promising precedent

[PeterWolf]

The following article is about the results of efforts described im my previous posting.
There is some hope here, and a good basis of a career for a Russian student with requisite aptitudes.


Russia Rescinds Exxon's Muck Pumping Immunity

MOSCOW, Russia, October 12, 1999 (ENS) - Siding with environmentalists against the government, the Russian Supreme Court has invalidated a decree issued by former Prime Minister Stepashin that would have allowed marine discharge of toxic wastes from oil drilling off Russia's Far East coast.

The decree waived Russian environmental law for the Exxon-led Sakhalin-1 offshore oil project and would have permitted the drilling wastes to enter the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea.

The case was brought by the environmental law group Ecojuris Institute on behalf of citizens, indigenous peoples' associations and non-governmental organizations from across Russia.

The Court agreed with Ecojuris that Russian law requires that an environmental impact review be conducted where a government action or decree creates the possibility of future environmental harm.

The decision, published today, states that "allowing the discharge of waste waters and drilling wastes into places with the greatest concentration of fish in the Russian Federation - creates a real threat of irreversible environmental harm and economic damage to the country and its people."

Ecojuris president, Vera Mischenko said, "The decision is a key step to achieving lasting protection for the fragile shelf waters of the Sea of Okhotsk. The decision also demonstrates the growing independence of the judiciary and its willingness to protect democratic rights."

Exxon suspended its drilling plan for 1999 when the Ecojuris suit was filed in August. But the company has announced that it will seek a new permit for the summer of 2000.

The case was triggered by events in May, when Exxon and its joint venture partners received a negative governmental review on their environmental impact assessment for the Sakhalin-1 project. The review, conducted by the State Committee on the Environment, found that the proposed marine discharge of drilling wastes violated Russian law.

On July 15, in the last days of his tenure, then Prime Minister Stepashin issued a decree attempting to give the Exxon project a waiver and override the zero-discharge standards as required by Russian law.

Ecojuris filed suit to challenge the decree on August 16, and was later joined by Tamara Zlotnikova, chair of the Duma Environment Committee, and Ivan Blokov of Greenpeace, and supported by the Russian Prosecutor General's office.

The consortium against which the Supreme Court ruled includes Exxon Ventures (CIS) Inc., an Exxon affiliate devoted strictly to oil and gas exploration and development in the former Soviet Union, and Exxon Neftegas Limited, operator of the Sakhalin 1 consortium. In addition to Exxon Neftegas, the consortium includes two Russian companies and a Japanese company. It is conducting a $200 million to $300 million resource appraisal program covering three oil and gas fields, Arkutun-Dagi, Chayvo and Odoptu, offshore Sakhalin Island on Russia's Pacific Ocean coast.

The transnational corporations that are proposing to develop oil and gas resources in the Russian Far Eastern Seas, including Exxon and Royal Dutch Shell among others, have been lobbying to have Russia's environmental protections weakened, Ecojuris claims. If they succeed in rolling back the strict, zero waste discharge requirements of the Federal Water Code, their operating costs would be lowered. The strict waste discharge requirements were adopted after the near collapse of the Caspian Sea fishery due to oil pollution. The Russian Far Eastern seas provide almost 90 percent of the total Russian fish catch, and are home to numerous rare and endangered marine mammals and migratory birds.

Earlier this year the Exxon consortium was ordered by the Russian High Arbitration Court to pay fines for natural resources damages caused by two oil releases from the Sakhalin-1 project.

But the prospects of oil profits for the cash-strapped Russian economy are enticing. The consortium already has spent more than $95 million with Russian companies, mainly on Sakhalin Island. During the 1997 drilling season, more than 500 Russians worked on offshore rigs, supply boats and other vessels and at the drilling supply base on the island. Though supervised by Exxon, the drilling rigs are Russian owned.

No one is more aware of the economics than Sakhalin Governor Igor Farkutdinov. He sees offshore production as the key to revitalizing the island's economy.

"One of the centerpieces of my election program was the development of oil and gas reserves on the Sakhalin shelf," he told reporters. "Today, I am working to translate my election promises into reality."

Leaders of the Russian Federation also strongly support development. Under a production sharing agreement negotiated by the Sakhalin regional government, the Russian Federation and members of the consortium, billions of dollars of income could flow to both the federal and Sakhalin governments.

"The Court's ruling signals the first time that the Russian judiciary has upheld citizens' rights to environmental protection and the rule of law when billion dollar transnational investments are at stake," added Erika Rosenthal of the California based Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, an Ecojuris sister organization