According to the company’s press service, the incident is under investigation by a special committee aimed at finding those who are responsible for this. To take control of the situation at the Atyrau refinery, the Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of the KMG Daniyar Tiesov has arrived at the plant.
The KMG press service said there was no increased concentration of oil products in the wastewater. However, the company developed a plan for special measures to protect the local environment. The plan is based on all data KMG specialists have been able to find at the moment.
«There was a serious accident in the town with full responsibility of the refinery plant. We apologize for the incident and keep the situation under control. The company has done a large-scale modernization of the plant, but, unfortunately, there is a human factor and many employees need to be more conscious in terms of personal responsibility during their work. Moreover, all these workers are also residents of Atyrau and should be aware of the consequences of such incidents. The plant needs to improve the situation as soon as possible and take appropriate measures to prevent similar cases in the future,» Tiesov stated.
Earlier, due to a power failure on November 1, the pump that supports proper work of the waste treatment system was stopped. And because the sandy filter was under maintenance and had been temporarily disconnected from the technological scheme, wastewater was discharged right into the drainage system. By 11 p.m. that day, the operation of biological treatment facilities was restarted.
As Kanat Sagizbayev, deputy head of the Environmental Protection Department of Atyrau Oil Refinery LLP said, the discharge of wastewater with oil occurred because of a treatment equipment failure. The pump that recirculates the activated sludge was accidentally stopped.
On the same day, the Kazakhstani Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources has made an urgent inspection of the Atyrau refinery plant. As the official noted, a sampling of discharged wastewater has been taken and now a special analysis is underway.
