For several years OJSC (Open Joint Stock Company) “Mangistaumunagigaz” has been dumping its’ oil slime and waste from oil extraction on the designated oil waste polygons. According to the local villagers of Zhetibai, the polygons are located dangerously close to their houses. The company has also been allegedly burning the oil waste-rich soil at night. Locals report that they have breathed for several years contaminated air full of oil grime that contains carcinogens and other related dangerous substances. They add that they also have suffered many illnesses, discomfort and headaches as the result of the polluted environment. Local NGO “ECO Mangistau” presented an official report that two of the five polygons that they checked were not adhering to the Environmental Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Several severe breaches of dumping and safe utilization of oil waste have been detected, the absence of hydro isolation of temporary oil slime containers and uncontrolled air contamination among many others.
It was also pointed out that despite the fact that one of the polygons had been closed in 2013 due to a court decision, representatives from “ECO Mangistau” observed activity on the site, including the presence of workers and new traces of oil waste.
In July of 2014, the governor of the Mangistau Region, Alik Aidarbaev, ordered the polygons to be moved from their current territory to the extraction zone. However, such an initiative was labeled as extremely expensive and no definitive date of the move has been announced. The OJSC “Mangistaumunaigaz” press office has promised to later comment on the issue.
Additionally, locals came out on the streets to protest claiming that the level of unemployment in the village was high, and virtually none of the oil company jobs have been available to them. The Head of the Employment Department of the Mangistau Region, Gulmira Kalmuratova, has commented that the villagers are not willing to fill other vacancies not from the oil sector that are available. Villagers, in turn, have claimed that such jobs pay considerably less than the ones in the oil-extracting sector and their concern is that they and their children are prevented from living a comfortable life, having to worry about day-to-day survival.
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