OREANDA-NEWS. Gazprom became the major partner of the environmental expedition to the Bely Island in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area as a part of the Year of Ecology.

The expedition is aimed at clearing the Island from ramshackle structures, derelict equipment, fuel tanks and other industrial wastes. The participants of the environmental campaign prepare the garbage for transportation to the mainland for further disposal.

Gazprom will take part in financing the summer (main) phase of the project from July 1 to September 11. In particular, the Company will ship tractors, earth movers and other necessary equipment to the Bely Island and back.

Residents of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, the Republics of Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, and Tyva; the Tyumen, Kurgan, Chelyabinsk Regions and Germany applied for participation in the expedition.
Background

Gazprom is represented in the project by its wholly-owned subsidiary company Gazprom Dobycha Nadym.

The environmental expedition consists of two phases: winter and summer.

The Bely Island is located in the Kara Sea and separated from the Yamal Peninsula by the Malygin Strait. It covers 1,900 square kilometers and classified as a state nature reserve.

Earlier, a military base was located on the Island. Besides, in the 1930s a polar hydrometeorological station was deployed there.

The environmental expedition was there in 2012 and removed around 20 per cent of the waste covering the Island.

2013 is declared the Year of Ecology in Gazprom. As part of this initiative, the Company will take more than 1,200 actions: from adoption of innovative technologies at gas production and transmission facilities for mitigating environmental impacts to educational campaigns and rendering support to specially protected natural areas.