, mainly pipeline ruptures, as well as the burning of gas flares.
A unique feature of the Autonomous Okrug in the current period is the coexistence of all these stages. This situation is due, on the one hand, to ongoing geological and seismological exploration, and on the other, to the phased development of previously explored fields and productive strata, and the involvement of “off-balance” fields into exploitation. Quite often, abandoned wells and “dying” fields are adjacent to drilling rigs and new technological oil production facilities.
To date, the total area of the distributed subsoil fund reserved for the search and production of hydrocarbons has already reached almost 160 thousand km 2, which is 28% of the district’s territory. A significant part of the distributed subsoil fund is confined to the largest oil producing companies NK Lukoil, OJSC Surgutneftegaz, Rosneft, NK Slavneft, OJSC TNK-BP Management. In general, 66 enterprises were engaged in oil production in the district in 2005, including 43 that were part of large vertically integrated oil companies and 23 that were medium-sized and small-scale enterprises. The location of the license areas where the search and production of hydrocarbons is carried out is determined by the location of the oil and gas fields. As a result, there is a large uneven distribution of licensed areas across the administrative regions of the Autonomous Okrug and, as a consequence, the distribution of man-made impacts on the natural environment (subsoil use, urban industrial complexes, linear man-made objects).
The areas of the long-developed large and unique deposits of the Middle Ob region are characterized by a very high degree of technogenic load from various environmentally unsafe production and transport systems. Extreme technogenic load is recorded at most of the “old” large oil fields in the Nizhnevartovsk, Surgut and Nefteyugansk regions. The Sovetsky, Oktyabrsky and Khanty-Mansiysk regions were less affected by the processes of technogenesis. The absence or poor development of the mining industry and transport communications in a significant part of the western territory of the district and the east led to a relatively favorable environmental situation within their borders - most of the Berezovsky and Beloyarsky districts, the east of the Nizhnevartovsky district were practically not subject to industrial influence.
Land transformation. Among the problems characteristic in general for any oil production areas, including the territory of the district, is the removal from a stable state and degradation of large areas of land resources. Ensuring the volume of oil production and transportation is achieved by putting into operation numerous, spatially separated on-site facilities and creating an extensive branched network of linear communications. Over the past decades, tens of thousands of wells have been drilled in the district, more than 1000 km of railways and about 6000 km of paved roads have been laid, several thousand gas pipelines, oil pipelines and power lines have been laid. According to the Office of Rosnedvizhimost for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, in the structure of land resources of the Autonomous Okrug, by the beginning of 2006, lands allocated for the needs of the oil and gas complex accounted for 125.3 thousand hectares, which is 0.2% of the entire territory of the Okrug; The area of disturbed lands that have lost their economic value or are a source of negative impact on the environment reached 52.8 thousand hectares.
The withdrawal of land from regular land use most actively occurs at the stage of development of hydrocarbon fields. The movement of colossal volumes of soil in the process of mechanogenesis (about 50 million cubic meters annually) leads to the destruction of vegetation, soil degradation, and changes in the geochemical, geomorphological and hydrochemical characteristics of natural complexes. The destruction of forests near roads and the movement of soil on slopes causes processes of water erosion of loose sediments and, as a consequence, the formation of ravines. Activation of secondary relief-forming processes as a result of partial or complete destruction of soils leads to disruption of the thermal balance, cracking of soils, subsidence, and the appearance of gullies, ruts and runoff depressions. A striking example of the destruction of natural pathways of intrasoil migration is the formation of zones of drying and waterlogging. At the same time, transformations of natural complexes usually exceed the area of land allotment. For example, during the construction of linear structures for each standard hectare of allotment, the actual alienation can reach 10-15 hectares.
The degree of negative consequences of technogenic impacts is closely related to the peculiarities of the geographical conditions of the region. Thus, the processes of swamping that arise as a result of disruption of the direction of surface runoff coincide with the general regional trends in the evolution of the taiga zone of Western Siberia, and often become irreversible.
On the territory of the Autonomous Okrug, the oil production industry develops mainly on the lands of the state forest fund and therefore forestry primarily feels the consequences of its activities. On the positive side, one should include the pioneering role in the development of the region, especially the laying of roads, which facilitates the use of forest areas that were previously considered economically inaccessible. The demand for wood has increased, its sales have expanded, ways of using other forest resources and, in general, prerequisites for the intensification of forestry have emerged. However, the positive experience of development over several decades has not been implemented and no noticeable intensification of forestry has occurred during this time. But the negative impacts of oil production on the forest fund have manifested themselves in many ways and on a large scale. During the entire period of development of oil production territories, there was an intensive process of reduction of forest-producing areas and the total stock of plantings, irrational use of felled wood, and littering of territories adjacent to the objects. The volume of forest felling on alienated lands is almost equal to the volume of final felling. Forest fires also contributed to the decrease in forest cover in areas, the number of which increased more than threefold with the advent of oil production.
Large-scale seizure of land and degradation of natural landscapes have significantly affected the habitat of indigenous peoples of the North. The main share (more than 90%) of traditional management areas is located on forest lands. The highest share of ancestral lands is occupied in the main oil production areas: Surgut region - 68.9% of the territory, in Nefteyugansk - 49.1%, in Nizhnevartovsk - 25.5% of the area of the districts. The area of territorial combination of ancestral lands and licensed areas increases every year, which determines the increase in violations of the established practice of developing traditional economic sectors and contributes to the aggravation of ethno-social problems.
Ecological consequences of chemical pollution.
The oil industry is rightly considered one of the main industries responsible for environmental pollution. Most oil and gas production facilities are potential sources of technogenic flows that differ in composition, concentration and volume of substances released into nature. Based on the nature of their localization in the natural environment, these flows can be isolated from each other, or intersect in space, and may or may not go beyond the oil field territories.
The most aggressive destructive factors for natural environment are chemical pollution associated with petroleum products. All along the way from the well to the consumer, oil and petroleum products are potential environmental pollutants.
The chemical toxicity of oil to biological objects is not always obvious. It is known that small amounts of oil in some cases even have a stimulating effect on plant growth. Oil is a breeding ground for a number of groups of microorganisms. It decomposes more easily than many other toxic substances, supplying additional portions of organic compounds to the soil.
The main characteristics of the composition of oil, which determine the specifics of its transformation in the environment, depend on the content of: light fraction (NK-200°C), cyclic hydrocarbons, solid paraffins, resins and asphaltenes. The light fraction, which includes the simplest in structure and low molecular weight methane (alkanes), naphthenic and aromatic hydrocarbons, is the most mobile part of the oil. Most of the light fraction consists of methane hydrocarbons. Due to the volatility and higher solubility of alkanes, their effects are usually not long-lasting. The content of solid methane hydrocarbons is an important characteristic when studying oil spills. Solid paraffin is not toxic to living organisms, but due to high temperatures solidification (+ 18°C) and higher and oil solubility (+ 40°C) under the conditions of the earth's surface, it turns into a solid state, depriving the oil of mobility. The content of aromatic hydrocarbons in oil varies from 5 to 55%. Among polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, much attention is usually paid to 3,4 benzopyrene, as the most common representative of carcinogenic substances. In crude oils that have not been subjected to significant thermal stress, 3,4 benzopyrene is rarely detected. At the same time, its amount increases sharply in the products of pyrolysis oil refining, for example, when burning oil in the process of eliminating emergency spills.
Aromatic hydrocarbons– the most toxic components of oil. As the aromaticity of oils increases, their herbicidal activity increases. Resins and apholtenes contain the bulk of petroleum trace elements, including almost all metals. The most common toxic metals concentrated in resins and asphaltenes are vanadium and nickel. General content microelements in oil – hundredths and tenths of a percent.
Features of oil as a pollutant is the constant presence of satellites, without which oil does not exist in nature. Their release into the environment often has a stronger negative impact than the hydrocarbons themselves. An integral component of crude oil is mineralized formation water. The water content of oil in the Middle Ob region can reach 30-50% or more. The composition of formation waters that are extracted along with oil, the concentration of salts in them and the ratio of ions, and, accordingly, the degree of their environmental hazard can vary significantly. The predominant group of waters is sodium chloride. All oil field waters are highly mineralized. Brines (above 100 g/l) and salt waters (10-50 g/l) are distinguished. Oil waters are characterized by an increased content of halogens (Cl, Br), as well as boron, barium and strontium.
Dangerous pollutants involved in technogenic flows during oil production also include drilling fluids, drilling wastewater and sludge. They contain a significant number of components, varied in composition, physical and chemical properties and degree of toxicity (thinners, emulsifiers, weighting agents, various groups of chemical reagents, including acids, polymers, inhibitors of salt deposits and corrosion, etc.). As a rule, drilling waste belongs to the third (moderately hazardous) hazard class.
The main sources of man-made flows in oil field areas are drilling slurry pits, well clusters, wellhead equipment, in-field and main oil and gas pipelines, industrial oil preparation and pumping sites, pressure water pipelines, solution units, flare installations, boiler room chimneys, unauthorized dumps of household and industrial waste, automotive and tractor equipment. The “danger” of objects depends on the frequency of their occurrence in the technological network. In terms of this indicator, the leaders are sludge pits, well clusters, pipeline and road systems.
Based on the nature and time of exposure, there are two types of pollution - permanent and accidental.
Constant - regular discharges and emissions(which, however, do not always correspond to the volumes provided for in the design documentation), leading to chronic pollution of the environment with hydrocarbon substances and wastewater. These pollutants have predictable characteristics and, with the necessary set of environmental measures, can be within acceptable limits. However, the cumulative impact of routine emissions can be significant. For example, according to oil producing companies, there are currently more than 60 thousand stationary sources of emissions into the atmosphere, the functioning of which determines the district’s position among the regions of the Russian Federation that are leading in terms of pollutant emissions.
Accidental are emergency situations accompanied by a sudden, volley discharge into the environment of often very significant quantities of hydrocarbon raw materials or products. At the same time, in a short period of time, great harm is caused not only to ecosystems - receptors of spilled oil, but also to other sectors of the economy (forestry, fisheries, etc.).
It is the high accident rate that is most responsible for the negative environmental consequences in oil production areas. According to the Department of Environmental Protection and Ecological Safety of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Ugra in the last five years alone, 10,674 accidents were registered in the district, and 27,272.4 tons of pollutants were released into the environment. The increase in the number of incidents that occurred is related to the increase in the length of pipelines. The main reasons for the occurrence of emergency situations are imperfect technology, violations of technological regulations, corrosion accidents and equipment defects (see Fig. 8.1, Table 8.1).
Fig.8.1. Length of pipelines and accident rates at the oil fields of the district for the period 2001-2005.
The vast majority of pollutants (petroleum products and formation waters) released in emergency mode end up on the terrain, which generally determines the scale of land pollution in the district.
Table 8.1
The mass of pollutants released into the environment
during accidents in 2001-2004.
| Year | Mass of pollutants, t |
|||
| caught in water bodies | caught on the terrain | released into the atmosphere | Total |
|
| 2001 | 77,7 | 1507,0 | 53,7 | 1638,4 |
| 2002 | 689,3 | 1810,1 | 2499,4 |
|
| 2003 | 230,4 | 1957,9 | 2188,3 |
|
| 2004 | 91,8 | 14120,8 | 20,8 | 14233,4 |
| 2005 | 220,3 | 27686,2 | 149,0 | 28055,5 |
A serious environmental threat is posed by impact pollution associated with leakage of liquids from wellheads, migration of chemicals and oil from sludge pits, spills of oil and mineralized water during well testing, household waste from production facilities that do not have effective treatment facilities. Official static data on such pollution are in many cases underestimated.
Regardless of the nature (regular or accidental), the impact of man-made flows and pollutants from oil and gas production over the past decades has had a significant negative impact on the state of the most important components of the natural environment of the Autonomous Okrug.
Factors that change the state of atmospheric air are the combustion of associated petroleum gas, emissions from boiler houses, roasting of oil during emergency discharges onto terrain and water bodies, evaporation of light components of petroleum hydrocarbons from the surface of spills, sludge pits and tanks, and vehicle emissions.
The most significant contribution to systematic air pollution is made by flares, the number of which has recently exceeded 400 in the district. However, the negative impact of flares is manifested not only in chemical pollution. Being a powerful source of heat, flares have a significant impact on the climate and contribute to the manifestation of anomalies in the meteorological regime of the region. Burning flares lead to increased convective currents, as a result of which cumulus clouds form above them twice as often; rainfall events are recorded 1.4 times more often than at control stations; The frequency of fogs and the frequency of thunderstorms also increases. Cloudiness, together with gas impurities, reduces the intensity of solar radiation.
In terms of emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, the oil industry ranks fourth in the Russian Federation and first in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. Since 2001, the district ranks second in terms of the amount of pollutants emitted into the atmosphere (9%), second only to Krasnoyarsk region(13%). Of the total amount of pollutants emitted into the air, solids account for 6.4%, gaseous and liquid – 93.6%. Among gaseous emissions, more than half is carbon monoxide (55.4%), hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds account for an average of 20%, nitrogen oxides - 3.3%, sulfur dioxide - 0.2%. The high lability of atmospheric masses contributes to the migration of pollutants to areas not directly in contact with industrial facilities and is an indirect source of pollution of other natural ingredients environment.
The most large-scale manifestations of geochemical transformation of soils are caused by emergency spills of oil and its companion - formation waters. Sludge pits, which contain highly toxic reagents of drilling fluids and brines, play a significant role in soil pollution. Modern technologies the construction of barns does not exclude the entry of toxic substances into soils and groundwater.
The severity of the emerging environmental consequences is due not only to the levels of primary discharge of pollutants, but also to the characteristics of the soil and vegetation cover of the district territory: increased soil hydromorphism, the dominance of raised bogs in non-floodplain areas with the simultaneous spread of mesotrophic transit bogs in river valleys and runoff hollows, varying degrees of manifestation of the alpha-humus process in soils on high and low terraces with a simultaneous change in the structure of phytocenoses of pine forests (composition of grass-shrub and moss-lichen layers).
The secondary distribution of pollutants occurs in accordance with the activity of their radial and lateral migration, the possibility of fixation on geochemical barriers, the intensity or inhibition of their destruction, utilization or dispersion outside the primary pollution spot. Thus, the bulk of hydrocarbons during an emergency spill on the soils of raised bogs are localized in the first year after the spill in the surface horizon - sphagnum moss. In this case, oil saturation occurs to a level of 50-60% at a depth determined by the amount of incoming pollutants. Further radial migration of oil is possible due to seasonal fluctuations in groundwater. When the water table descends, the hydrophobic components of oil are carried along with it down the profile, settling in peat layers free from gravitational moisture. If the water surface is located above the surface of the swamp, oil and its decomposition products are “preserved” in the upper layer of peat. The existing facts of the movement of large volumes of oil over significant distances (hundreds of meters or more) are usually associated with surface flows or with the migration of oil in winter along frozen peat. Also, lateral flows of high intensity are possible in shallow bogs with a peat thickness of less than 70 cm along the layer in contact with the mineral horizon. The vegetation of raised bogs serves as a reliable indicator of oil pollution of the surface horizon of peat soils. Depending on the resistance of individual species, several zones are formed with different degrees of damage to phytocenoses along the hydrocarbon concentration gradient. Such “zoning” is confined to surface runoff lines along which the lateral migration of pollutants occurs.
Oil pollution are the causes of oppression and degradation or complete death of vegetation, simplification of structure and depletion of species composition, unfavorable rearrangements of the gene pool of populations. It has been experimentally established that when the oil content in the upper soil horizons is in the range of 10-40%, the suppression of the tree stand and undergrowth can be 30-90%, and even 15 years after contamination the process of death of the tree stand continues. If the organic horizon contains more than 40% oil, complete destruction of vegetation occurs 2-3 years after the spill, and the main part of it dies off in the first year.
According to information from oil and gas producing enterprises, by the beginning of 2005, 6,814 hectares of land in the district were contaminated with oil and oil products. Remediation of pollution is complicated by the inaccessibility and high swampiness of the region. In most cases, the start of restoration activities is postponed for 1-2 years after the accident, which entails evaporation of light fractions of oil, air pollution, death of biocenoses and reduces the possibility of restoration of ecosystems. The problem of eliminating “old” contaminated soils formed as a result of accidental spills or the gradual accumulation of pollution over a long period remains extremely acute.
Minimizing and preventing negative environmental consequences. The task of reducing the negative impact of the oil and gas complex on the environment is currently being discussed as essential element security of the energy strategy at all levels of management, including at the level of the Ecology Committee State Duma and the Security Council of the Russian Federation. It is named among the priority areas of environmental management in the Environmental Doctrine of Russia. Nevertheless, current state environmental problems in the development of hydrocarbon deposits indicate the need to improve the economic mechanism for environmental management, tighten control over waste disposal and the system for environmental quality. The main problems in achieving effective improvement of the environmental situation are the imperfection of the requirements of the regulatory framework for environmental safety in the oil and gas industry and the low payment for environmental damage from economic activities.
The current situation required the formation of its own (district) regulatory framework for environmental protection, taking into account the functioning of the fuel and energy complex and the ecological and geographical features of the region.
In 2005, the Duma of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug adopted the law of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug “On the comprehensive target program of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Ugra “Improving the environmental situation in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Ugra in 2005-20010.”
The long-term goals of the Program are to ensure a favorable environmental situation in the territory of the Autonomous Okrug, prevent negative impact on the environment, restoration and prevention of destruction of typical and unique landscapes and ecosystems, introduction of environmentally friendly and low-waste technologies. The main activities implemented within the program include:
Design and construction of intermunicipal facilities for the disposal of industrial waste in order to prevent harmful effects on the environment;
Ensuring the improvement and restoration of land, reclamation of one sixth of the total volume of contaminated and littered land, ensuring fire safety for the population of the Autonomous Okrug and preserving forests, preserving unique natural complexes and rare representatives of the flora and fauna of the Autonomous Okrug;
Introduction of environmentally friendly and low-waste technologies, eliminating the discharge of chlorine-containing substances into water bodies from four sewage treatment plants of the Autonomous Okrug, annual neutralization of hazardous waste medical waste from treatment and preventive institutions of the Autonomous Okrug and reducing the discharge of pollutants into the main watercourses of the Autonomous Okrug;
Conducting regional environmental monitoring, creating a unified observation system and environmental monitoring data banks within and outside the boundaries of about 250 license areas, obtaining operational information on emissions, discharges of pollutants, fire locations and other information on negative impacts on the environment, adoption timely measures to prevent and eliminate natural and man-made emergencies.
Environmental educational activities as part of solving the problem of informing the population about the state of the environment, increasing the level of environmental culture and reducing environmental risk factors for the population of the Autonomous Okrug.
In order to minimize the negative technogenic impacts on unique natural complexes, in 1998, the Government of the Governor of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug “On the special procedure for using the subsoil and natural complexes of the Priobskoye field” was issued, which, taking into account the fact that the Priobskoye field belongs to the largest fields in Russia in terms of oil and gas reserves, accepting taking into account its uniqueness, due to the location of most of the field area in the water protection zones of the river. The Ob and its tributaries, which have the status of the highest fishery category, have established a special procedure for using the subsoil of the Priobskoye deposit with mandatory compliance with the conditions. This procedure ensures, during further exploration and development of the deposit, minimal impact of the technogenic complex on the environment, rational and complete use and development of proven mineral reserves.
Considering the need to solve the problem of environmental regulation anthropogenic load, guaranteeing the profitability of environmental measures, regional standards for the content of priority environmental pollutants have been established. Resolution No. 441-p of November 10, 2004, on the basis of the Federal Law “On Environmental Protection”, approved the regional standard “Maximum permissible level of oil and petroleum products in bottom sediments surface waters objects on the territory of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Ugra", which was established in order to preserve biological diversity and prevent negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems, limit and regulate the level of pollution of bottom sediments of water bodies with petroleum hydrocarbons; serves as the basis (in accordance with federal legislation) for the development and establishment of standards for maximum permissible impact on surface water bodies. The regional standard is intended for regulatory authorities and business entities for use in assessing the state of environmental objects, the initial state of bottom ecosystems of surface water bodies, when carrying out work to assess the level of impact on environmental components, when planning, designing and carrying out work that directly or indirectly affects state of bottom ecosystems.
Government Decree No. 466-p dated December 10, 2004, on the basis of the Federal Law “On Environmental Protection”, approved the regional standard “Permissible residual content of oil and petroleum products in soils after reclamation and other restoration work on the territory of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Ugra", which was established in order to preserve biological diversity and prevent negative impacts on soil ecosystems, limit and regulate the level of pollution of soils and lands with petroleum hydrocarbons. The regional standard is intended for use by regulatory authorities and business entities when assessing the condition of soils and lands after reclamation and other restoration work.
One of the most important areas of territorial environmental protection in the Autonomous Okrug is the preservation and development of a network of specially protected natural areas. Partial or complete withdrawal of them economic use natural complexes is carried out in order to maintain landscape-ecological balance, preserve biodiversity, the gene pool of living organisms, scientific research patterns of functioning and dynamics of natural landscapes and their components. Considering that the territory of the Autonomous Okrug is part of the Euro-Asian Center for Environmental Stabilization of Biosphere Significance, the preservation of its ecosystems is of exceptional importance for the Northern Hemisphere.
The allocation of specially protected areas in the district began in 1926, when the first Kondinsko-Sosvinsky Nature Reserve was formed with the aim of preserving the population of North Asian beavers. To date, there are 26 specially protected natural areas (SPNA) in the district of various categories, including:
State nature reserves(“Yugansky”, “Malaya Sosva”);
Natural parks (“Numto”, “Sibirskie Uvaly”, “Kondinskie Lakes”, “Samarovsky Chugas”);
State nature reserves (“Vaspukholsky”, “Elizarovsky”, “Verkhne-Kondinsky”);
Natural monuments;
Wetlands.
The total area of specially protected natural areas of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Ugra is 6.3% of the entire territory of the district, which is almost 1.5 times more compared to 1991. However, taking into account the large-scale degradation of landscapes as a result of reservation of the unallocated subsoil fund for licensed areas, it should be recognized that the area of the district’s “reserve” fund requires an increase. There is a need to create natural reserves in the Nefteyugansk, Nizhnevartovsk, Oktyabrsky and Kondinsky regions, which are subject to high technogenic pressure. An urgent task in connection with the planned development of the Subpolar Urals is to increase the share of territories with a special protection regime in the west of the Autonomous Okrug in the Berezovsky district.
The development of the oil and gas industry has affected the habitat of the indigenous peoples of the North, whose number at the beginning of 2005 amounted to 30,150 people. Since 1992, the “Regulations on the status of ancestral lands in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug” has enshrined the right of small peoples of the North to use ancestral lands, where their traditional form of life is carried out. According to existing legislation, oil companies must coordinate their activities with the owners of family lands and compensate them for losses.
At the present stage of industrial development of the territory of the district, among the main directions for minimizing negative environmental consequences are the prevention of emergency spills, improving the reclamation of contaminated lands, protecting and restoring landscapes during field development, and reducing hydrocarbon pollution of components of the natural environment.
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Analysis of the factors influencing oil production on
Natural environment
Oil production, which has been carried out since the 60s. last century, is the main industry of the region. It accounts for more than three quarters of industrial production. The district produces about 60% of Russian crude oil and about 6% of world production. According to geologists, oil reserves in the district are estimated at 35-40 billion tons, and the share of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug in the resource potential of the country until 2030 will remain at the level of 55-60%
Due to the intensive industrial exploitation of oil fields, the oil production complex of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug has a significant impact on the natural environment, as evidenced by the following facts. According to the accounting data of the State Balance Sheet, 378 deposits have been discovered in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. On the territory of the district there are about 300 field oil gathering and transportation facilities, more than 6 thousand km of interfield oil pipelines and more than 6 thousand km of main oil pipelines. The total length of roads exceeds 13,000 km, of which 8,750 km are paved roads, and the total number of cars in the Autonomous Okrug is more than 500 thousand units.
The ecological state of oil-producing territories is directly influenced by the exploration, production, transportation and processing of oil and gas. An analysis of the state of the environment in the areas where the oil and gas complex operates shows that the main factors affecting the impact of oil production on the natural environment can be divided into two groups:
1) mechanical impacts on the earth’s surface;
TO first group Impact factors of oil production include surface-disturbing mechanical impacts associated with the construction of roads, settlements and communications, with the development of oil fields (construction of drilling rigs, laying pipelines, etc.), with the installation of power lines and the movement of tractors and other heavy transport equipment in forest-swamp off-road conditions. . The scale of violations in these cases depends on the size and purpose of the objects being built, as well as on the vulnerability of the natural environment in various forest-swamp complexes. The swampiness of this territory averages 40%, increasing in some places to 70%. The world's largest wetland systems are located here.
Another manifestation of mechanical impacts is a change in the hydrological regime as a result of the construction of roads and other facilities, including the development of fields (Fig. 13). Being objects of the geological environment, embankment roads have an impact for a long time and disrupt the processes of surface and swamp moisture drainage. Possible flooding of forest areas leads to mass death forest stands and the formation of forest-marsh and swamp communities. Disruption of the water regime due to compaction of the active layer of peat deposits also entails changes in the vegetation cover.
Rice. 13 Equipment for oil production
Second group are factors of chemical pollution of air, soil, water bodies and groundwater. From the point of view of soil and water pollution, the impacts of oil spills, especially often resulting from accidents on pipelines and drilling rigs, and salt pollution associated with produced water spills are significant. The impact of oil spills on the natural environment has been the most studied. In swamp ecosystems, the effect of petroleum products is limited to tens of meters from the boundaries of the oil slick. Oil that gets into water bodies covers large areas of the water surface, disrupts oxygen, carbon dioxide and other types of gas exchange and has a detrimental effect on fauna and flora. Oxidized oil components settle to the bottom of reservoirs and accumulate in the food chains of aquatic organisms. Even at low concentrations, the most toxic aromatic hydrocarbons have a poisonous effect on lower forms of life in the aquatic environment.
More mobile and aggressive are salt contaminants, which are associated with spills of formation water used to maintain reservoir pressure, as well as spills of drilling and grouting fluids used during drilling and repair of wells. Drilling and grouting fluids with a high degree of mineralization penetrate into natural ecosystems by filtering through the embankments of slurry pits or spill when they are destroyed, as well as during floods. As a result, solutions spread along surface runoff lines over fairly long distances (up to several kilometers). High concentration salt pollution leads to a depletion of species composition and a simplification of the structure of forest ecosystems.
The main sources of atmospheric pollution in developed fields are oil and gas wells and oil treatment facilities with flares for burning associated gas. The largest amount of pollutants emitted into the atmosphere in oil-producing areas in Western Siberia comes from flares (Fig. 14). It is known that for 1 ton of natural gas burned in a flare, there is an average of 50-70 kg of emissions of various harmful substances (in the territory of Ugra, up to a quarter of associated gas is flared annually). When associated gas is flared, significant amounts of carbon oxides, soot, nitrogen dioxide and hydrocarbons are released into the atmosphere. When oil containing sulfur is burned, sulfur dioxide is also released into the atmosphere. Flares in oil fields are sources of chronic, long-term chemical, including aerosol, atmospheric pollution over vast areas.
Rice. 14 Torch in an oil field
Comparative analysis The factors described above of the negative impact of oil production on the natural environment show the greatest danger of chemical pollution of the environment. At the same time, the most significant impact, the influence of which manifests itself at large distances from sources of pollutant emissions, should be considered atmospheric pollution as a result of the combustion of associated gas in flares, around which extensive plumes of aerosol pollution are formed. Their negative impact is enhanced by finely dispersed products of incomplete combustion, which have strong ecotoxic properties.
Ulyanova Anna 21-ZIO-16
Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug– one of the most dynamically developing regions of Russia, possessing huge and diverse natural resource potential. The environmental situation in the district is formed under the influence of the impact factor National economy on the environment, and most of the damage is caused by the oil and gas production complex, which is the basis of the district’s economy.
Oil and gas production brought the district positive results: rapid economic growth, active improvement in the standard of living of the population, settlement of the territory, formation of settlements, single-industry towns, employment opportunities for the population. But there are also negative aspects: tens of millions of tons of oil were spilled into the environment, hundreds of hectares of land were alienated and disturbed, hundreds of billions of cubic meters of associated petroleum gas were flared, many hunting grounds, reindeer pastures, rivers, lakes, several the level of fish production has decreased.
Analysis of the state of the environmental situation in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug
Ecological state soils
One of the environmental consequences of the industrial development of the territory in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug is the significant withdrawal of land for the needs of the oil and gas complex. According to economic monitoring, 15-20 thousand hectares are allocated annually land plots. Currently, at least 160 thousand hectares of land are used by oil and gas producing companies.
The oil production industry and geological exploration occupy the leading place in the disturbance of soil ecology. One of the main types of violation of the ecological regime of lands in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug is land pollution with oil and oil products, drilling waste and solutions, and mineralized waters. Technogenic intervention leads to disruption of the surface soil horizon.
The most environmentally hazardous oil production facilities are production drilling sites. Researchers note that during the construction and operation of wells, trees are cut down and living ground cover is destroyed by 75-80%. From 30 to 40% of the site areas are contaminated with oil, drilling fluids, chemical reagents, 3-10% are subject to water flooding. Adjacent forest areas are often littered with wood and logging residues, polluted, and have a high flammability. The volume of unreclaimed oil-contaminated land is increasing. Their bulk is located in areas of intensive oil production: Nizhnevartovsk, Nefteyugansk, Surgut regions
Accidents on oil pipelines lead to serious environmental consequences. In 2007, 5,480 emergency spills related to hydrocarbon production were registered at the oil fields of the Autonomous Okrug. As a result of the accidents, 10,381.4 tons of pollutants were released into the environment. Since 2010, there has been an increase in average annual concentrations of hydrocarbons (petroleum products).
In 2013 and 2014, very high concentrations of hydrocarbons, chlorides and toxicity of soil samples were more often observed at the Samotlor license area of Samotlorneftegaz OJSC. In the process of developing oil and gas fields, the most active impact on the natural environment is carried out within the territories of the fields themselves, the routes of linear structures (primarily main pipelines), and in the nearest populated areas (cities, towns). In this case, there is a violation of plant, soil and snow cover, surface runoff, and microrelief cutting. Such disturbances lead to shifts in the thermal and moisture regimes of the soil mass and to a significant change in its general condition, which causes the active, often irreversible development of exogenous geological processes. Oil and gas production also leads to changes in the deep-lying horizons of the geological environment.
Irreversible deformations of the earth's surface occur as a result of the extraction from the depths of oil, gas and groundwater that maintain reservoir pressure. There are enough examples in world practice showing how significant the subsidence of the earth's surface can be during long-term exploitation of deposits. Movements of the earth's surface caused by pumping out water, oil and gas from the depths can be significantly greater than during tectonic movements of the earth's crust.
Uneven subsidence of the earth's surface often leads to the destruction of water pipelines, cables, railways and highways, power lines, bridges and other structures. Subsidence can cause landslides and flooding of low-lying areas. In some cases, if there are voids in the depths, sudden deep subsidence may occur, which, in terms of the nature of the course and the effect caused, can hardly be distinguished from earthquakes.
Gas production and processing enterprises pollute the atmosphere with hydrocarbons, mainly during the exploration period (during well drilling). Sometimes these enterprises, despite the fact that gas is an environmentally friendly fuel, pollute open water bodies, as well as the soil.
Natural gas from individual fields may contain very toxic substances, which requires appropriate consideration during exploration work, operation of wells and linear structures. In areas with disturbed vegetation, in particular along roads, gas pipelines and in populated areas, the depth of soil thawing increases, concentrated temporary flows are formed and erosion processes develop. The condition of soils changes no less significantly with increasing freezing. The development of this process is accompanied by the formation of abyss relief forms. The rate of heaving during the new formation of permafrost reaches 10-15 cm per year. In this case, dangerous deformations of ground structures and rupture of gas pipelines occur, which often leads to the death of vegetation cover over large areas.
Pollution of the ground layer of the atmosphere during oil and gas production also occurs during accidents, mainly with natural gas, oil evaporation products, ammonia, acetone, ethylene, and combustion products.
Unlike the middle zone, air pollution in the Far North, all other things being equal, has a stronger impact on nature due to its reduced regenerative abilities.
Environmental disturbances caused by changes in the engineering and geological situation during gas production occur essentially everywhere and always. Avoid them completely when modern methods mastery is impossible. Therefore, the main task is to minimize undesirable consequences by rationally using natural conditions.
Improper exploitation of the subsoil contributes to a change in its natural state and leads to deformation. The consequence of this was, for example, the earthquake in Nefteyugansk in 1986 (magnitude 2 and 3 tremors were caused by man-made causes).
During the construction and operation of pipelines, there is a man-made impact on the natural environment. There is a violation of the vegetation cover, the magnitude and regime of flow, and the water regime. In addition, there is a thermal effect that leads to a significant change in engineering and geological conditions along pipeline routes, which is especially significant for permafrost soils and can contribute to the activation of processes such as thermokarst and thermal erosion.
In emergency situations, pollution of the atmosphere, underlying soils and water bodies occurs over large areas.
The Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug adopted the Law “On Rational Subsoil Use”. The significance of the law is that it allows regulating relations of ownership, use and disposal of subsoil, industrial use and protection of subsoil, compliance with environmental standards and environmental safety, environmental monitoring and the combination of subsoil use with the preservation of the traditional way of life of the indigenous peoples of the North.
Ways to solve environmental problems of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
The oil industry in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug and Russia as a whole faces the following tasks:
1. Replenishment of hydrocarbon reserves and development of new oil and gas fields
provinces in remote areas with a likely lack of infrastructure,
which will require significant investment;
2. Level Up vocational training personnel and the use of technology in order to maximize the efficiency of exploration and development of new oil and gas fields
3. Improvement of the environment, as well as compensation or elimination of the environmental consequences of oil companies' activities on the environment.
4. Utilization of associated petroleum gas.
The topic of utilization of associated petroleum gas was considered at the federal level. It is necessary to solve the problem of processing associated gas, since it must contain mechanisms for legal, economic, and market regulation of relations between all interested parties.
Today a new, revised and balanced version of the bill is ready. It provides for a mandatory level of associated gas use of at least 95 percent. Responsibility for excess gas emissions and combustion products will be borne not only by oil producing enterprises, but also by all participants in the process of using associated gas.
Environmental issues should be considered in close connection with economic development, since it is this that largely determines the state of the environment and the scale of work to improve it.
In order to reduce environmental pollution by the oil and gas production complex, new environmentally friendly technologies are being developed and introduced. Pitless drilling is being introduced, which can significantly reduce the volume of production waste. The construction of plants for anti-corrosion coating of pipelines is underway. The use of flexible pipelines made of reinforced plastic, the service life of which is unlimited, is being mastered. Technologies are being developed for the effective cleaning of contaminated surfaces using tanks. preparations and various washing liquids. In order to reduce emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, work is underway to use flared gas to produce gasoline and generate electricity.
Production must become environmentally friendly and extremely responsible; it is necessary to expand the network of treatment facilities and waste disposal sites.
In the current situation, all plans for the development of new industries should be considered only taking into account the current environmental situation in the district.
The oil and gas production complex, electric power industry, pipeline transport of hydrocarbon raw materials, and the timber industry have a negative impact on the environment of the district. Let us briefly characterize the main types of negative impact on the natural environment of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug carried out by these economic complexes.
In the process of developing oil and gas fields, the most active impact on the natural environment is carried out within the territories of the fields themselves, the routes of linear structures (primarily main pipelines), and in the nearest populated areas (cities, towns). In this case, there is a violation of plant, soil and snow cover, surface runoff, and microrelief cutting. Such disturbances lead to shifts in the thermal and moisture regimes of the soil mass and to a significant change in its general condition, which causes the active, often irreversible development of exogenous geological processes. Oil and gas production also leads to changes in the deep-lying horizons of the geological environment. Irreversible deformations of the earth's surface occur as a result of the extraction from the depths of oil, gas and groundwater that maintain reservoir pressure.
The main types of negative impact of GRES on the environment are: atmospheric air pollution, thermal and chemical pollution of water bodies (petroleum products, oils, dirt), noise pollution from operating units, and the death of fish entering water intake structures.
Almost all hydrocarbons produced in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug are transported via pipelines. A whole network of oil and gas pipelines runs through the territory of the district. The total length of main pipelines is 9 thousand kilometers. The negative impact of pipeline transport on the natural environment is quite large and diverse. The most significant damage to the environment is caused by accidents on product pipelines. The main cause of accidents is metal corrosion. A particular danger of environmental pollution is posed by the intersections of pipelines with water bodies. When laying and reconstructing pipelines, engineering-geological conditions change, thermokarst processes intensify, subsidence and failures form, and waterlogging processes intensify. As a result of the destruction of natural habitats and disruption of migration routes, the number and species composition of the animal world is decreasing.
The timber industry has a negative impact on forest ecosystems: the soil cover is disturbed, the hydrological regime of rivers and lakes changes, the territory is polluted by abandoned wood, the number and species composition of the animal world changes.
| Stationary | Mobile |
| 1. Chimneys 2. Flare stands 3. Exhaust and exchange ventilation pipes 4. Tanks with breathing valves 5. Pipeline transport connections, technological equipment 6. Exhaust gas outlet pipes (except for mobile ones) 7. Open tanks for storing liquid hydrocarbon waste 8. Aeration lanterns 9. Shut-off valves 10. Gas outlets | 1. Trucks and special vehicles with engines: gasoline, diesel, gas, liquefied petroleum gas, compressed natural gas 2. Buses with gasoline, diesel, gas (liquefied petroleum gas, compressed natural gas) engines 3. Passenger cars, official and special vehicles 4. Air transport (planes, helicopters) 5. Water transport (sea, river) 6. Railway transport(mainline diesel locomotives, shunting locomotives) 7. Tractors 8. Self-propelled agricultural machines 9. Road construction machines |
Automobile emissions are a mixture of approximately 200 substances: they contain hydrocarbons - products of incomplete combustion of fuel, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, lead compounds, etc. The average annual mileage of each car is 15 thousand km. On average, it depletes the atmosphere by 4350 kg of O2 and saturates it with 3250 kg of CO2, 520 kg of CO, 93 kg of CmHn, 27 kg of NO and at least 1 kg of lead.
In Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug one of the main sources of air pollution is:
- flaring of associated petroleum gas
- roasting of oil during emergency discharges onto the terrain and into water bodies - evaporation of light components of petroleum hydrocarbons from the surface of spills, sludge pits, and their reservoirs
- more than 55% of the total emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere come from motor vehicles and other mobile sources
From stationary sources, about
1000 thousand tons of pollutants, from motor transport - about 1500 thousand tons. In cities, motor transport is the main air pollutant, in some cases its contribution to air pollution reaches 79% (Uray). But still, in general, air pollution occurs mainly due to oil production. Every year, about 3 billion m3 of associated petroleum gas is burned in flares. The concentration of pollutants in the atmosphere of the cities of Surgut, Nizhnevartovsk, Nefteyugansk and others remains quite high. Given the colossal volumes of flared associated gas, the vast majority of rural settlements in the district, as well as individual cities, use wood, coal, fuel oil, and crude oil for heating. This also applies to the capital of the district - Khanty-Mansiysk.
Forest and peat fires also make an occasional contribution to the state of the regional atmospheric basin.
In addition to chemical and climatic parameters, it is necessary to take into account the effect of powerful technogenic physical factors of thermal, electromagnetic and even acoustic ranges. Thermal pollution of the atmosphere by flares, noise and vibrations in oil and gas communications, 10-100-fold excesses of the induced radio background above the natural level of atmospheric fields in the corresponding ranges - all these and many other factors reveal themselves over vast areas, and regional systems certainly do not remain subject to them indifferent.
Sources of water pollution
- Atmospheric waters carrying pollutants of industrial origin washed out of the air (runoff from city streets, industrial sites, carrying masses of petroleum products, garbage, phenol, acids)
- Municipal wastewater (domestic wastewater containing faeces, detergents, microorganisms)
- Agricultural waters
- Industrial wastewater generated during the development of reservoir deposits. In our country, every year 2.5 billion km3 of drainage, mine and sludge waters are formed, contaminated with chloride and sulfate compounds, iron and copper compounds, which are not even suitable as process water and must be purified before discharge.
The situation in the waters of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug is extremely unfavorable in terms of pollution with oil products, phenols and iron, especially in areas with intensive oil production.
The main source of pollution in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug is industrial and domestic wastewater. There is practically no construction of new treatment facilities for housing and communal services, and the existing ones do not meet regulatory requirements. A significant amount of wastewater is discharged into these rivers in adjacent areas.
In the district, there is an excess of the maximum permissible concentration for the main pollutants of surface waters of the Irtysh, Ob rivers and their tributaries. Thus, in the areas of Nizhnevartovsk, Surgut, Nefteyugansk, Oktyabrsky, Khanty-Mansiysk, Beloyarsky, Berezovo, the MPC for petroleum products is exceeded by 25 to 40 times, for phenols from 14 to 22 times, and for total iron by 3-5 times. In the Irtysh region of Khanty-Mansiysk, an excess of the maximum permissible concentration for mercury was detected. As a result of volley discharges, fish die in reservoirs. Pollution of reservoirs that serve as a source of water supply for fish farming enterprises caused the closure of the Khanty-Mansiysk coregonid egg incubation workshop.
The groundwater of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug has not been sufficiently studied. Fresh groundwater from productive aquifers everywhere in its natural state does not meet the requirements of GOST 2874-82 “Drinking Water” in terms of turbidity, color, iron content, and often manganese. In a number of deposits, groundwater contains nitrogen-containing substances, methane, carbon dioxide, phenols, petroleum products and other components, which reduces the quality of groundwater and the possibility of its use. There is a lack of fluoride in water everywhere. The maximum permissible concentrations of many harmful substances for drinking water and cultural waters are sometimes orders of magnitude higher than similar indicators for fishery reservoirs. In the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug there is an excess of the maximum permissible concentration for the main pollutants of surface waters of the Irtysh and Ob rivers and their tributaries. Thus, in the areas of Nizhnevartovsk, Surgut, Nefteyugansk, Oktyabrsky, Khanty-Mansiysk, Beloyarsky, Berezovo, the MPC for petroleum products is exceeded by 25 to 40 times, for phenols from 14 to 22 times, and for total iron by 3-5 times. In the Irtysh region of Khanty-Mansiysk, an excess of the maximum permissible concentration for mercury was detected.
For information:
- 1 ton of oil with a multimolecular layer is capable of covering 12 km2 of the surface of a reservoir; To completely neutralize the harmful effects of 1 liter of oil, almost 0.5 million liters are required clean water.
- Polycyclic compounds of the phenolic series act at the molecular genetic and physiological levels (cancer, teratosis and other anomalies). In addition, versions are confirmed that phenols are also formed during the microbiological decomposition of wood, peat and other plant residues, i.e. in completely natural ways.
- An excess of iron in river waters is a natural and inevitable feature of the Khanty-Mansiysk region, just like a deficiency of dissolved oxygen. This is due to the fact that of all plants, mosses (and then lichens) have the highest ability to accumulate iron (up to 6% of the weight of ash).
Despite the fame of the oil “storehouse”, the resources of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug are far from limited to its deposits. Here, for example, there is also the richest nature: there are two nature reserves in the district and many other specially protected natural places. Nine-tenths of its area is occupied by forests, and there are 300 thousand lakes.
Significant damage to the ecology of the region was caused by logging, which in the past was often carried out using barbaric methods. But the consequences of oil and gas production exceeded this damage.
The development of the Khanty-Mansiysk deposits was aimed at maximum profit, so almost no money was spent on security and restoration work. The state practiced colonial policy in the district, which was carried out on the verge of an environmental catastrophe.
In the north, nature is easily “vulnerable”, and it takes a long and weak time to restore and cleanse itself. All the more dangerous for it is pollution by oil, which decomposes poorly and is almost insoluble in water, and from the destructive loads on the air, water and soil, the local nature simply turns into a “dead zone”.
In the 70s, state revenues from oil production exceeded $20 billion per year. At the same time, the Tyumen Regional Committee of the CPSU initiated records, targeting the production of a million tons of oil and a billion cubic meters of gas per day. And for some time the district carried out oil production at such a high, or even higher level, receiving crumbs from the master’s table for this.
Back in the 50s, there was so much fish here that there were not enough collection points to hand over the catch. The development of the oil and gas complex in these parts has had a detrimental effect on the fish. If in 1960 21 thousand tons were extracted, then in 1998 it was five times less. In the 50s, 200 tons of sturgeon and sterlet were caught here per season, today - 1.5-5 tons per year (so Siberian sturgeon now had to be included in the Red Book of Russia). At the same time, for last years The contamination of fish with petroleum products has also increased noticeably.
Today, tens and hundreds of millions of rubles are spent annually in the district on environmental protection measures, including the elimination of environmental damage. They started doing this seriously only in the 90s, when Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug achieved significant independence, thanks to which two-thirds of the income from oil and gas production today remains in the district.
However, over decades of pumping out hydrocarbons from the local depths, a vast and largely burdensome legacy has accumulated. More than 62 thousand operational oil wells have been drilled in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug alone. Almost 64 thousand kilometers of pipelines (including main ones) stretch across its territory. In addition, oil workers have accumulated several million tons of undisposed waste.
In addition, a third of the pipelines are worn out, the same can be said about almost half of the oilfield equipment. Because of this, thousands of small accidents occur in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug every year, but there are also large ones: for example, in 1996, 12 thousand tons of crude oil spilled at once. The loss (at those prices) amounted to 100 billion rubles, and cleanup and restoration work is still underway.
Technologies for developing fields initially did not meet environmental requirements, and in the heat of records and the pursuit of profit, they violated even those imperfect standards, which is why today oil leaks are inevitable for those oil companies that operate using outdated technologies. According to some estimates, losses from them amount to 1.5-2 million tons per year.
Oil companies are trying to reclaim land, dispose of waste, and modernize their technical systems. Some of them are acquiring turbine power plants that run on associated gas, so as not to waste it in flares. Oil industry workers are also striving to introduce technologies that increase oil recovery during production, which is also important from an environmental point of view.
Modernization, however, requires very significant funds. Environmental projects They also don't belong to the category of cheap. Thus, at the beginning of 1997, one of the largest oil companies expected to spend $200 million on them over three years (including land reclamation). Such expenses, of course, can only be undertaken by a few giants. However, in 1999, 36 oil and gas production enterprises operated in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.
In general, the level of oil pollution in the district today is difficult to assess, and it is only possible to track accidents occurring over such a vast area using aerospace surveys. For this purpose, the Interregional Association "Siberian Agreement" created the Coordination Council for Space Monitoring of Siberia. Earth remote sensing centers are already being created in Khanty-Mansiysk and some other cities. A start has also been made for a specialized data bank.
Based on information received from space, it is possible to quickly identify oil leaks from main pipelines, as well as forest fires, floods and various accidents. True, the space monitoring system for Siberia is being deployed too slowly. KHMAO and others Siberian regions they even insist on creating a special unit for this at Rosaviakosmos and are ready to invest money in its development.
The impact of economic activities on the environment in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug is determined by the huge volumes of consumption of natural resources, a significant amount of discharges and emissions of pollutants. The consequence of the extremely high pace of development of hydrocarbon deposits and forest resources of the territory in the past decade with insufficient implementation of environmental measures has been a sharp deterioration of the environmental situation in the district.
In accordance with the uneven distribution of production capacities, different periods and intensity of exploitation of natural resources, the level of anthropogenic load on the environment is differentiated across the territory of the district, which is mainly determined by the impact of the oil and gas production complex, especially in the conditions mass application Currently, environmentally dirty technologies, morally and physically outdated equipment. Pollution of the territory of the oil-producing regions of the district with oil, mineralized water and chemical reagents has had a negative impact on all components of the natural environment to such an extent that proposals to classify the Nizhnevartovsk, Surgut, Nefteyugansk districts as territories of environmental disaster are quite legitimate.
As a result of the reforms carried out in the country, the volumes of oil and gas production, compared with the maximum production values in 1987, decreased by more than 2 times; Timber harvesting decreased by 4 times, to 3.2 million cubic meters in 1997. Wood rafting along the district's rivers has been stopped. The transport and technical fleet of forestry enterprises has been significantly reduced. The intensity of shipping used to provide cargo transportation in the district's economy has sharply decreased. Agricultural production has been completely curtailed. Horticultural farming has received some development, the impact of which on the environment is negligible. The area of land taken for industrial development has decreased. Emissions of pollutants into the air from associated gas combustion decreased by 1.6 times. The requirements of environmental legislation have increased. A mechanism for paid environmental management has been introduced, under which enterprises take measures to reduce emissions of harmful substances.
However, there was no radical improvement in the environmental situation in the district. As a result of the aging of oil gathering networks, their massive ruptures, oil flaring and other reasons, huge volumes of oil are lost annually, but the volume of hydrocarbons entering the environment does not decrease. Due to the wear and tear of technical and technological equipment, a decrease in capital investment for environmental protection measures, and a decrease in the level of environmental safety of production, the total volume of discharges and emissions of harmful substances at many industrial enterprises does not decrease. Numerous unauthorized discharges and releases of pollutants into the environment and the placement of toxic industrial waste in unequipped landfills and quarries are commonplace. The intensity of the negative impact on the natural environment increases sharply during man-made accidents, accompanied by the release and collection of pollutants into the environment. The most environmentally hazardous are pipeline ruptures. Oil and gas industry.
Oil and gas production, together with all technological and household infrastructure, is the main branch of economic activity of the district. During the period of activity of the oil and gas complex in the district's fields, oil production exceeded 7.0 billion tons. Significant areas are reserved and allocated for field development, on average about 50 thousand hectares per field.
As a result of the activities of oil and gas producing enterprises, the deterioration of mining and geological conditions for oil extraction and a high percentage of depreciation of fixed assets continued to have a negative impact.
In the vast majority of fields, oil reserves are classified as difficult to recover, the extraction of which requires the use of new technological methods and technical means. During the years of the economic crisis, the wear and tear of equipment, wells, and oil pipelines in the fields has reached a high level; To improve the economic situation of oil and gas producing enterprises, it is necessary to significantly increase the volume of investments.
During its existence, the oil and gas production complex caused colossal damage to the environment and natural resources of the district:
Tens of millions of tons of oil were dumped into the environment, hundreds of hectares of land were alienated and disturbed, hundreds of billions of cubic meters of associated petroleum gas were flared, many hunting grounds, reindeer pastures, rivers, lakes lost their economic importance, and the level of fish decreased several times.
The situation with environmental pollution associated with the further development of oil and gas reserves in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug remains tense. The main sources of oil pollution in the fields are:
interfield pipelines; when they gust, the most extensive oil pollution is formed;
inside the field reservoirs, characterized by the highest frequency of gusts;
oil field well clusters.
Sludge pits are a significant source of environmental pollution from oil field waste. During the period of development of oil and gas fields, thousands of sludge pits were built in the district. Unliquidated barns, as a rule, are used as unauthorized industrial waste sites into which oil and various reagents are uncontrollably dumped during accidents and well repairs. Accidents at pipelines and industrial sites, erosion of the embankments of sludge pits, spraying of droplet oil during the combustion of associated gas in flares - all this leads to pollution of water bodies and soils with oil carbon, degradation of woody and herbaceous vegetation, and depletion of fauna.
The district's lands contaminated with mineralized waters, in conditions excess moisture, are capable of fairly effective self-cleaning. Data on saline areas, especially long-standing accidents, may be somewhat exaggerated, because... they are based on materials from accident reports and do not take into account the natural dynamics of salinization of territories.
Almost all water bodies located within the territories of “old” oil fields are classified as “moderately” to “extremely” and “critically” polluted, all of them are characterized by severe oil pollution, contain high absolute and relative amounts of hydrocarbons, bottom soils are toxic, processes biodegradation of hydrocarbons is weakened.
Until the end of the eighties, virtually no one was involved in the reclamation of oil-contaminated landscapes. And only in the early nineties, under pressure from environmental protection committees, did massive work begin to eliminate oil pollution of land.
Solving the problem of reclamation of oil-contaminated lands is complicated by unfavorable temperature conditions soils and their unsatisfactory aeration, which negatively affects the degradation processes of the pollutant.
Nizhnevartovskaya GRES, Surgutskaya GRES-1 and GRES-2 form a single energy complex, which is the main source of power supply to oil and gas industry facilities in the north of the Tyumen region, heat supply to residential areas and industrial enterprises.
The main types of negative impact of GRES on the environment are air pollution, thermal pollution of water bodies, noise pollution from operating units, and the death of fish entering water intake structures. Power lines are sources of electromagnetic pollution of the environment.
The maximum level of emissions into the atmospheric air from the Nizhnevartovsk State District Power Plant in recent years occurred in 1995; when 2873.315 tons of pollution were released.
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