OREANDA-NEWS. On 23 April 2008 was announced, that the 7th International Pipeline Forum left the attendees in no doubt as to the reliability and safety of the Eastern Oil Pipeline. The solutions developed by Transneft as part of the environmental measures to be put in place during the construction of the East Siberia - Pacific Ocean trunk system were presented to the attendees of the Pipeline Transport conference and the visitors of the exhibition of the same name.

The expert community's two day-long discussion revolved around the cutting-edge technologies for the design and operation of pipeline transport facilities. Arrangements for the sustainability and environmental safety of the ESPO system in complex seismic and geological conditions were outlined for the conferees by Grigory Koff, Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, CEO of Georisk research centre. The Academician explained that the technique of identification and the strategy of mitigation of potential natural risks was being developed based on special-purpose geoecological maps of the environment, and was a parameter specific to each pipeline transport facility. Mapping is thought to be a good thing to do as it enables forecasting of the dynamics of environmental indicators, especially when the territories begin to undergo industrial development.

The set of maps to describe unique aspects of the natural sites traversed today by the ESPO pipeline was produced several years before the commencement of project implementation. According to Koff, geological surveys identified about 100 areas with varying probability of natural catastrophes. Today, when we chart the ESPO route on our maps, we can see that it runs through one of the best, untroubled areas, the Academician notes. Based on engineering documentation, Transneft's experts have developed specific technical measures for each area to protect the line from geological hazards. In areas of tectonic faults, permafrost soils, stone rivers, mudslides and karsts, the pipeline is being engineered using special-purpose supports with compensators. In areas of seismic hazards, controls are in place to discontinue crude oil flow automatically.