The ministry of ecology and natural resources confirmed the appeal to the court over environmental violations at the Kashagan oil field on the part of its operator North Caspian Operating Company, QazMonitor reports citing Kazinform.
According to the ministry, the Kashagan operator was found to have violated the rules of sulfur storage at the site.
On March 6, the Atyrau region's ecology department inspected NCOC and revealed numerous violations of environmental legislation. These included excessive deposits of sulfur at the storage sites amounting to over 1 million tons, discharge of untreated wastewater into the evaporation pond, as well as the lack of approved project documentation and environmental permit for the operation of a temporary storage site for sulfuric acid used for regeneration of used alkali.
Bloomberg earlier reported that authorities sued the oil company for approximately 2.3 trillion tenge ($5.1 billion) in fines for environmental violations. The Ministry of Ecology clarified that the amount fined will be determined by the court decision.