OREANDA-NEWS. December 22, 2014. We continue to be concerned that children and teachers were taken ill at the Berezovka village school over the past fortnight.  We understand most have now left the hospital and we wish them all a full and swift recovery.

While the cause of the incident remains unknown, KPO is actively participating in the Berezovka incident investigation and is working in close cooperation with WKO authorities as well as other relevant RoK authorities.  KPO is providing all relevant data including information from operational facilities and environmental monitoring stations to the investigating authorities.

We look forward to receiving the findings of the government investigation and if there are lessons we need to learn from the results, we will wholeheartedly apply these to our activities.

There has been much speculation about the recent flaring of gas on 27th November 2014.  Flares are important safety practices. They safely burn excess gases which are not used in the KPO processing plant.  That is why KPO believes it is an error to assume that on this day there was a release, emission or leak of gas, including hydrogen sulphide, in excess of permitted levels.

KPO continuously monitors for any emissions through a sophisticated data gathering and monitoring mechanism. If there is any breach, this will trigger our emergency response system.  
The monitoring data is regularly provided to relevant state authorities and local community.

All emissions from KPO facilities are controlled by a network of Environmental Monitoring Stations (EMSs) that are installed in the field and at the Sanitary Protection Zone (SPZ) boundaries.  In addition, KPO monitors the air quality in all the villages adjacent to the Karachaganak field.

Within the Karachaganak field area and SPZ there are 18 fully automatic EMSs.  11 EMSs are located around the SPZ perimeter, four are within the SPZ, one is located close to Karachaganak Processing Complex and a further two stations are installed directly within Berezovka village.  

Two mobile EMSs are also used to support any complaints on odour and allow flexibility of monitoring locations.

KPO implements a comprehensive environmental monitoring programme.  The monitoring and analysis is undertaken by a licensed laboratory.  There is also a monitoring regime for surface water, ground water and soils.  On the whole, as part of the environmental monitoring programme, over 100,000 samples are taken and analysed annually.

The Sanitary Protection Zone (SPZ) is a territory that separates industrial organisations, work and communal facilities and warehouses from nearby residential territories, buildings and structures that is used to mitigate any unfavourable impact. The development and establishment of SPZ is done in accordance with the “Sanitary-Epidemiological Requirements for Industrial Facilities SPZs” approved by the RoK Government. Current SPZ around Karachaganak field is 5 km.