Contacts In Almaty : Elena Karaban (7327) 298 0580, In Astana: Oxana Guzeeva (7 3172) 58 05 55, In Washington: Christina Lakatos (202) 458 1343, ASTANA, February 1, 2007¾The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$24.3 million loan for the Ust-Kamenogorsk Environmental Remediation Project in Kazakhstan. The project, with a total value of US$40.1 million, is co-financed by the Government of Kazakhstan in the amount of US$15.8 million. The overall objective of the project is to address environmental pollution linked to industrial hazardous waste generation prior to 1990 in the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk. Ust-Kamenogorsk, a city of approximately 300,000 inhabitants and one of the biggest industrial centers in Kazakhstan, faces some of the most severe environmental pollution in the country. The city is well known for large enterprises of nonferrous metallurgy, nuclear power, gold and rare metals plants, heat power plants, mechanical engineering and instrumental manufacturing, construction, agriculture production, and many others. The extensive industrial infrastructure of Ust-Kamenogorsk and its operations for over 50 years under lax environmental regulations have led to widespread pollution with hazardous components, including heavy metals and organic compounds, which have negatively impacted the air, surface water, ground water, and soil quality in the city and surrounding areas. A significant part of the pollution in Ust-Kamenogorsk originates from dump sites created before 1990. By the year 2000, more than 28 million tons of solid and liquid waste were being stored in several sites along the outskirts of the city’s residential areas. A point of particular concern is the contamination of ground water and rivers in the Irtysh River basin, which poses a serious threat to the people who work and live in this area. “The city government is dedicated to improving the environmental situation in the city. In 2005, it launched an ambitious ten-year program for public health and environmental remediation,” says Sergei Shatalov, World Bank Country Manager for Kazakhstan. “This project, as part of the broader city program, intends to stop further flows of contaminated groundwater to residential areas, the city’s drinking water extraction wells, and eventually the Irtysh River, thus improving living conditions for many people.” The project consists of three main components: - Component A (US$19.4 million) will develop immediate clean-up activities to remediate sources of pollution and prevent further contamination of groundwater by historic waste disposal sites located in and around the Central Industrial Complex of Ust-Kamenogorsk.
- Component B (US$20.1 million) will focus on the containment of current groundwater contamination hotspots by intercepting, treating, and monitoring the polluted groundwater in the project area and preventing its further migration to sensitive areas and groundwater users.
- Component C (US$0.6 million) will focus on project management and monitoring.
The World Bank loan for the Ust-Kamenogorsk Environmental Remediation Project has a maturity of 17 years with a five-year grace period. Since Kazakhstan joined the World Bank in 1992, Bank commitments to Kazakhstan have reached more than US$2 billion for 29 projects. To date, the World Bank’s support to Kazakhstan’s environment and water and sanitation sectors amounts to about US$380 million for such projects as Nura River Clean-up, Syr Darya Control and Northern Aral Sea, Drylands Management, Forest Protection and Reforestation, and others. ### For more information about the World Bank's work in Kazakhstan, please visit www.worldbank.org.kz |
