E1549 National Water Supply & Sanitation Project v2 AZERSU JSC National Water Supply and Sanitation Project SHAMAKHI REGION WATER SUPPLY AND SANITATION SYSTEMS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT December 2009 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project i Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Project background and objectives 1 1.2 Structure of Report 3 1.3 Description of the project 3 2 Policy, legal and administrative framework 17 2.1 Relevant institutions 17 2.2 Environmental Laws and Regulations 18 2.3 Environmental Conventions 18 2.4 Land acquisition and Resettlement 22 3 Baseline data 24 3.1 Introduction 24 3.2 Geology, soils and land use 24 3.3 Air and climate 25 3.4 Noise 26 3.5 Ecology and protected areas 27 3.6 Surface and ground water 28 3.7 Social ­ Cultural Environment 29 4 Environmental impacts 33 4.1 Introduction 33 4.2 Methodology 33 4.3 Geology and soils 36 4.4 Air quality 37 4.5 Noise 38 4.6 Ecology and protected areas 41 4.7 Surface and ground water 42 4.8 Social ­ Cultural Environment 44 5 Analysis of alternatives 52 5.1 Introduction 52 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project ii 5.2 Alternative 1, do nothing 52 5.3 Alternative 2, water supply only 53 5.4 Alternative 3, the preferred scheme 56 6 Public consultation 58 7 Environmental Management Plan 60 7.1 Introduction 60 7.2 General mitigation during construction 60 7.3 Emergency planning 60 7.4 Monitoring 63 7.5 Operational aspects 64 ANNEXES 1 Preferred scheme details 2 Photographs 3 Environmental standards 4 Public consultation record Figures Figure 1-1 Location of Shamakhi ............................................................................................2 Figure 1-2 General Layout of Shamakhi Project (water) .........................................................6 Figure 1-3 Overview of project features ..................................................................................7 Figure 1-4 Location of WWT works ........................................................................................8 Figure 1-5 Water storage facilities at Shamakhi, Pirsaat River ...............................................9 Figure 1-6 Part of derelict WWT works .................................................................................10 Figure 1-7 View of well field, water source ...........................................................................11 Figure 3-1 Wind rose ............................................................................................................26 Tables Table 1-1 Key discharge parameters for UWWT Directive....................................................13 Table 2-1 Main environmental laws ......................................................................................19 Table 3-1 Main climate parameters of Shamakhi town .........................................................25 Table 3-2 Social-economic indices of Shamakhi region ........................................................30 Table 4-1 Environmental Aspects .........................................................................................34 Table 4-2 Examples of fugitive dust reduction ......................................................................37 Table 4-3 Expected noise level from construction equipment ...............................................39 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project iii Table 4-4 Construction & operational impacts ......................................................................46 Table 7-1 List of Management Plans ....................................................................................61 Table 7-2 Environmental Management Plan .........................................................................66 Table 7-3 Environmental Monitoring Plan .............................................................................74 List of Abbreviations AZERSU Azerbaijan Republic ,,AZERSU Open Joint Stock Company BOD Biochemical oxygen demand COD Chemical oxygen demand EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EMF Environmental Management Framework EMP Environmental Management Plan ECS Environmental Control Standards FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation of UN MCL Maximum Concentration Limit MENR Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources MP Management Plan NGO Non-Governmental Organizations PAP Project Affected People/Person PEE Public Ecological Expertise SS State Standards UWWT Urban Wastewater Treatment WB World Bank WHO World Health Organization WSSS Water Supply and Sewer System WWTW Wastewater treatment works C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project i Executive summary Introduction The water supply and sewer system in Azerbaijan is characterized by old, damaged and largely dysfunctional infrastructure and is financial constrained and poorly oper- ated. This results in the level and the quality of the water supply and wastewater treatment (WWT) services especially in small towns being significantly degraded. Water shortage and the use of dirty water for drinking have negatively affected health and welfare of the population accordingly. Uncontrolled flow of wastewaters to non-designated areas has promoted the spread of various infections and caused environmental pollution. To address this dire situation, the Government of Azerbaijan (GoA) and the World Bank are currently planning the implementation of infrastructure projects for water supply and WWT in small towns and regions. Commencing in 2007, the Govern- ment of Azerbaijan started to develop projects for reconstruction and development of water supply and sewer system in 22 rayon centres with the World Bank within the framework of the "National Water Supply and Sanitation Project". One of these regions is Shamakhi. Shamakhi region is located in the east of Azerbaijan, 118 km from Baku on the south-east slopes of the Great Caucasus Mountain Range (Figure 1-1). The total area of the region is 1610 km2 and the population is 88,500 of which 29,600 live in Shamakhi town and will benefit from the project. The water supply network is in poor condition and suffers from quality issues and water is supplied to residents for only around 2 hours per day. The wastewater network is essentially dysfunctional, as only 30% of households are connected to the sewer network and the wastewater treatment works does not function and wastewater bypasses the works and is dis- charged to the environment untreated. This report presents an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the project in Shamakhi. The EIA identifies potential impacts on the natural environment and the social situation in Shamakhi region during construction and operation of the project. Where potential adverse effects are predicted, mitigation has been developed and its implementation is presented in an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) and Environmental Monitoring Plan (EMP). Project description A Feasibility Study was conducted for the project in 2007 and the Shamakhi scheme is now in detailed design phase (except for the wastewater treatment component) and has recently been tendered for construction. The client is AZERSU (state utility operator) and has a Project Implementation Unit (PIU) which is responsible for pro- ject implementation and works closely with Bank staff on project design and as- sessment and preparation of the bidding documents. The proposed works comprise: Water supply · New boreholes for groundwater extraction within the Pirsaat River floodplain · New pipeline to water pumping station · New pumping station · New pipelines (typically 200-300mm diameter) to feed new (buried, enclosed and fenced) reservoirs C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project ii · New underground (covered) reservoirs (four of them) for feeding gravity distri- bution zones · New distribution network in Shamakhi serving all households and premises, all fitted with water meters Wastewater treatment · Replacement of defunct WWT works with new works · Repair, improvement and expansion of the sewer collection system Water source options Options for water sources were investigated during the Feasibility Study and in- cluded surface water for the main river (Pirsaat); springs at higher elevations higher up in the catchment; groundwaters higher in the catchment, some of which are arte- sian; and groundwater associated with the lower river valley of the Pirsaat River. The use of surface supplies from the Pirsaat River would entail additional storage and settlement works as the flows are highly variable, being snow and precipitation fed, and are very turbid for long periods and also susceptible to contamination from livestock and waste disposal. The use of surface supplies from springs at higher elevations would entail additional diversion and collection works and their storage as the flows are scattered and highly variable, being snow and precipitation fed, and are also susceptible to con- tamination from livestock. The FS investigated the water source options, as follows: · Possible sources of groundwater and springs higher up in the mountains lie within privately owned land of large land owners and it was considered that their potential exploitation would not be acceptable to these particular land owners. Furthermore, the potential resources are unproven and the feasibil- ity of their exploitation would require considerable study, to investigate their individual properties and indeed whether they would need to be agglomer- ated. There are several springs that outcrop in the area which are used by livestock farmers and these may be at risk from groundwater abstraction. The intensive livestock farming also represents a risk of pollution of the wa- ter source. Due to the higher elevations of these possible resources they would not be readily accessible for any maintenance works for around 4 months of the year, making them unattractive as a primary water source for the town. · The only real advantage of this approach would have been reduced opera- tional costs due to gravity feed; however the aquifers would require detailed investigation of the recharge and drawdown performance, to ensure that sufficient sustainable supplies existed and that no adverse effects would result from their exploitation. · The land use and ownership constraints for this option have meant that it is not a viable option and certainly not a viable option within the timescale of the project. However, in view of looking ahead at the possibility of reduced operating costs it has been agreed with AZERSU that they would investi- gate the possibilities of utilising this potential water source. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project iii The preferred scheme has therefore adopted to continue using the groundwater source associated with the Pirsaat River, albeit with an expanded collection system of boreholes further up the river, in the form of a horizontal infiltration gallery, to meet the increased demand from the 20 year forecast horizon (2027). The bore- holes will be typically 6-9m in depth and 50m apart and will be connected by a new pipeline to feed into new storage facilities in a new pumping station near to the exist- ing station. The existing pumping station will be retained to serve the nearby village of Sabir. From the new pumping station water will be supplied by a new water main to four new service reservoirs constructed above Shamakhi. These water storage reser- voirs will serve a new distribution network arranged in gravity fed zones. The water supply network will probably be HDPE pipe work, buried in sidewalks and connected to each property, along with a water meter, which will record supplied volumes, which will be used to calculate the water bills. The system is designed to supply good quality water compliant to the EU Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC) on a 24 hour basis. The wastewater network includes repair and expansion of the existing wastewater collection system, that currently only connects around 30% of the town and suffers from chronic leakage and regular blockage. The scheme also includes demolition of the derelict WWT works and replacement with a new WWT works incorporating secondary, biological treatment, designed to perform in compliance with the EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC), as amended. The discharge arrangements would remain the same and would see discharge of EU compliant effluent compared to the current dis- charge of untreated wastewater. The catchment of the WWT works is domestic in nature, due to the absence of heavy or polluting industries, meaning that the sludge generated should be suitable for disposal to agricultural land as a soil conditioner and fertiliser. The design will include infrastructure to process the sludge so that it can readily be recycled to agricultural land or otherwise composted for soil im- provement in areas such as parks or state reserves or roadside planting. Environmental baseline The environmental baseline section of the report presents information on the base- line environmental conditions, against which the potential impacts are assessed. The study methodology included review and use of data from the Feasibility Study; site visits by the local environmental consultant; data collection; and results of the public consultation. This was supplemented by a site visit on 26/11/2009 involving the local consultant, AZERSU, Bank staff and a visiting Bank environmental con- sultant. Shamakhi region is situated on the south-east slopes of the Great Caucasus Moun- tain Range, and its surface ranges from rolling to steeper hills. Small plateaus and low mountain ranges are located south of Shamakhi town. Jurassic, Cretaceous, Neogenic and Paleogenic rocks, as well as alluvial-proluvial and deluvial-proluvial depositions of the The Fourth Epoch occur, with shale, sandstones, and river grav- els. These geological structures expand from north-west to south-east and west of the Pirsaat River (including Shamakhi town). Water erosion and landslides are widespread in the region, as the soils are friable and easily eroded and in places saline. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project iv One of the geological-geomorphological problems of the region is its high seismicity of the area. The area of the region corresponds to 8 score scale on the seismo- tectonic map of Azerbaijan. Ground waters accumulated in sedimentary rocks cover large areas in the moun- tainous part of the region. These waters are weakly mineralized and are widely used in many sectors of the economy, including water supply for residents and tourist centres. The climate of Shamakhi town and its surrounding villages are characterized as mild-hot and semiarid. Winter is mild with short and non-persistent snow. Plenty of rain falls in the beginning of spring/summer season. Summer is slightly humid and mild-hot. Temperature regime of Shamakhi is the same as that of the entire Moun- tainous Shirvan area. The area is essentially rural in nature and noise levels are generally low; no noise surveys were conducted or considered as being necessary and no existing data are available. The vegetation of Shamakhi region consists of alpine and subalpine grassland, mountainous woodland, mountain steppe and semiarid plants. Alpine and subalpine meadows are located in 1800-2500 m height. Total area of woodland is 9,800 ha, mainly expanding over 800-1800 m, north of Shamakhi town, north-west of Pirsaat River basin. Oak and hornbeam are common species, along with xerophytes on the saline soils. Mountainous xerophytes, wormwood steppes in low mountainous areas, arid ephemeral, wormwood and feather grass steppes in foothills and wormwood semi- deserts dominate in the region. Various animals live in Shamakhi region typical for various landscape types of the area. Wild pig, jackal (Canis aureus) wolf (Canis lupus), fox (Vulpes vulpes), badger (Meles meles), hare (Lepus europaeus) , European wild cat (Felis libyca), axis deer in woodlands, rock squirrel, common field mouse, social vole (Microtus socialis) various snakes, various birds, such as pheasant, partridge, pigeon and others live in the region. Many raptors, including short-toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus), pallid har- rier (Circus macrourus) and kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) frequent the area with sev- eral species nesting on high mountainous areas. Flocks of migrant birds include little bustard (Tetrax tetrax), rock dove (Columba livia) and black-bellied sand grouse (Pterocles orientalis). The newly established Shahdag National Park and Pirgulu State Reserve within its boundaries are located approximately 15-20 km north of the project area, in the middle of the high mountainous reaches of the Pirsaat River basin. The Pirgulu State Natural Reserve was established on an area of 1,521 hectares in 1968 for pro- tecting mountain forests, herbage of different kinds, fertile soil and expanding forest areas. The project area is located 1000-1500m below these areas at much lower altitudes and therefore has no potential to affect the integrity of the protected areas. The project site is dominated by the town of Shamakhi, which continues to expand in several directions up the rolling hills, where individual houses are progressively built, connected to the rest of the town by roads and tracks. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project v The immediate environs of the town are typically hillsides which are subject to con- siderable degradation by a combination of garbage and building waste disposal, ma- terial borrowing and extensive and intensive livestock grazing, especially by sheep. The lower lying areas into the Pirsaat River are also affected by waste disposal and extraction of alluvial gravels for construction. The route of the water main from the new intake area to the new pumping station is of low ecological value, as it is heavily disturbed and intensively grazed by sheep. The pipeline route towards the new reservoirs above Shamakhi is also heavily grazed and disturbed ground, which has an existing pipeline and a track along it. The areas for the reservoirs all lie in hilly areas that are heavily grazed by livestock and have typical hardy grasses and herbs that can tolerate heavy grazing. The sur- rounding hillsides support many small mammals, such as voles, as well as fox and large raptures are a common sight, hunting overhead and also scavenging on sheep carcases. The only big river around Shamakhi town is the Pirsaat River, which flows in a wide, braided (several channels that vary during the year) river valley, dominated by ex- posed alluvial gravels. It starts from west of the Great Caucasus Mountain Range, slopes of Babadagh peak and flows into the Caspian Sea. The total area of the river basin is 2280 km², and the average perennial flow rate is 6.9m³/sec. The perennial flow rate near Shamakhi town is 4.17m³/sec or 116 million m³. Rain, snow and groundwaters form the river flow. There is no certain regularity in the river regime. Intensive rains in any season of a year cause flooding in the river, predominantly due to the lack of riparian forests along the river course and nonporous rocks in the floodplain. An estimated 14% of the flow comes from snow melt, 70% from rain sur- face runoff and 16% from groundwater exposure, as the river channels represent exposed groundwater in this unconfined aquifer. Large lengths of the river dry up completely, as groundwater flows recede in the late summer/ autumn periods prior to the rain and the snow melt of spring. The total area of the region is 1610 km2 and population is 88,500, 29,600 of which live in Shamakhi town and will be supplied with water and wastewater treatment. Shamakhi region is located in the east of Azerbaijan, 118 km from Baku, on the south-east slopes of the Great Caucasus Mountain Range. Due to the region having a favourable natural-geographical position it is one of the most ancient human set- tlements not only in Azerbaijan, but also in the whole South Caucasus region. The region borders Gobustan, Davachi, Guba, Ismayilli, Aghsu and Hajiqabul regions. Shamakhi administrative region was formed on August 8, 1930. There is 1 town (Shamakhi), 3 townships (Shahriyar, Madrasa and Sabir) and 46 rural municipalities in the region. There are 372 members of local municipalities. Many of the municipali- ties have actively participated in solving social and economic problems of their local communities. The main economic activity in the Shamakhi region, which is the part of the Moun- tainous Shirvan economic region, is specialized agriculture and animal husbandry. Cereal and grape production, cattle and sheep-breeding and honey production are well developed agriculture sectors. There are a small number of project affected people (PAP), as follows: C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project vi · An employee of AZERSU, who lives part of the year with his family along the pipeline route to the pumping station, within land that is part of the sanitary pro- tection zone for the water supply · A resident of the town that travels to an area within the current sanitary protec- tion zone and cultivates a small field, which will not be directly affected by the new pipeline from the boreholes, but lies within the sanitary zone and will there- fore not be accessible in future. He currently rents this land to farm here and the RPF as agreed with AZERSU will see him offered alternative land, so he is not disadvantaged. Shamakhi is one of the ancient historic towns of Azerbaijan. The name of the town was first mentioned in works of the ancient Greek geographer Ptolomey as "Shamakheya" and "Kemakheya" and later extensive information about the town was provided in antique works of different Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Russian and middle century European authors. The area still has several historic monuments and buildings, but none are known from the vicinity of the proposed works. Environmental impacts and mitigation Introduction This section of the report presents the potential environmental impacts and mitiga- tion associated with construction and operation of the water and sanitation project and is based on ,,superimposing the project components onto the baseline compiled during the various studies, which include the FS and the individual EIA report for the Shamakhi scheme. Mechanisms for implementing the mitigation are presented in Section 7, EMP. Overall, the project is designed to be very beneficial to the residents of Shamakhi, through provision of a reliable water supply and to bring benefits to both residents and the riverine environment due to discharge of treated wastewater, compared to todays untreated wastewater. Thus the majority of potential adverse impacts are associated with the disruption during construction of the infrastructure, especially the replacement piped water supply and sewer network within the town. Section 3 of the report provides a description of environmental baseline conditions in the project area. This baseline knowledge permits identification of environmental parameters that may be affected by the proposed project. The potential positive and negative changes resulting from the Project activities are predicted for the project area during the construction phase and into operations. These predicted changes (impacts) are then evaluated using a significance ranking. An outline of the impact assessment procedure is as follows: · Identification of the baseline receptors; · Identification of the key project activities; · Impact evaluation; and significance ranking. During the EIA study no data were available regarding the water quality of the un- treated wastewater discharges and the receiving waters. Thus the effects of chang- ing from untreated to treated wastewater discharges cannot be predicted and quan- tified and are thus rather generic in nature. However the project is fully compliant with the precautionary principle and is of significant environmental benefit as it will remove large volumes of untreated wastewater currently discharged to the river sys- C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project vii tem, replacing them with EU compliant discharges that can also be used for agricul- tural irrigation downstream. Soil and water Spills of fuel, oil and other liquids have the potential to cause contamination of soil and groundwater. The Contractor shall implement measures to contain such spills and avoid contamination as much as possible. However, it is possible that some contamination may occur and the Contractor will be required to implement remedia- tion measures in accordance with project and MENR requirements. Fuel and oil storage tanks will not be located within 50m of any watercourse, well or dry river bed. Wherever possible, refuelling and maintenance of mobile plant within 50m of all watercourses/water bodies, dry riverbeds and within designated wetlands and aquifers will be prohibited. All tanks will be either double-skinned design and / or placed in a bund of at least 110% of the tanks maximum capacity. If more than one tank is stored within the bund, the system must be capable of storing 110% of the biggest containers capac- ity or 25% of their total capacity, whichever is greater. The bund will be impermeable (e.g. concrete-lined and painted with epoxy), without drainage points or other breaches. In the case of any uncertainty, this clause supersedes any other require- ment specified elsewhere. The area is susceptible to surface erosion, especially after heavy rain, therefore ef- forts will be made to reduce the potential for soil erosion during construction activi- ties. Temporary berms will be constructed where necessary to control any run-off to prevents rills or gulleys forming or soil wash out to surface water features. Correct groundworks and compaction will be specified in the contract documentation to pre- vent soil erosion. The contractor is also required to design a reinstatement plan. Waste Inert, solid waste (metals, asphalt chunks, rocks, concrete, gravel, sand etc.) will be generated during drilling wells and pipeline installation operations. The replacement and installation of water distribution pipes in the town will include removal of asphalt surface and importation of suitable padding and backfill (eg sand) as well as backfill- ing using suitable excavated material. Repair of paved roads and walkways and as- phalt surfaces will also be required. Solid wastes generated in construction sites and during the construction of pipelines and sewer drains will be transported by the construction contractor. Transportation and disposal of such waste will be agreed with local executive authority and regional department of MENR, as necessary. Social and community A construction yard (no worker accommodation) will be created to the south-west of Shamakhi town, near the existing pumping station for laydown of plant and material, maintenance of machinery and prefabrication of infrastructure components. The main effects on the local community during construction are associated with the considerable disruption that the works will have within the town through excavation of defunct infrastructure and installation of new water mains and sewer pipes in the roads and connection of water supply pipes and water meters to individual proper- C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project viii ties. The proximity of the works to residents also raises the issue of health and safety, as well as traffic disruption and interference with access to houses, work places and public buildings such as hospitals and schools. Another area of potential concern is contamination and possible disease spread to residents (and workers) caused by exposure to untreated wastewater during exca- vation and replacement of the sewer network. The potential resettlement issues have been addressed in a separate Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) that has been developed for the project. In summary, the two households that are affected by loss of access to farm land will be compensated by additional lands as alternatives, as agreed with AZERSU. Safety at the work site, both for workers and residents has been discussed at length with AZERSU, who will ensure that contractors develop and implement safe working practices. At project induction stage the construction contractor will train its person- nel on safety, environment and quality control, as well as implementation of all the safety rules. Works will be guided by existing laws, sanitary rules and AZERSU work manuals. Analysis of alternatives Introduction This section presents the alternatives that were considered for the project, which includes the do-nothing option, in accordance with World Bank Policy and best prac- tice. Three main alternatives were considered, namely do-nothing, water supply only; and the preferred scheme. There were some alternative aspects within the wa- ter supply source considerations and these have been presented in this EIA report within the water supply only option. One of the key objectives in an EIA report is to analyse the environmental implica- tions of each viable option and then compare the options to evaluate their environ- mental performance, which feeds into overall project design, along with cost-benefit and other factors. In this case however, there is a general absence of site specific data on aspects such as the existing quality of wastewater discharges and their cur- rent effect on the environment. This is due to a lack of routine environmental moni- toring by authorities and it should also be noted that many discharges from house- holds are not formalised, as only approximately 30% of Shamakhi is covered by the sewer network. This makes it unfeasible to compare the quantified environmental effects of the ,,water supply only option with that of the ,,water supply and sanitation option. This is because more wastewater will be generated by supplying water 24 hours per day, but it is not possible to predict where that wastewater will end up, as many households are not connected to the sewer and the network has chronic leak- age. Do-nothing option The do nothing option would see continuation of an inefficient and unreliable, often poor quality water supply system, which delivers only for around 2 hours per day. The wastewater collection system of sewer collectors serves only a part of the town and even then it suffers from chronic leakage. This bad situation is compounded by the discharge of raw wastewater into the river network, due to the defunct WWT C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project ix plant, that never performed due to its incomplete state when handed over to the town. The socially and environmentally damaging situation in and around Shamakhi town will be further exacerbated as the dilapidated infrastructure continues to deteriorate, as piece-meal maintenance is ineffective. Water supply only option Under this option only the potable water infrastructure will be improved, including new water abstractions and a new piped supply covering the town and its surround- ing areas. The groundwater source under the Pirsaat River will be used, which has been calcu- lated from hydrological and hydrogeological studies in 2009 to have no significant adverse environmental effects. The centralized water supply system coverage is currently only around 60-70% of the towns population and will be expanded to 100% coverage under this option. Water losses will be reduced and flow-meters installed as part of the project will help to save water, and accordingly electricity, and payments by people and organiza- tions will increase. A continuous supply of quality water will affect public health posi- tively and reduce the risk of infection. Potential options for water sources were considered, including surface water from the Pirsaat; groundwater and springs higher up in the catchment; or continuing to use groundwater from the Pirsaat floodplain. In view of land ownership and technical constraints higher elevation sources are unfeasible and surface water use would be constrained by supply and quality issues, hence the decision was taken to continue to use the existing water source. This groundwater source from the Pirsaat would therefore be constant for the ,,water supply only option and the ,,preferred scheme. However, the wastewater which is in effect untreated will continue to be discharged to the environment. This scenario will further significantly exacerbate the already environmentally damaging situation, as increased water usage will increase the dis- charge of untreated wastewater. This presents the risk of infection to people and livestock located downstream of the discharge point. Furthermore, the increased volumes and flows in the damaged sewer network will result in increased leakage and flooding of raw wastewater to the streets, none of which will be conducive to economic expansion and development in the area. Preferred option This option includes total reconstruction of the water supply and sewer systems as well as supplying water to the nearby village of Sabir town, as described in section 1 of this report. The preferred scheme will involve a continuous supply of high quality drinking water to the residents of Shamakhi and the surrounding villages. Water losses will be within accepted standards, flow-meters will help to use water economically, pay- ments by people and organizations will increase and power will be saved accord- ingly. A continuous supply of quality water (compliant to the EU Drinking Water Di- rective (98/83/EC) and wastewater treatment to EU UWWT Directive standards will affect public health positively and remove the risk of water borne infections. This scheme is assessed in detail in the following report. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project x Public consultation Consultations with relevant Governmental organisations and the public are an im- portant component of the EIA process. They often provide valuable insight in to the Project Area and act as a source of guidance in the scoping of the EIA study, ensur- ing that all the appropriate issues are addressed and that official organisations are in agreement to the scope of the study. According to the Azerbaijan Environmental Protection Law, consultations with local communities and NGOs must be conducted and their participation should be pro- vided in all stages of project implementation. The national legislation includes for public consultation at the stage of drafting the ToR for the EIA study and then again once the draft EIA report has been prepared. This approach was followed by the project and public consultations were held in 2008, to discuss the project as a whole, during preparation of the FS studies for the individual schemes. Further public consultations were conducted for the Shamakhi scheme on August 14, 2009 in Shamakhi town (see Annex 4). Representatives of local communities affected by the project and NGOs were invited to attend the consultations. Azerbaijan has joined the Convention on Access to Envi- ronmental Information, Public Participation in Decision Making Process and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus, Denmark, 1998) in 1999. The results of the public consultation showed that people viewed the project as very beneficial to the community and environment alike. Many people were interested in the degree of wastewater treatment and its environmental effects and potential us- age, ie would it be suitable for downstream irrigation etc. The design of the project has been to comply with the EU drinking water and wastewater treatment Directives and as such there were no changes to project design resulting from any require- ments or suggestions made during the public consultations. Drinking water sources analysed were compliant to the drinking water standard (following chlorination) and the treated wastewater will be discharged to the Zagalov River (a Pirsaat tributary). In discussions between the Bank and AZERSU, it was agreed to hold additional public consultations and press releases will be disclosed at all stages of the project implementation in compliance with Azerbaijani laws on NGOs and Media, as well as World Bank Policy on Disclosure of Information. Information about the project will also be disclosed on internet sites of AZERSU (www.azersu.az) and Caucasus En- vironmental NGO Network (CENN). In addition, public meetings in the town will be held prior to the start of construction to discuss issues such as traffic disruption, ac- cess arrangements and health and safety. Environmental Management Plan This section of the report presents an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for the Shamakhi scheme, which outlines the management mechanisms (i.e. working arrangements) for how the environmental and social elements of the project will be managed from detailed design and construction through operation. The purpose of the EMP is to ensure that any potentially negative environmental impacts during construction and operation are kept at an acceptable level. It sets out to ensure that all aspects of the works comply with the relevant legislation, licence conditions and good practice, and that measures to mitigate impacts identified in the EIA are implemented. The EMP implements appropriate environmental controls and monitoring procedures during construction and after the work is completed. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project xi The EMP contains environmental requirements which are required for the success- ful implementation of mitigation measures, environmental monitoring, emergency measures and environmental auditing to be carried out during the construction works on the site. The implementation of mitigation measures and emergency measures shall be the responsibility of the Contractor. He shall ensure compliance with all environmental legislation, regulations and conventions. The responsibility for environmental monitoring lies with the AZERSU and the World Bank. The Contractor will be contractually required to conform to the requirements speci- fied in the EIA and EMP and will be accountable to AZERSU, as the client, through its Project Implementation Unit (PIU). As the contract for the project has already been tendered, a Variation Order will be issued for these additional requirements, namely compliance to the findings of the EIA and the EMP. It is recommended (as agreed with AZERSU) that the PIU is supported in achieving project environmental and social safeguard objectives by support from a local envi- ronmental consultant. The precise details have not yet been determined, but the consultant will advise and support the PIU in implementation of the EIA standards during construction and into operation. There are several mechanisms of ensuring delivery during construction of both gen- eral and site specific mitigation developed in EIAs. One mechanism involves requir- ing the Contractor to further develop the outline requirements in an EMP by design- ing individual Management Plans (MPs), such as oil and fuel storage, waste man- agement, traffic management and pollution prevention. This approach is favoured for the project, as it encourages early evaluation of these aspects by the contractor and he produces a set of MPs that can be checked and verified on site and are au- ditable through the monitoring process. Table 7-1 outlines the content of the MPs to be produced by the contractor and their development will be assisted by the Envi- ronmental Consultant from AZERSU PIU, in conjunction with Bank Environmental staff in Baku. This approach for each individual scheme will benefit from oversight by the PIU to form a set of environmental requirements applicable to the project as a whole, which will ensure compliance of the work to both national and Bank standards. Such measures will be mandated in the bidding and contract documents, so that an over- all good standard of work is achieved. This approach also has benefits of institu- tional capacity training, as the knowledge and capability of AZERSU will be ex- tended to effective environmental management and as each scheme comes on stream the PIU will benefit from knowledge gained on previous schemes. A tabulated summary of the environmental management is presented in Table 7-2 of the main report and a brief summary of key aspects is presented below. Construction aspects Aspect Mitigation Responsibil- Monitoring ity Noise, vibration and Consultation with residents. Adherence Contractor AZERSU general disturbance to agreed working hours and project C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project xii Aspect Mitigation Responsibil- Monitoring ity and disruption to standards; use of mitigation techniques residents such as screens and good mainte- nance. Development and implementa- tion of traffic management plan. Health and safety of Adherence to project standards, good Contractor AZERSU residents and work- signage, ongoing consultation with ers residents, including schools. All work- ers to use appropriate PPE and be trained at project induction. Safety fencing provided. Soil and water pol- Project standards applied, including oil Contractor AZERSU lution and fuel storage and management. Clean-up and emergency planning procedures developed and imple- mented. Wastewater con- Project standards applied, including Contractor AZERSU tamination safe removal of wastewater during renovation works, use of appropriate PPE by workers and ongoing liaison with residents and fencing off contami- nated areas. Dust and nuisance Project standards applied, including Contractor AZERSU from material deliv- traffic speed restrictions, agreed timing ery and transport and routes and material covered and ongoing liaison with residents. Soil erosion and Project standards applied, including Contractor AZERSU habitat reinstate- soil erosion prevention by good soil ment practice and drainage control. Good soil conservation measures and effec- tive reins to prevent future erosion and soil loss. Imported material Project standards applied including Contractor AZERSU purchase of materials for licensed sources; no unauthorised borrowing of material. Archaeological pro- Adherence to agreed measures for any Contractor AZERSU tection late finds Resettlement as- Adherence to agreed RPF, which in- AZERSU World Bank pects cludes provision of replacement lands for lost access to plot of arable land. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project xiii The above mitigation will be monitored by regular inspections by the contractor su- pervisors and the PIU of AZERSU and supplemented by supervision inspections by Bank staff. Operational aspects There are few mitigating measures required during the operation of the water and sanitation works, however the safe disposal and preferably effective use of the gen- erated sludge will need to be arranged between AZERSU and the Ministry of Ecol- ogy and Natural Resources (MENR). This is typically an issue without significant ad- verse environmental effects, as throughout Europe in compliance with the EU UWWT Directive, sludge is routinely processed to render it a useful soil additive or source of composting material. Whilst the WWTW has not yet been subject to de- tailed design, the design philosophy is already fixed with the objective of producing a compliant sludge and therefore the infrastructure will be provided for such an opera- tion. theoretically, an option exists simply to dispose of sludge in a landfill, but this will not be in keeping with the objectives of the EU UWWT Directive, which encour- ages recycling of the sludge bio-matter. AZERSU as the operator of the WWT works will be required to conduct monitoring of the quality of the treated wastewater discharged, as well as that of the sludge generated, to ensure compliance to the design standards. The discharge monitoring has been developed to include downstream quality measurements, from which it will also be possible to evaluate some of the environmental benefits of the project, as hopefully the aquatic habitats will return to their previously unpolluted state. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 1 1 Introduction 1.1 Project background and objectives Shamakhi region is located in the east of Azerbaijan, 118 km from Baku on the south-east slopes of the Great Caucasus Mountain Range (Figure 1-1). The total area of the region is 1610 km2 and the population is 88,500 of which 29,600 live in Shamakhi town and will benefit from the project. The water supply and sewer system in Azerbaijan is characterized by old, damaged and largely dysfunctional infrastructure and is financial constrained and poorly oper- ated. This results in the level and the quality of the water supply and wastewater treatment (WWT) services especially in small towns being significantly degraded. Water shortage and the use of dirty water for drinking have negatively affected health and welfare of the population accordingly. Uncontrolled flow of wastewaters to non-designated areas has promoted the spread of various infections and caused environmental pollution. To address this dire situation, the Government of Azerbaijan (GoA) and the World Bank are currently planning the implementation of infrastructure projects for water supply and WWT in small towns and regions. Commencing in 2007, the Govern- ment of Azerbaijan started to develop projects for reconstruction and development of water supply and sewer system in 22 rayon centres with the World Bank within the framework of the "National Water Supply and Sanitation Project". One of these regions is Shamakhi. Thus the main objective of the project is to provide a safe, reliable water supply and an associated efficient wastewater treatment system which complies with both na- tional and EU1 discharge standards. 1 Discussions during project preparation with the World Bank lead to agreement to apply EU Urban WWT Directive discharge standards. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 2 Figure 1-1 Location of Shamakhi 1.1.1 Purpose of this report This report presents an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the project in Shamakhi. The EIA identifies potential impacts on the natural environment and the social situation in Shamakhi region during construction and operation of the project. Where potential adverse effects are predicted, mitigation has been developed and its implementation is presented in an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) and Environmental Monitoring Plan (EMP). This project has been identified as a Category A project in the World Bank classifi- cation for EIA (OP/BP4.01). This requires an EIA report and an Environmental Man- agement Plan. Moreover, public consultations are required to discuss the project and the proposed environmental management plan. A detailed description of the project is presented below in section 1.3. 1.1.2 Existing organisations for water supply and sanitation Construction and maintenance of water supply and sanitation systems in Azerbaijan is managed by AzerSu Open Joint Stock Company (AZERSU) and its relevant de- partments. Shares and facilities used by this company belong to the Government. In C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 3 general all its assets are controlled by the State Committee on Management of State Assets. The administrative structure of water supply and sanitation system comprises four levels, with the Cabinet of Ministers at the top; AZERSU joint Stock Company; "Joint SuKanal" Limited Liability Company (LLC) responsible for water supply and sanita- tion (WSS) in small towns and rural settlements; and finally local SuCanals at the bottom which report directly to Joint SuCanal. AZERSU is a financially independent body which receives no subsidy from senior bodies. Its main revenues are from water fees it receives from consumers. 1.2 Structure of Report The scope and contents of the EIA have been designed to be compliant with the op- erational policy and procedure of the World Bank (WB OP/BP 4.01). Following the criteria of the Bank for categorization of projects based on their potential environ- mental impacts, this project has been determined as category A, due to the potential overall environmental effects. This EIA report includes the following sections: 1. Introduction and project description; 2. Policy, legal and administrative framework; 3. Baseline data; 4. Environmental Impact; 5. Analysis of alternatives; 6. Public Consultations 7. Environmental Management Plan ­ EMP; Annexes . Following an introduction and description of the project as presented in section 1, an outline of the policy, legal and administrative framework is presented in section 2. Presentation of the current state of the environment in the project area is presented in section 3. Description of project environmental impacts, which includes analysis of cumulative project impacts are presented in section 4. This section assesses the potential im- pacts of the projects construction and operation on the local environment. The stud- ies cover: geology and soils; surface and groundwater; air and climate; noise; ecol- ogy; social and cultural heritage. Measures to avoid or mitigate adverse environmental impacts identified in the pre- ceding sections are summarised in the EMP and monitoring plan in section 7. 1.3 Description of the project 1.3.1 Purpose A technical-economic assessment of the project (Feasibility Study) was developed by ASPI Company in 20072. Studies on the detailed design are currently ongoing 2 Water Supply and Sanitation Development Project in Small Towns. Feasibility Study. Shamakhi Town. Volume 1. May, 2007. ASPI C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 4 through December 2009, as are discussions with Bank staff. The main goal of the project is to replace all useless equipment and the pipeline system currently used for the water supply and sewer system in Shamakhi town with new ones and to ensure their long-term and sustainable operation. Project activities cover the following stra- tegic issues: · To provide a reliable water supply to all consumers in the project area; · To supply sufficient volume of water to all consumers, based on their needs; · To regulate the pressure so that water is supplied to every consumer. The main management components for achieving the above are the following: · Control of the losses in the water supply system; · Distribution of water within the town network, based on the demand; · Production of sufficient volume and good quality of water. Ground and artesian waters are planned to be used as the source of water in the project. Construction of a new wastewater treatment plant and sewerage system covering all parts of the town, as well as prevention of discharging sewage to sur- face water bodies are some of the most important elements of the project. Recognising the differences in the new technology of the project network, a training and equipment package is included in the project. Relevant staff from AZERSU will be trained in the necessary aspects for effective operation of the water and sanita- tion service. Operationally-essential equipment will be included in the project, to en- able sustainable operation of assets and delivery of an effective service to custom- ers. The training requirements and training modules are currently being developed in discussions between the World Bank and AZERSU. The Shamakhi scheme has been advanced from the FS by a detailed design stage for the water supply component, which is nearing completion. The wastewater treatment component has not yet been subject to detailed design and this will be undertaken later. For the national project this is the case for 6 rayons, whilst the re- maining rayons will be progressed by a Design and Build contracting process. 1.3.2 Design studies Following the FS completed in 2007, the Shamakhi scheme was further developed by AZERSU and its consultants and additional investigations were undertaken as part of the design works. "Hydrogeological and hydrological investigations" by ZEMF Company in 2009 and "additional hydrogeological investigations" also by ,,ZEMF Company in 2009 were undertaken. These studies included: · evaluation of the existing groundwater abstractions for the current water supply system · investigations into the quality and flow parameters as sources of water for the scheme · investigations of the geological conditions in the area and that of the floodplain · calculations of the water resources of the floodplain, both surface and ground- water, using historical and current data from recording stations and computation correlation for missing data C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 5 · calculations of the amount of water that can be abstracted from the designed infiltration gallery infrastructure and the volume that can be abstracted without causing adverse effects · installation of boreholes in the Pirsaat River floodplain and carrying out of draw- down tests to investigate the unconfined aquifer · geological investigations of the areas to be used to construct infrastructure for the project, including the administrative buildings, water intake areas and the reservoirs The studies concluded that: · 153.7 l/s can be abstracted from a horizontal infiltration arrangement of 2000m, compared to a predicted (year 2027) water demand of 113 l/s based on 120 li- tres per capita per day, allowing for industrial, other water demands and unac- counted for losses. · a total of 153.7 l/s could be abstracted from this 2km area as a sustainable source, without having adverse effects on the water resources or ecosystem. · the mean perennial discharge of the Pirsaat River was over 3 m3/sec · the surface and groundwaters of the floodplain are connected and it also calcu- lated the infiltration rates as part of the water resource calculations The studies also supported the validity of the earlier approval from the State Com- mission of Resources in 1980 for the ongoing use of the groundwater from the Pir- saat for future demands of Shamakhi. The terms of reference for the national project include for provision of water along the main route of supply to the rayon centres. In the case of Shamakhi there is only one village nearby, Sabir. The FS envisaged a configuration of pipelines and refur- bishment of the existing pumping station, but during the detailed design the decision was taken to refurbish the existing pumping station and use it to supply Sabir, whilst a new pumping station will supply Shamakhi via a shorter pipeline route to four new reservoirs above the town. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 6 Figure 1-2 General Layout of Shamakhi Project (water) C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 7 Figure 1-3 Overview of project features C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 8 Figure 1-4 Location of WWT works C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 9 1.3.3 Existing water supply The water supply system of Shamakhi town was constructed during the period 1950-1980. Springs via a well located in Chukhuryurd village, and infiltrated groundwater under the Pirsaat River are used as water sources (see Figure 1-2). The volume of potable water supplied to the town is 93 l/sec. or 8000 m 3. Seven covered water storage reservoirs regulate the pressure in 3 zones in the town. These are 2 500 m3, 1 200 m3, 1 80 m3, 1 70 m3, 1 60 m3 and 1 50 m3 reinforced concrete and brick reservoirs. Feeder lines and valves of the reservoir facilities are in very poor condition. The exact area and number of people covered by each reservoir are unknown. Potable water is supplied to people for only 2 hours during a day. Figure 1-5 Water storage facilities at Shamakhi, Pirsaat River 1.3.4 Wastewater treatment system The wastewater system in Shamakhi town consists of sewage collectors and inter- ceptors and a waste water treatment plant was built, but was never completed in the 1980s. The main collectors are 6 km and the length of the sewers is 25 km. The WWT plant is completely derelict (see Figure 1-4, Figure 1-6 and photos in An- nex 2) and is currently bypassed by the wastewater. It was found that the facility did not have the capacity to serve the town and was handed over for operation in an incomplete state. It can be assumed that the maximum capacity of the facility is 1000 m3/day, which is insufficient for the towns needs. The existing WWT plant cannot be used in the future project and it is necessary to build a new plant for full biological treatment with appropriate capacity, as per the design objectives (see sec- tion 5.4). C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 10 Figure 1-6 Part of derelict WWT works 1.3.5 Design factors for water supply This section discusses the design factors for water supply and should be read in conjunction with section 5.3, which describes the water supply options for the scheme as a whole. There are no sizeable potable surface water sources near Shamakhi town and hence ground waters are used for supplying drinking water to the town. Pirsaat River is the only big water source flowing through the north and east of the town. The river is in the spring/autumn flood-fed rivers category, and it completely dries out around Shamakhi town during the summer season. The turbidity of water in the Pirsaat River varies greatly, therefore if its surface water was to be used for drinking purposes, then the construction of a multi-year dam with appropriate capacity and location would be required. There are many small springs in mountainous areas of the region, 1200 ­ 1700 m above sea level. As problems would be expected in accumulating water from so many small springs spread across such a wide area, there would be problems in using them as a water source for a centralized water supply system. Recently spring waters do not reach the town and are consumed by villages and tourist centres along the way to Chukhuryurd village. In early 2009 AZERSU engaged (ISO certified) consultants to undertake a water quality investigation of the water sources that are to be exploited for this national water supply project. The sampling and laboratory analysis followed certified sam- pling and analysis protocols and compared the results against the EU Drinking Wa- ter Directive (98/83/EC); World Health Organisation (WHO); US EPA; and GOST standards. The results showed generally very good compliance of the Shamakhi source against the standards of the EU Directive ,,on the quality of water intended for human con- sumption (98/83/EC), but with non-compliant microbiological samples, for which chlorination of the supply will be required. Chlorination is routinely supplied to drink- ing water supplies throughout the world to provide ,,within system disinfection, i.e. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 11 even if the source water is compliant to bacteriological standards, the residual chlo- rine in the supply network provides disinfection of any bacteria that may enter the system, for example during repair work. The levels are generally low and do not have an adverse effect on the ultimate efficiency of the wastewater treatment sys- tem or its subsequent discharged effluent. High mountainous areas of Shamakhi region are used as pasture by farmers of neighbouring regions. Extensive camps for livestock are established here during the spring/summer season posing a risk of bacteriological and epizootic pollution of any spring water sources close to surface. Groundwater resources of the Pirsaat River floodplain will be used as the water source for Shamakhi town water supply system, following study of alternatives and the engineering and hydrogeological studies of 2009. The water supply system proposed includes the following: · Pirsaat River groundwater abstraction; · Central pumping station; · Continued use of existing pumping station to supply Sabir village; · Transmission main to new pumping station and to new reservoirs; · New reservoirs above Shamakhi town; and · Distribution network within the town. The project area covers Shamakhi town itself and Sabir village located on the right bank of the Pirsaat River, on the Baku-Shamakhi Highway. According to the terms of the project, the water demand of Sabir village is included in the total water bal- ance. The design of the water supply system has been developed for the 20 year horizon. The population forecast for 2027 is Shamakhi 40,800 and Sabir 5,300 and the water demands include domestic consumption of 120l/s and commercial, indus- trial and unaccounted for water of 15%. The engineering studies concluded that a total of 153.7 l/s could be abstracted from this 2km area as a sustainable source, without having adverse effects on the water resources or ecosystem. Figure 1-7 View of well field, water source C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 12 The water supply system includes the following: Water collection and distribution: · A new well field will be installed with wells 50m distance from each other, typi- cally 6-9m deep into the alluvial gravels. The well field is 75ha in total, 45.5 ex- cluding the river surface area and it will be fenced as a sanitary protection zone. Investigations and surveys by AZERSU indicate that no-one uses the area to be fenced off. · Two new HDPE pipelines (flow capacity of 120 l/s), totalling 4.4 km will run from the water wells, in the direction of river flow along the right bank of the river to the new pump station. Pressure lines from the wells join the pipeline, which will transfer water by gravity to the new pumping station (PS), higher upstream than the existing PS. · The mains pipelines are shown on Figure 1-2 and include diameters of 300 mm OD and 400 mm OD. Plastic pipes (HDPE) will be used in the project due to their low coefficient of friction compared to steel or asbestos cement pipes. There are also other advantages such as their maintenance and repair and their greater tolerance to tectonic movement, which may prove useful as the area is a known seismic zone. · The existing steel pipeline from the abstraction to the existing PS will be in- spected and refurbished as required. Main Pumping Station: · This new pumping station is for pumping water from the Pirsaat River water source to the Shamakhi town distribution network. · It is planned to replace the old water storage in the existing pumping station with new ones and completely reconstruct the pump station building keeping the foundation. A separate building (storage area for chlorine containers, chlorina- tion equipment room, ventilation system and etc.) will be constructed for the chlorination unit within the pumping station area. The new PS will cover Shamakhi and the existing PS will be used to supply Sabir village. · Power equipment (entrance and exit lines, transformers and power distribution equipment) will be located in the same building with pump station; · The new PS will have four pumps of 50l/s capacity (1 is the standby). Water distribution network: Delivery of potable water to consumers will be achieved through a new piped net- work. The main features of the towns network are: · A new steel pipeline will link the new PS with the new reservoirs above the town; · The water distribution network should be piped (preference is HDPE) to mini- mise interruptions in supply and reduce leakage; · The network must satisfy fire fighting requirements and thus be a minimum di- ameter of 100 mm; · Maximum static pressure in water distribution mains is 6 bar; · Road layout: single pipe on one side of the road to be placed in roads with a width of less than 15 m, two pipes (one on each side) to be placed in roads wider than 15 m and in the roads having a median strip; C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 13 · Washouts shall be located at each low point of the pipeline, at locations near creeks and min. every 2-3 km for operation, repair and maintenance purposes; · Air release valves shall be located at each high point of the pipeline and min. every 2-3 km for operation, repair and maintenance purposes; · Pressure maintenance scheme in water distribution network has been deter- mined based on relief of the area, and it is at the minimum power consumption level. · The existing PS will be refurbished to supply Sabir village. 1.3.6 Design factors for wastewater treatment As referenced earlier the detailed design for wastewater has not yet been under- taken. Waste water treatment infrastructure will consist of refurbishment, repair and extension of the sewer network, sanitary household connections, sewage collectors and interceptors, and a new waste water treatment plant. About 30% of the current area of Shamakhi town is sewered, with many of the main streets having sewer pipes buried along the centre line. However, the network con- structed from asbestos-concrete pipes which are joined without effective seals re- sulting in significant leakage, which creates the potential of sewage flowing into streets. In order to avoid such risks a new sewerage system is planned. The waste waters generated in town will be conveyed to the new wastewater treat- ment facility (at the existing site) by an interceptor. The wastewater produced in Shamakhi town will be domestic and industrial close to the composition of domestic waste waters, due to the lack of heavy industry in the area. Discussions are ongoing regarding the treatment of the final effluent, as under the Soviet system, chlorination of effluent (for disinfection) was the norm and this was of course advocated by AZERSU et al. However, disinfection is not the norm in Europe and in fact the addition of chlorine is a biological hazard to the aquatic eco- systems to which the effluent will be discharged. It would be preferable to use ultra- violet (UV) radiation or rely on natural exposure to UV to reduce bacteria loadings in the final effluent. This EIA therefore strongly recommends that UV sterilisation is provided and not chlorination of the effluent. This recommendation has already been passed to AZERSU. Waste waters will be treated in accordance with the requirements given in Annex 3, specifically compliant to the requirements of the EU UWWT Directive (91/271/EEC). This Directive specifies the approach to the collection and treatment of urban wastewater for various population equivalents and advocates standards of treatment and discharge for a p.e. (population equivalent) of >15,000, which is the case for Shamakhi. 1 p.e. is expressed as the organic biodegradable load having a five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) of 60g of oxygen per day. The treatment standards are given in Annex 3 and the key parameters are given below in Table 1-1. Table 1-1 Key discharge parameters for UWWT Directive Parameter Concentration Minimum % tage reduction BOD5 25 mg/l O2 70-90 Chemical oxygen demand (COD) 125 mg/l O2 75 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 14 Parameter Concentration Minimum % tage reduction Total suspended solids (TSS) 35mg/l 90 Azerbaijan plans to move towards harmonisation with many EU environmental qual- ity standards and in discussions with the World Bank the Government has agreed to adhere to the UWWT Directive standards. The cabinet of ministers has approved the application of these standards for the national project and has confirmed this in a letter to the Bank. The UWWT Directive also provides for enhanced treatment requirements for in the case where the receiving waters are considered as sensitive, i.e. prone to eutrophi- cation, if levels of nitrogen and phosphorus become elevated. The definition of sen- sitivity is specifically referenced in the Directive, as being waters that are sensitive to eutrophication, for which the discharge of ,,standard treated effluent may have ad- verse effect and therefore nutrient removal is warranted. Such considerations and the specific treatment and associated infrastructure would normally be determined as part of approximation of the Directive into national law of the Member State, however this is not the case here. Furthermore, it can be as- sumed that the receiving waters are not sensitive (i.e. prone to eutrophication) and indeed have been subject to discharge of untreated water for many years. Thus the standard levels of treatment advocated in the Directive shall apply (see Annex 3 for details). Even if the waters did (perhaps originally) support particular species or assem- blages, the degree of treatment provided for compliance to the EU UWWT Directive would remain the same i.e. EU wastewater treatment standards, as dilution of the effluent containing BOD5 of 25mg/l, COD of 125 mg/l and TSS of 35mg/l, would be unlikely to have an adverse effect. Put another way, the Directive establishes basic effluent treatment standards, unless the receiving waters are sensitive to eutrophica- tion, for which nutrient removal is justified (effluent to contain a maximum of total phosphorus 2mg/l and total nitrogen 15mg/l) and compliance to the Directive would be achieved for these ,,non-sensitive waters as specified in the Directive. The con- sideration of any other ,,sensitivities in the watercourse would be an issue between the Environmental Authorities who would issue the discharge consent and the op- erator of the treatment plant, but would be outside of the remit of compliance to the UWWT Directive, to which the project has agreed to use as the standard for waste- water treatment. Average daily volume (annually) of waste waters delivered to the WWT plant will be around 7000 m3. The wastewater produced in Shamakhi town will be domestic and industrial close to the composition of domestic waste waters, due to the lack of heavy industry in the area. The site of the existing (derelict) WWT plant can be used, as can the dis- charge arrangements to the Zagolov River. The effluent standards should be those specified in the EU UWWT Directive. In ad- dition, the sludge generated in the WWTW will be disposed of in accordance with the EU Directive, see Annex 3 for the standards and requirements. The UWWT Di- rective sets broad objectives with regard to the disposal of sludge per se, encourag- ing what it terms ,,recycling, stating that it should be re-used wherever possible and C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 15 strongly discouraging its disposal to surface waters. It goes on to say that the dis- posal of sludge should ensure protection of the environment As Shamakhi is a semi-rural catchment with no heavy industries discharging to the sewer network, the sludge should be suitable for disposal to agricultural lands, in accordance with the monitoring standard given in Annex 3. This Annex presents en- vironmental monitoring guidelines for sludge that is to be disposed of to agricultural land; taken from the Russian standards, which are based on those from WHO and FAO. As per the UWWT Directive, sludge recycling is to be encouraged and an ob- vious use is as a fertiliser and/or soil conditioner in agricultural land, however the disposal must not case environmental damage, through for example residual heavy metals or other harmful residuals. Catchments that include heavy industries or other potential polluting sources require either pre-treatment of industrial effluent or addi- tional sludge treatment to remove harmful residuals if the sludge is to be disposed of to agriculture. As has been cited earlier, the Shamakhi catchment if essentially semi- rural and is not expected to contain contaminants that would prevent the sludge from being recycled on agricultural lands. As the detailed design has yet to be un- dertaken, additional studies will be undertaken to check this assumption and routine monitoring of the incoming wastewater, the treated effluent and the generated sludge will be conducted to guide the sludge processing and disposal requirements. The site of the existing WWT works 3.5km down from Shamakhi occupies 1.5ha and an additional area of 8.5ha of un-used state land has already been acquired by AZERSU, to accommodate the larger works. The additional land was State Reserve (i.e. owned by the state) and there were no occupiers or users of the land, either legal or illegal. This was verified by Bank staff during several field visits to the site. 1.3.7 Preferred scheme summary Water supply · New boreholes for groundwater extraction in the Pirsaat River floodplain · New pipeline to pumping station · New pumping station · New pipelines (typically 200-300mm diameter) to feed new (buried, enclosed and fenced) reservoirs · New underground (covered) reservoirs for feeding gravity distribution zones · New distribution network in Shamakhi · Refurbishment of existing PS Wastewater treatment · Replacement of defunct WWT works with new works · Repair and improvement of sewer collection system using GRP · Extension of the sewer network to connect all premises and households 1.3.8 Construction aspects Prospective contractors are likely to be national or national in a joint venture with a foreign contracting company. The work force required for the works is not likely to be so large as to warrant a construction worker camp to house project workers and as such construction worker camps will not be required. Construction facilities (con- struction yard) for material and equipment laydown and maintenance will be re- C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 16 quired and will be securely fenced and controlled sites, to prevent unauthorised ac- cess by people or livestock. The pipe laying operations will require excavation of a trench to the required depth and width and then placement of padding (sand) on the trench base, before laying of the pipe. Once all connections of the pipe have been made, the trench area around the pipe is backfilled with suitable material (intimate padding), which should be ma- terial that will not to damage the pipe. Then the remainder of the trench will be back- filled using some of the excavated material. This operation will give rise to the need for imported sands, or finer grained material for at least the padding. Borrowing of material raises the issue of potential environmental impact and therefore this issue is addressed in the EMP, by requiring the Contractor to use licensed/approved sources, which has been made a contractual requirement. Bank staff will also con- duct environmental due diligence inspections of all material sources. The reinstatement of roads will also require new covering of asphalt, which is ex- pected to be purchased by the Contractor, as the volumes will probably not justify establishing an asphalt plant. There is an existing asphalt plant in Shamakhi. The need for prefabrication of building elements, such as walls may mean that the Con- tractor will establish a small concrete batching plant, but again the contractual re- quirement is for full compliance to the EMP to minimise adverse effects. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 17 2 Policy, legal and administrative framework 2.1 Relevant institutions 2.1.1 Government organizations The Azerbaijan Government is ultimately responsible for environmental protection. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources (MENR) is the central state institu- tion controlling the protection of the environment, through application of environ- mental rules and ensuring adherence to norms and standards. The National Hydrometeorology Department of MENR is responsible for registration and monitoring of surface water bodies and the Geological Department of MENR is assesses ground water resources. The State Melioration and Water Systems Agency is the responsible institution for use of water, exploitation of water storages, canals facilities and supply of irrigation water. Azersu JSC carries responsibility for water supply for people, houses, industrial and public entities and for operation of sewer and WWT systems. According to Article 42 of the Environmental Protection Law, EIA should be pre- pared by independent experts and submitted for public discussions. The document becomes effective after being approved by the State Ecological Examination (SEE), a department of MENR. MENR also approves Environmental Passports and issues licenses for management of hazardous wastes. The State Committee on Soil and Cartography regulates use of soil, and State Reg- istration of Real Estate Service carries out registration of real estate, including regis- tration of land owners. The Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) is the responsible institution for man- agement of natural disasters and industrial accidents. MES also controls the imple- mentation of safety rules in construction, mining and industry. The Ministry of Health is the state institution controlling the sanitarian- epidemiological situation in the country. The ministry also regulates health protection in work places. State Metrology and Standardization Service determines relevance of and quality and quantity standards for units of measurement, and carries out governmental pol- icy in this area. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 18 2.1.2 Non-Governmental organisations There are a range of environmental NGOs operating in Azerbaijan, with over 50 es- tablished in recent years, many motivated by the environmental contamination re- sulting from the oil industry, since Soviet times. Many of the NGOs are affiliated with the Caucasus Environmental Network, which receives support from the international community, including Eurasia Foundation, USAID, UNDP and the World Bank. Several NGOs participated in the public consul- tations for this project. 2.2 Environmental Laws and Regulations 2.2.1 World Bank Safeguard Policies The World Bank requires an environmental assessment (EA) of projects proposed for Bank financing to help ensure that they are environmentally sound and sustain- able (OP 4.01). Whilst the objectives of the project include provision of a safe, reliable, potable water supply and vastly improved treatment of wastewater, the extent and nature of the works required result in it being classified as Category A, for which an EIA and EMP are required. The World Bank, under involuntary resettlement OP/BP4.12, requires consideration of direct economic or social impacts, including loss of shelter, assets or access to assets or income sources. 2.2.2 Existing EU legislation The main EU environmental legislation relevant to this Project is as follows: · European Commission (1997) Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 amending Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment OJEC L 073 14/03/1997 p5-15, known as ,,the Directive on EIA · European Commission (2003) Council Directive 2003/35/EC of 26 May 2003 providing for public participation in respect of drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the environment and amending with regard to public participation and access to justice Council Directives 85/337/EEC and 96/61/EC OJEC L 156 25/06/2003 p17-23, known as ,,the Directive on Public Participation · European Commission (1979) Council Directive 79/409/EEC of 4 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds, known as ,,the Directive on Birds · European Commission (1992) Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora, known as ,,the Habitats Directive · Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (97/271/EEC), as amended · Drinking Water Directive (98/83/EC). 2.3 Environmental Conventions The Environmental Conventions that Azerbaijan is a signatory to include: · Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Washington DC, 1973 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 19 · Convention on Conservation of Migratory Wild Animals, Bonn, 1979 · Convention on Conservation of European Wildlife and Their Natural Habitats, Berne, 1979 · Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, Aarhus, 1998 · Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context Espoo, 1991 2.3.1 Environmental laws and regulations in Azerbaijan The main legislation relevant to EIA in Azerbaijan is given in Table 2-1. Main law on environmental protection and regulating its efficient use is the Environ- mental Protection Law (1999). The Law states main principles of preservation of na- ture, rights and obligations of government, public institutions and citizens in this area; determines objectives of users of nature in conducting environmental monitor- ing, term of "ecological insurance" for dangerous activities, and establishes volun- teer and compulsory environmental audit of economic activities. Basic responsibili- ties for violation of its requirements have also been formulated. Table 2-1 Main environmental laws Legislative Acts Year adopted Environmental Protection Law 1999 Environmental Safety Law 1999 Specially Protected Natural Areas and Objects Law 2000 Radiation Safety of Population Law 1997 Sanitarian-epidemiological Safety Law 1992 Protection of Atmosphere Law 2001 Soil Code 1999 Industrial and Domestic Wastes Law 1998 Water Code 1997 Radioactive Wastes Law 1994 Soil Productivity Law 2000 The law establishes basic standards of environmental quality, environmental re- quirements for economic activities, and sets requirement for state and local envi- ronmental monitoring. Quality of environment is included in environmental stan- dards: · Maximum concentration limit of noxious substances (MCLNS) in environment; · Tolerance limits of noxious substances discharged to the environment; · Levels of radiation safety; · Sanitary-hygienic norms and standards. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 20 Violation of above-mentioned norms and requirements can result in termination or restriction of business activity. The main goals and objectives of State Ecological Expertise (SEE) and Public Eco- logical Expertise (PEE) are included in the Environmental Protection Law and in- cludes assessment and approval of EIAs and their role in environmental and con- struction permitting. Implementation of recommendations of State Ecological Exper- tise is compulsory. Public opinion is necessary for making optional or alternative de- cisions, but different from environmental expertise (EE) and SEE recommendations, this is informative and suggestive. 2.3.2 Regulations on water supply and use of water The main law on water supply and efficient use of water resources is Azerbaijan Republic Water Code (1997). The list of norms and standards valid in Azerbaijan is given below, considering pa- rameters of pollutants and elements: · "Rules for protecting surface water sources form impure water contamination". State Committee on Environment and Control over Use of Natural Resources. Baku, 1994; · "Standardizing rules for use and protection of water sources", Resolution #2006 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan Republic, October 15, 1988, article 8; · "Developing draft version of MCLNS standards for enterprises applying techni- cal standards and tolerance limits of waste and recommendations on its con- tent". State Environmental Committee, 1994; · Handbook for standardizing concentration of noxious substances discharged into atmosphere and water bodies. State Environmental Committee of USSR. Moscow, 1989; · State Standard #17.0.0.04-90. Recommendations for filling and updating envi- ronmental passport of an enterprise. State Environmental Committee of USSR. Moscow, 1990; · State Standard 17.0.04-90. Environmental passport. Baku, 1990. · Rules for use of water objects for cultural and community purposes, recreation and sport purposes. Resolution #216 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan Republic (1998). · Allowable limits of detrimental effects to fishery water bodies. Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan Republic (1999). · Guidelines on regulating discharge of pollutants into atmosphere and water bodies. Goskompriroda USSR, 11.09.1989 No.09-2-8/1573 · Rules for state control over protection and use of water bodies. Resolution #198 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan Republic (1998). · Resolution #150 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan Republic on Applica- tion of rules for paid use of water in Azerbaijan Republic (1996). · Regulations on development and application of limits for use of water. Article #8 (15.10.1998. Council of Ministries Decision No: 206). · Resolution #122 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan Republic on Applica- tion of fees for use of natural resources, discharge of pollutants into environ- ment, and on use of funds formed from these sources (1992). · Regulations on processing, preparation, submission, state expertise, approval and application of systems for comprehensive use and protection of water re- sources ­ Article #8 (15.10.1998, The Cabinet of Ministers Resolution #206). C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 21 · Radiation Safety Norms QN 2.6.1.054-90 (NRB-90); · State Standard 2874-82. Drinking Water. Hygienic Requirements and Water Quality Control; · SNIP (Construction Norms and Regulations): · - For water treatment plants: SNIP 2.04.02-84; State Construction Committee, 1985 · - For waste water treatment plants: SNIP 2.04.03-85; State Construction Com- mittee, 1985. · Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan Republic on approval of norms for maximum concentration limits of dangerous substances in air, soil and surface water bodies. 2000. Standards for various environmental elements valid in Azerbaijan are given in Annex 3. Azerbaijan Republic is a member of international organizations on environment and standardization. Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between European Union member countries and Azerbaijan (signed on April 22, 1996 in Luxemburg) became effective from June 22, 1999, which indicates high level of cooperation be- tween the two sides. According to article 50 of this agreement, Azerbaijan should attempt to "Promote use of technical rules of the Union in this area and application of European stan- dards and compliance evaluation methods" within "Cooperation in the area of stan- dards and compliance evaluation". Under article 50 of the Agreement ­ "Environ- ment" Azerbaijan has taken commitment to "Improve national legislation on the ba- sis of European standards". European Commission recommendation on involving South Caucasus countries in European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) was confirmed in Brussels Summit of heads of states and governments of European Union countries held on 17-18 June, 2004. Within the framework of European Neighbourhood Policy "European Union - Azer- baijan Joint Plan of Actions" was signed in 2006. The following are recommended to Azerbaijan in this document: · Integrating into EU and international legislation and management practices in the area of standards, technical regulations and evaluation of compliance; · Improving procedures and institutes for evaluating factors affecting environ- ment, including adopting and applying relevant laws; · Preparing framework legislation and main procedures, and providing the plan- ning for main environmental sectors, especially for air quality, water quality, management of wastes, protection of environment classified in national plan of actions on environment, and continuing the process pf adapting to European requirements. Complete reconstruction of water supply and sewer systems of 43 cities and towns of Azerbaijan and construction of relevant plants and networks is planned within the framework of I and II projects of National Water Supply and Sanitation Project fi- nanced by World Bank. Suggested standards are the following; C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 22 · Water Supply and Sanitation: British Standards (BS), British Water Industry Standards (BWIS), DIN Standards, ISO Standards, AWWA (American Water Works Association) Standards, European Norms (EN); · Construction and electromechanical equipment: British Standards (BS), DIN Standards, ISO Standards, AWWA (American Water Works Association) Stan- dards, European Norms (EN); · Working projects on Waste Water Treatment Plants: ATV 301 Standards. 2.3.3 Environmental Management Institutions Norms and rules established for implementation of acts of legislation are compulsory for all institutions regardless of their legal form. Norms and rules become effective after being approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. All organizations have health, safety and environment department. They provide im- plementation of all norms, rules and standards, and are responsible for keeping ap- propriate records and conducting trainings. It should be noted that sometimes uncertainties and parallelisms are encountered in environmental management. This is mostly due to unclear legislation and regula- tions, in other cases, are the result of misuse of power by ministries. For example, SEE in MENR carries out EIA and expertise Ecological Passports on the one hand, and Ecological Centre in MENR prepares EIA. This is contrary to rules established in EIA Guidelines (i.e. EIA should be prepared by independent consultants). Another problem is poor coordination of activities among authorized institutions. This sometimes causes conflicting issues. Such kinds of issues include, but not limited to, standards control, private ownership and state registration of lands etc. To solve the above mentioned problems, relevant changes to regulations and strengthening control over their implementation are required. 2.3.4 Environmental Impact Assessment rules In 1996, Azerbaijan Government adopted amended EIA procedures corresponding to the systems applied in other countries. New rules have been described in the Regulations for Conducting Environmental Impacts Assessment in Azerbaijan Re- public. These Regulations state that "assessments of wastes discharged into envi- ronment should start in the beginning, i.e. in the planning stage and before techni- cal-economic assessment." According to Environmental Protection Law, develop- ment of EIA for all projected enterprises having potential impacts on environment is compulsory. Requirements established for development of EIA match with World Bank requirements (OP/BP 4.01). 2.4 Land acquisition and Resettlement Land acquisition and resettlement required under this project will be governed by a Resettlement Policy Framework that has been developed and approved by AZERSU and is acceptable to the World Bank. The additional land for the WWTW was State Reserve (i.e. owned by the state) and there were no occupiers or users of the land, either legal or illegal. This was verified by Bank staff during several field visits to the site. A summary of the RPF developed for the project is presented below. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 23 A RPF was developed in 2007 to cover the national project as a whole, as part of Bank screening procedures. The RPF concludes that there should be no justification for moving PAPs dwellings or other fixed assets and that the majority of cases will involve land used for arable or livestock grazing. The procedure involves the Project Implementation Unit (PIU), in this case AZERSU, determining the legal status of affected lands and then determining the compensation mechanism, taking into account that users may pt actually have legal tenure or permissions to use the affected land. The final step involves agreement and payment of compensation to PAPs at the stage of detailed design and before construction commences. The compensation could take several forms, involving land swap or monetary payment. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 24 3 Baseline data 3.1 Introduction This section of the report presents information on the baseline environmental condi- tions, against which the potential impacts are assessed. The study methodology included review and use of data from the Feasibility Study; site visits by the local environmental consultant; data collection; and results of the public consultation. This was supplemented by a site visit on 26/11/2009 involving the local consultant, AZERSU, Bank staff and a visiting Bank environmental con- sultant. 3.2 Geology, soils and land use Shamakhi region is situated on the south-east slopes of the Great Caucasus Moun- tain Range, and its surface ranges from rolling to steeper hills. Small plateaus and low mountain ranges are located south of Shamakhi town. Jurassic, Cretaceous, Neogenic and Paleogenic rocks, as well as alluvial-proluvial, deluvial-proluvial depositions of the The Fourth Epoch, with shales, sandstones, and river gravels. comprise the geological structures of the region expanding from north-west to south- east and west of Pirsaat River (including Shamakhi town). Water erosion and land- slides are widespread in the region, as the soils are friable and easily eroded. One of the geological-geomorphological problems of the region is high seismicity of the area. The area of the region corresponds to 8 score scale on the seismo- tectonic map of Azerbaijan. Ground waters accumulated in continental sedimentary rocks have greater impor- tance for use in the region considering its hydro-morphological situation and expand to vast areas in the mountainous part of the region. These waters are weakly miner- alized and are widely used in many sectors of the economy, including water supply for residents and tourist centres. The following are the main soil types in Shamakhi region: caespitose highland- grassland; brown highland-forestland; black mountainous and gray highland- forestland; chestnut soil; gray-brown and grassland-gray soils. Soil types are evenly distributed in the region in order of horizontal height. The soils are used in agricul- ture, mainly for cereal, grape and fodder plants production. Irrigated cropping ­ fruit, vegetable and melon plantations are well developed along river valleys. Subalpine meadows in high mountainous areas are used as pasture for farming. Low hilly areas of the region are used as pasture for winter farming. Use of soil is distributed in the following order across the region: · Total area of productive lands - 333.84 km2; · Area of lands not suitable for agriculture - 318.04 km2; · Area of pastures for animal husbandry - 510.00 km2; C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 25 · Total area of cultivated lands - 171.12 km2; · Total area of orchards - 145 km2; · Total area of alkali soils - 20.8 km2; 3.3 Air and climate 3.3.1 Climate The climate of Shamakhi town and its surrounding villages are characterized as mild-hot and semiarid. Winter is mild with short and non-persistent snow. Plenty of rain falls in the beginning of spring/summer season. Summer is slightly humid and mild-hot. Temperature regime of Shamakhi is the same as that of the entire Moun- tainous Shirvan area. Maximum duration of sun light in the region is 244.5 hours/month or 8.1 hours/day. General information about climate parameters is given Table 3-1. Table 3-1 Main climate parameters of Shamakhi town 0 Average monthly temperature, C Precipitation, mm Months Average Maximum Minimum 1 -1.2 3.5 -4.2 37.7 2 -0.7 3.7 -3.9 38.6 3 2.7 7.3 -0.6 49.8 4 10.1 15.4 5.9 52.8 5 14.9 20.2 10.5 51.0 6 19.3 24.6 14.8 38.2 7 22.3 27.7 17.9 29.4 8 21.2 26.7 16.7 36.2 9 16.6 22.0 12.8 59.4 10 10.5 15.2 6.9 69,3 11 5.6 10.2 2.5 52.3 12 1.3 5.7 -1.9 42.8 The coldest month of the year in Shamakhi town is January. Average monthly tem- perature in this month can vary from -0,6 0C to -1,5 0C. 22-24 0C and higher average monthly temperature is observed during the hottest months of July and August. Ab- solute maximum and absolute minimum temperatures can reach 38-40 0C and -15 0 C and -20 0C respectively. The amount of precipitation decreases from north-west to south-east and varies be- tween 602 mm and 350 mm annually. Precipitation is distributed unevenly during year, most of which (2/3) occurs in hot season (April-August) and less (1/3) in cold season (November-March). Main atmospheric precipitations are rains. No perma- nent snow is observed in the region. Snow falls mainly occur in January-February and last for 15-20 days. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 26 Average annual humidity is 72-74%. In general, the following can be an example of climate and its environmental effects in Shamakhi region: · Amount of atmospheric precipitation does not show their significant role in for- mation of ground water reserves; · Small amount of precipitation feed ground waters close to surface and meet the demand of vegetation, and major part of it form surface flow of rivers; · The difference between precipitation and evaporation in hot summer season result in evaporation of moisture accumulated at surface up to 1.5-2.0 m depth. The wind regime in Shamakhi region is determined by characteristics of local circu- lation of air and atmospheric conditions typical for Azerbaijan and its neighbouring regions. Winds are mainly mountain-valley winds, which blow from valleys to moun- tains in daytime and in the opposite direction in the evenings. Figure 3-1 Wind rose Characteristic feature of these winds is that they bring hot air and dryness. Winds mainly blow in two directions in Shamakhi region during year. These are north-west and west winds repetition of which comprise 28-22%. The least repeated (5%) winds are north-east and south winds. Average annual change in wind directions is given in Figure 3-1. 3.3.2 Air quality Emissions from industrial enterprises in the region are localised. No data have been obtained regarding the specific air quality of the area, but in general the area is rural in nature and air quality appears good accordingly. The project area is mountainous and covered with scattered settlements, cultivated lands and forests, with no heavy industry. 3.4 Noise The area is essentially rural in nature and noise levels are generally low; no noise surveys were conducted or considered as being necessary and no existing data are available. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 27 3.5 Ecology and protected areas 3.5.1 Local area The vegetation of Shamakhi region consists of alpine and subalpine grassland, mountainous woodland, mountain steppe and semiarid plants. Alpine and subalpine meadows are located in 1800-2500 m height. Total area of woodland is 9,800 ha, mainly expanding over 800-1800 m, north of Shamakhi town, north-west of Pirsaat River basin. Oak and hornbeam are common species, along with xerophytes on the saline soils. Mountainous xerophytes, wormwood steppes in low mountainous areas, arid ephemeral, wormwood and feather grass steppes in foothills and wormwood semi- deserts dominate in the region. Various animals live in Shamakhi region typical for various landscape types of the area. Wild pig, jackal (Canis aureus) wolf (Canis lupus), fox (Vulpes vulpes), badger (Meles meles), hare (Lepus europaeus) , European wild cat (Felis libyca), axis deer in woodlands, rock squirrel, common field mouse, social vole (Microtus socialis) various snakes, various birds, such as pheasant, partridge, pigeon and others live in the region. Many raptors, including short-toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus), pallid har- rier (Circus macrourus) and kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) frequent the area with sev- eral species nesting on high mountainous areas. Flocks of migrant birds include little bustard (Tetrax tetrax), rock dove (Columba livia) and black-bellied sandgrouse (Pterocles orientalis). 3.5.2 Protected areas The newly established Shahdag National Park and Pirgulu State Reserve within its boundaries are located approximately 15-20 km north of the project area, in the middle of the high mountainous reaches of the Pirsaat River basin. The Pirgulu State Natural Reserve was established on an area of 1521 hectares in 1968 for pro- tecting mountain forests, herbage of different kinds, fertile soil and expanding forest areas. The flora of the reserve includes over 60 species, including such mammals as brown bear, wolf, forest cat, lynx, weasel, wild boar, roe deer, etc. The main objects of protection are the forest ecosystems maintained near the eastern border of the modern spread of forests on southern (south-eastern) macro-slope of the Greater Caucasus and few species of flora and fauna from the Red Book. The area of the reserve was expanded by 2753 hectares and reached 4274 hectares in 2003. The relief of the reserve area is mountainous where water-separated crests alternate with ravines of 600 m depth. The flora of the reserve has 45 rare and endemic types of plants, including rare plants such as Caucasian hornbeam, Eastern beech, Geor- gian oak and others. The project area is located 1000-1500 m below these areas at much lower altitudes and therefore has no potential to affect the integrity of the protected areas. 3.5.3 Project site The project site is dominated by the town of Shamakhi, which continues to expand in several directions up the rolling hills, where individual houses are progressively built, connected to the rest of the town by roads and tracks. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 28 The immediate environs of the town are typically hillsides which are subject to con- siderable degradation by a combination of garbage and building waste disposal, ma- terial borrowing and extensive and intensive livestock grazing, especially by sheep. The lower lying areas into the Pirsaat River are also affected by waste disposal and extensive extraction of alluvial gravels for construction. The route of the water main from the new intake area to the new pumping station is of low ecological value, as it is heavily disturbed and intensively grazed by sheep. The pipeline route towards the new reservoirs above Shamakhi is also heavily grazed and disturbed ground, which has an existing pipeline and a track along it. The areas for the reservoirs all lie in hilly areas that are heavily grazed by livestock and have typical hardy grasses and herbs that can tolerate heavy grazing. The sur- rounding hillsides support many small mammals, such as voles, as well as fox and large raptures area a common sight, hunting overhead and also scavenging on sheep carcases. 3.6 Surface and ground water The only big river around Shamakhi town is the Pirsaat River, which flows in a wide, braided river valley (i.e. several channels during lower flow conditions), dominated by exposed alluvial gravels. It starts from west of Great Caucasus Mountain Range, slopes of Babadagh peak and flow into Caspian Sea. Total area of the river basin is 2280 km², average perennial flow rate is 6,9 m³/sec. Perennial flow rate near Shamakhi town is 4,17 m³/sec. or 116 million m³. Rain, snow and ground waters form the river flow. There is no certain regularity in river regime. Intensive rains in any season of a year cause flood in the river. It is mainly due to lack of riparian for- ests along the river course and nonporous rocks forming its surface. An estimated 15% of the flow comes from snow melt, 48% from rain surface runoff and 37% from groundwater surface run-off. Pirsaat River inundates during spring, summer and fall seasons, and its surface wa- ters are mainly used in irrigation. Dried river can be observed down the bridge on Baku-Shamakhi Highway during minimum precipitation period in summer. Pirsaat River is not suitable for fishing, however, ground water resources under the river course can be used by Shamakhi town and villages of neighbouring Gobustan region. The second river crossing the Shamakhi region is the Zagolov River which is the right-hand arm of the Pirsaat River and is dominated by precipitation-generated flows, as well as being fed by spring waters. The course of the river has dried out after construction of the Zagolovchay water storage in Shamakhi town, which is used for irrigation. As mentioned above, ground waters in the region rise to the surface through springs in mid- and high mountainous zones. Flow rate of springs is very low - 6-7 l/sec. Their water is used in water supply of towns and villages of the region. Ground wa- ters are also produced by wells (outside of the floodplain project area) and used in water supply. Tourist centres and local people living along the Pirsaat River course deposit solid wastes into valleys and foothills which are washed into the river course and valley during heavy rains. These wastes are carried along the river course dur- ing water floods and pollute the environment. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 29 Waste waters are discharged into the Zagolov River valley in the south of the town, where they are conveyed to the Pirsaat River whenever there is water flow in this part of the Zagolov River. This causes use of polluted water by people living along the river valley and, consequently, increases the risks of infections among people living along the river. One of the biggest environmental issues in the Pirsaat River is gravel extraction from its valley, which has significantly increased recently due to the demands for recent road improvement projects. If these works continue in and near the water source areas, the ground water regime under the river course could theoretically change, but is unlikely to affect the abstractions due to the depth of the boreholes and the fact that the pits fill up with water and are downstream. This has been brought to the attention of AZERSU, who should pursue the matter with the local department of MENR. However, the main issue is physical protection of the abstrac- tion infrastructure area, which should readily be achieved by designating it as a statutory sanitary protection zone, into which encroachment will be prevented. The catchment of the Pirsaat River receives untreated wastewater via its tributary the Zagalov River; however data on the quality of this catchment or on its general environmental condition were unavailable during the EIA study, as environmental authorities do not routinely monitor such parameters. The only information gleaned on this aspect was from visual observations made during the site visit (26/11/09), which revealed that quite a distance downstream of the discharge point the water was turbid and grey with eutrophic-typical macro-algae and dense growth of nutri- ent-indicating macrophytes such as Typha and Phragmites. The general poor envi- ronmental conditions are exacerbated by uncontrolled disposal of solid waste and household garbage into the river valley (see photos in Annex 2). 3.7 Social ­ Cultural Environment 3.7.1 Socio-economic situation The total area of the region is 1610 km2 and population is 88,500, 29,600 of which live in Shamakhi town. Shamakhi region is located in east of Azerbaijan, 118 km from Baku, on the south- east slopes of Great Caucasus Mountain Range. Due to the region having a favour- able natural-geographical position it is one of the most ancient human settlements not only in Azerbaijan, but also in whole South Caucasus region. The region borders Gobustan, Davachi, Guba, Ismayilli, Aghsu and Hajiqabul regions. Shamakhi administrative region was formed on August 8, 1930. There is 1 town (Shamakhi), 3 townships (Shahriyar, Madrasa and Sabir) and 46 rural municipalities in the region. There are 372 members of local municipalities. Many of the municipali- ties have actively participated in solving social and economic problems of their local communities. The main economic activity in the Shamakhi region, which is the part of the Moun- tainous Shirvan economic region, is specialized agriculture and animal husbandry. Cereal and grape production, cattle and sheep-breeding and honey production are well developed agriculture sectors. Large state and private sector business enterprises continue to operate in the Shamakhi region. 65 teachers and technical staff work in Shamakhi branch of Azer- baijan Teachers Institute where 215 students study, 105 teachers and technical C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 30 staff work in Culture and Education College where 974 students study, 68 staff work in Industrial and Economics College where 229 students study. 594 people work in Region Central Hospital, 152 people in Shamakhi Astrophysical Observatory, 45 people in Veterinary Department, 75 people in Forest Protection and Restoration company, 44 people in Irrigation Systems Department, 26 people in Pedigreed Ewe company, 34 people in Shamakhi Post Office, 45 people in Water Supply and Sewer System Facilities Department, 98 people in public utilities services, 27 people in utili- ties industry, 90 people in Road Construction Department #9, 33 people in Regional Center for Social Protection of People, 26 people in regional branch of State Social Protection Fund, 81 people in Shamakhi branch of Azergas CJSC. 107 people work in Shamakhi power grid of "Bayva-Cnub Enerji" Ltd., 65 people in "Pirsaat" con- struction company, 200 people in "Star" LTD, 40 people in Carpet factory and 45 people in "amo" firm among private sector enterprises. Social-economic indices of the region are given in Table 3-2. Table 3-2 Social-economic indices of Shamakhi region Social and economic 2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 indices Population, thousand 82.3 84.0 84.8 86.0 87.4 88.5 people (as of the end of year) Number of death per 9.2 14.5 10.9 8.2 11.9 13.5 1000 newly born chil- dren (till 1 year) Number of doctors 129 125 126 122 125 123 oer 10000 people Number of nurses 439 419 412 411 405 423 Number of hospitals 3 3 3 3 3 3 Number of hospital 420 420 420 420 420 420 beds Number of ambula- 19 19 19 19 19 19 tories serving people Capacity of ambula- 766 766 766 766 766 766 tories (personnel on shift) Number of kindergar- 25 25 23 23 23 23 tens Number of kids in 1230 1230 1155 1155 1155 1155 kindergartens, person Number of day-time 72 72 71 71 72 72 high schools Number of children in 16027 15783 15504 14890 14526 14017 them, person Number of public li- 54 54 54 54 53 53 braries Number of books in 403.6 400.5 398.8 403.6 446.7 446.8 them, thousand books Number of books per 4904 4768 4703 4904 5111 5083 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 31 1000 people, each Number of public 43 43 43 44 39 39 clubs Number of museums 4 4 3 3 3 3 Number of museum 9.3 8.7 9.6 5.8 6.7 7.4 visitors, thousand people Number of visitors per 114 104 114 68 131 84 1000 people, person 2 Total area, m 3279 2707 3118 2159 1866 1436 Pollutants emitted 0.03 0.02 0.04 0.02 0.03 0.1 from stationary enti- ties, thousand tons Average annual num- 7.3 6.7 7.8 7.8 8.5 8.6 ber of day labourers, thousand people 3.7.2 Project affected people There are a small number of project affected people (PAP), as follows: · An employee of AZERSU, who lives part time with his family along the pipeline route to the pumping station, within land that is part of the sanitary protection zone for the water supply · A resident of the town that travels to an area within the sanitary protection zone and cultivates a small field, which will not be directly affected by the new pipe- line from the boreholes, but lies within both the existing and new sanitary pro- tection zone and will therefore not be accessible in future. He currently rents land to farm here and the RPF as agreed with AZERSU will see him offered al- ternative land, so he is not disadvantaged. 3.7.3 Population's health No specific data was available for the general health of the towns population, but one can expect a degree of adverse impact resulting from water being available only 2 hours per day and untreated wastewater being discharged to an open channel be- fore draining into the nearby river. 3.7.4 Immovable cultural assets Shamakhi is one of the ancient historic towns of Azerbaijan. The name of the town was first mentioned in works of the ancient Greek geographer Ptolomey as "Shamakheya" and "Kemakheya" and later extensive information about the town was provided in antique works of different Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Russian and middle century Eurapian authors. Shamakhi was long under command of the Arabic caliphate. After the caliphate be- gan to lose its strength a feudal country of Shirvanshahlar arose from the area of Shamakhi. Shirvanshahlar with its important place in the status of Azerbaijan held on from 1531 to 1538. The prosperity of Shirvanshahlar state occur in the period of C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 32 the 1st Shah Ibrahim. This period covered 1382-1417 which saw rapid development of Shamakhi in economic and cultural spheres and extensive trade relations with foreign countries. Once the Shirvanshahlar collapsed the area was governed by beylerbey govern- ment system. Eventually Pyotr arranged a movement against Shamakhi and de- stroyed the area. The Shamakhi accepted a government system of "Khanlig" since the middle of the 18th century and entered the command of Russia in the beginning of the 19th century. Since that time Shamakhi became the center of the "geza" and "guberniya" government system. Once Azerbaijan was occupied by Russian bolsheviks in 1920 Shamakhi became a center of guberniya government system again for ten years. Since the 1930s Shamakhi has functioned as a center of the rayon (regional centre). The history of Shamakhi is represented by many archaeological and architectural monuments which include: Twin-minaret Mosque (743 AD), Shahikhandan Mauso- leum (XV), Pirmardakan Mausoleum (XIII-XIV), Imamzadeh sacred place in Kalak- hany village, historical complex consisting of 8 mausoleum (XVII) remains of Gülüstan Castle (XI-XII centuries) and et al. Caravanserai complex with under- ground oriental sauna built in XIV century also attracts great interest. There is a village located 9 km from Chukhuryurd village called Galabughurd. The remains of the legendary Galabughurd Castle (XV-XVI centuries AD) as if attached to a cliff around this village still remain. Shirvanshah Sharukh defended himself from persian attacks here in XIII century. There is shahs palace inside the Castle. Remains of Gülüstan Castle are near Shamakhi town. Remains of castle walls of Mustafa khans palace ­ one Shirvan kings rises on Fit mountain. Yeddi Gumbaz Mausoleum (XVIII-XIX centuries) where Shirvan shahs were buried remains in good shape. One of the oldest monuments is stone female monument in Khynysly village. Remains of ancient Shargah city are on top of a woody mountain where three re- gions ­ Shamakhi, Davachi and Guba border. Due to the location and generally disturbed nature of the land due to be affected by the project, it is considered to be of very low archaeological potential, however the archaeological department in the ministry will be contacted and will be involved, as per the national legislation requirements. An archaeological clearance certificate is due to be applied for as part of the construction permit application process. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 33 4 Environmental impacts 4.1 Introduction This section of the report presents the potential environmental impacts and mitiga- tion associated with construction and operation of the water and sanitation project and is based on ,,superimposing the project components onto the baseline compiled during the various studies, which include the FS and the individual EIA report for the Shamakhi scheme. Mechanisms for implementing the mitigation are presented in Section 7, EMP. Overall, the project is designed to be very beneficial to the residents of Shamakhi, through provision of a reliable water supply and to bring benefits to both residents and the riverine environment due to discharge of treated wastewater, compared to todays untreated wastewater. Thus the majority of potential adverse impacts are associated with the disruption during construction of the infrastructure, especially the replacement piped water supply and sewer network within the town. 4.2 Methodology Section 3 provides a description of environmental baseline conditions in the project area. This baseline knowledge permits identification of environmental parameters that may be affected by the proposed project. The potential positive and negative changes resulting from the Project activities are predicted for the project area during the construction phase and into operations. These predicted changes (impacts) are then evaluated using a significance ranking. An outline of the impact assessment procedure is as follows: · Identification of the baseline receptors; · Identification of the key project activities; · Impact evaluation; and significance ranking. There has been a general absence of site-specific data during the EIA study; this includes water quality data for the untreated wastewater discharges and the receiv- ing waters. Thus many of the impacts cannot be quantified and are rather generic in nature. 4.2.1 Baseline Receptors A baseline receptor (BR) is any part of the environment that is considered to be im- portant or valuable and merits detailed consideration in the EIA process. In this con- text the broadest definition of ,,the environment is applied, such that BRs may be selected according to economic, social, aesthetic or ethical criteria, as well as by consideration of physical and biological characteristics. The process of selecting BRs may consider legal status, scientific or cultural value, and public perception; and may account for the views of national or local government, international, na- tional or local non-governmental organisations, or the general public. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 34 Based on the environmental baseline of the project area, BRs (aspects) have been identified and are listed in (Table 4-1), along with the potential impacts and mitiga- tion where required (Table 4-4). 4.2.2 Project Environmental Aspects The key construction activities include: Water supply: · Installation of borehole wells in the river · Construction of new pumping station · Installation of new pipeline to feed the new pumping station · installation of new pipeline to feed each of the 4 new reservoirs above Shamakhi · construction of the new enclosed reservoirs · installation of new water distribution network in the town (either HDPE, or GRP pipelines buried in the road ways) · removal of defunct pipelines, which include many surface steel pipes running across the roads Waste water treatment: · demolition and disposal of defunct WWT works in Shamakhi · construction of new WWT works · repair and/or replacement of the sewer network and expansion of its coverage The project description provided in Section 1 of this document has been summa- rised into key environmental aspects of the project. An environmental aspect is an element of the project's activities that can interact with the environment. The key aspects associated with the Project activities are presented in Table 4-1. Table 4-1 Environmental Aspects Project Component Environmental Aspects Construction Installation of extraction boreholes in river valley floodplain Temporary removal of habitat for pipeline construction Renovation and construction of pumping stations Working over rivers and in floodplains Potential polluted run-off and spillage of untreated wastewater dur- ing sewer renovation Pedestrian, vehicle and community safety Procurement and delivery of construction materials Use, maintenance and repair of equipment and machinery Air and noise pollution from preparation of construction Materials such as bitumen, asphalt and concrete. Extraction/purchase of sands and gravels for earthworks C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 35 Project Component Environmental Aspects Construction camp/yards for equipment and machinery Waste and hazardous materials management Construction of new reservoirs above each of the ,,gravity zones for water supply to Shamakhi Service disruption (electricity, telecoms, water) Disruption to irrigation and drainage infrastructure Decommissioning and demolition of the derelict WWT works Operation Operation of the water and wastewater networks Sludge disposal Community safety Induced development Air and noise quality Use of maintenance machinery and equipment Storm water management Wastewater discharge Accidental (Non- Spills and leaks Routine) Events Inappropriate waste or sludge disposal Sewer flushing due to blockage The works will include decommissioning and demolishing of the derelict WWT works, prior to construction of a new works on the same site. However, the issues normally associated with this are a lot more straightforward than is usual for such works. This is mainly due to the fact that the derelict works does not receive or treat raw wastewater and therefore many of the health and safety and operational as- pects of dealing with raw wastewater do not apply. The majority of the tasks involve demolition of abandoned concrete structures and walls. Due to a general absence of environmental quality data (such as water quality pa- rameters of the discharged wastewater or biotic indices in the receiving waters) it is not possible to quantify the benefits of the project. The environmental benefits of the preferred scheme, (which mainly refer to provision of an EU compliant wastewater discharge, over and above supply of an efficient water system project alternative) cannot be quantified and therefore the precautionary principle applies, i.e. removal of polluting discharges. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 36 4.3 Geology and soils 4.3.1 Construction phase Hazardous material Spills of fuel, oil and other liquids (e.g. at the concrete batching plant or fabrication yard) have the potential to cause contamination of soil and groundwater. The Con- tractor shall implement measures to contain such spills and avoid contamination as much as possible. However, it is possible that some contamination may occur and the Contractor will be required to implement remediation measures in accordance with project and MENR requirements. Soil erosion The area is susceptible to surface erosion, especially after heavy rain, therefore ef- forts will be made to reduce the potential for soil erosion during construction activi- ties. Temporary berms will be constructed where necessary to control any run-off to prevents rills or gulleys forming or soil wash out to surface water features. Correct groundworks and compaction will be specified in the contract documentation to pre- vent soil erosion. Waste management Inert, solid waste (metals, asphalt chunks, rocks, concrete, gravel, sand and etc.) will be generated during drilling well and pipeline installation operations. The re- placement and installation of water distribution pipes in the town will include removal of asphalt surface and importation of suitable padding and backfill (eg sand) as well as backfilling using suitable excavated material. Repair of paved roads and walk- ways and asphalt surfaces will also be required. Solid wastes generated in construction sites and during the construction of pipelines and sewer drains will be transported by the construction contractor. Transportation and disposal of such waste will be agreed with local executive authority and regional department of MENR, as necessary. A construction yard will be created to the south-west of Shamakhi town, near the existing pumping station for laydown of plant and material, maintenance of machin- ery and prefabrication of infrastructure components. No worker accommodation is proposed and workers on the site during the daytime will use ,,portaloo chemical toi- let facilities which will be serviced by the hire company, as is widespread throughout Azerbaijan on major construction sites. All construction sites will be managed as follows: · Boundaries of construction sites will be marked beforehand and signs will be erected warning people not to enter or dump garbage; · Metal wastes will be collected and taken to metal processing companies; · Construction debris (sand, soil, rocks) will be re-used as an additional material for filling deep trenches when needed and where suitable. If not needed, they will be taken to city dumping-grounds, as agreed with local environ- mental/planning authorities; · Removed asphalt debris will be taken by the contractor to bitumen factories for recycling, such as the asphalt plant in Shamakhi; C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 37 · Speed limits will be set for all trucks operating within the town; this will be impor- tant for those transporting waste. 4.3.2 Operational phase No adverse effects are anticipated as a result of normal operations, as the wastewa- ter will be treated to EU standards prior to its discharge, which is a distinct improve- ment from the current situation. Routine monitoring of the wastewater, effluent and sludge will be undertaken as part of normal operations and modifications made to ensure compliance to the operating performance standards. 4.4 Air quality 4.4.1 Construction phase It will be the responsibility of the construction management to schedule construction activities and to apply best practices for dust control, to minimize occurrences of ex- cessive dust concentrations in sensitive neighbouring areas and at the worksite. It will be the responsibility of the construction management to apply best practices for reducing fuel consumption and exhaust emissions, wherever feasible. Aspects such as a reduction of idle driving, selection of new equipment where possible and maintenance of all machinery and engines should be encouraged. Examples of best practice for control of fugitive dust are given in Table 4-2. Table 4-2 Examples of fugitive dust reduction Fugitive Dust Source Control Actions Category Material moving Maintain soil moisture content at a minimum of 12 percent; or For any earth-moving which is more than 30 m from all property lines, conduct watering as necessary to prevent visible dust emissions from exceeding 30 m in length in any direction. Only work at lee side of the pile or apply wind shelter when doing load in and load out operations. Unpaved roads Water all roads used for any vehicular traffic at least once every two hours of active operations; or Water all roads used for any vehicular traffic once daily and restrict ve- hicle speed to 25 kph; or Apply chemical stabilizer to all unpaved road surfaces in sufficient quan- tity and frequency to maintain a stabilized surface. Paved roads Reduce the spillage of materials by Cover all haul vehicles; or The peak of uncovered loads must not exceed above the upper edge of the cargo container area, and the sides of the load, where it contacts the container walls must be kept at least 15 cm below the upper edge of the cargo container. Do regularly cleanup of the road C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 38 Fugitive Dust Source Control Actions Category Open storage piles Apply chemical stabilizers; or Apply water to at least 80 percent of the surface areas of all open stor- age piles on a daily basis when there is evidence of wind driven fugitive dust; or Install a three-sided enclosure with walls with no more than 50 percent porosity that extend, at a minimum, to the top of the pile. 4.4.2 Operational phase Adverse air quality effects are not predicted during operation, due to the nature of the project. All machinery will either be new and/or will be maintained according to the manufacturers service programme. Furthermore, significant noxious odours are only typically generated from a WWTW in the vicinity of pumping operations, where an aerosol effect is produced or when sewage has gone septic due to operational problems. All the main potential locations where noxious odour could be generated will be housed and ventilated. In addition, there are no sensitive receptors nearby to the operating facility as can be seen from the aerial image on Figure 1-4. There are measures that can be taken to retrofit filters to control operational odours if this becomes an issue, but the large distance to any receptors means that this is currently unlikely and no special measures are proposed. 4.5 Noise 4.5.1 Construction phase The nature and extent of the works, particularly those involving replacement of the water distribution system will result in noise and disturbance to local residents. AZERSU are very well aware of this potential disruption and will ensure that the con- tractor minimises disruption and noise, by inter alia, liaising with residents. It must also be noted that the residents are overwhelmingly supportive of the project, as it will result in provision of a reliable, constant water supply, compared to the current ca. 2 hour daily supply and will therefore generally be tolerant of disruption to some extent. The overall noise emitted by a works site will vary greatly depending on the different processes being performed at any one time. Some construction processes have a permanent position whereas others are mobile, such as pipe laying, their noise emissions moving within the work site. Factors such as the type, specific model and condition of machinery used are also significant. The A-weighted equivalent sound level (LAeq), measured in dBA (within the hearing range of the human ear) of each individual construction process will depend on the percentage of time that the equipment is in operation (acoustic usage factor, %). Few construction processes are continuous with constant noise emissions. They will often be characterised by variations in power output of the equipment with resulting variations in noise levels over time. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 39 Taking these factors into consideration, it is difficult to accurately predict the noise levels emitted from a construction site. Without detailed information pertaining to the schedule of work and the machinery used (and indeed the local conditions for propagation of sound such as screening), any noise modelling for instance will be subject to such a high degree of uncertainty that results can be misleading. In view of the nature of the construction activity Noise during construction works will be generated by sources such as those shown in Table 4-3. Table 4-3 Expected noise level from construction equipment Equipment Maximum expected noise level at 15m distance (dBA) Bulldozers and excavators 87 Cranes 86 Welding equipment 73 Generators 92 Tipper trucks 87 Concrete mixers 87 According to norms valid in Azerbaijan, allowable noise level should be 65 dBA in daytime; and 45 dBA at night-time. These are very close to World Bank standards. In the UK DoE Advisory Leaflet 72 sets maximum levels of construction noise at residential locations during daytime hours at 75dBA (façade LAeq) in urban areas. Mitigation There are three ways to reduce noise emissions: mitigation at the source, mitigation along the path and mitigation at the receptor. The following examples of construction noise mitigation methods could be considered during planning of the works and are expected to be a source of guidance to the contractors. In many cases, the magni- tude of the dB reduction can first be ascertained when construction work has begun and measurements can be made. (1) Source controls In general, source controls are the most effective method of mitigating noise. The impact of a noise source is reduced before it emits offensive noise levels. There are many possibilities for source control, with some mentioned in the following section: Sequence of operation: Noisy operations can be scheduled at the same time to take account of the fact that combined levels may not be significantly higher than the level produced if the operations were performed separately. The perceived percent- age usage for the noisiest activities will thus be lower at noise sensitive receptors. Depots/routing: During the planning and design stages of a project, storage areas and depots may be designated in locations removed as far as possible from sensi- C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 40 tive receptors. Construction equipment and vehicles carrying spoil, concrete and other materials can be routed so as to cause the least possible disturbance to resi- dents in the vicinity. Drilling/excavations: Drilling and excavation could produce noise levels in excess of acceptable limits and it will be important to apply noise reduction methods. Compressors: While most compressors are powered by diesel or gasoline engines, many are contained or have baffles to help abate noise levels. Electric compressors are significantly quieter than diesel or gasoline engine powered compressors. Mufflers: Most construction noise originates from equipment powered by either gasoline or diesel engines. A large part of the noise emitted is due to the intake and exhaust portions of the engine cycle. A remedy for controlling much of the engine noise is the specification and use of adequate muffler systems. (2) Path controls These mitigation measures operate on the principle of interrupting sound propaga- tion from source to receptor. Existing Barriers: As early as possible in the design development process, natural and artificial barriers such as ground elevation changes, existing buildings and other structures can be considered for use as a noise shield during noisy operations. Waste materials and earth can also be strategically stored where they can provide a barrier for noisy construction activities. Noise barriers/curtains: In general noise barriers or curtains are cost-effective when they can provide perceptible noise reduction benefits to a relatively large number of sensitive receptors. To be effective they must completely break the line-of-sight be- tween the noise source and the receptor and must not be flanked by nearby reflec- tive surfaces. The limiting factor is in actual fact the amount of flanking around and over the barrier. A properly installed noise barrier or curtain is capable of an inser- tion loss of 10 - 15 dB, a reduction perceived by affected receptors as at least halv- ing the original loudness. The following actions are planned to reduce noise: · Working hours will be restricted to 0800-1800hrs, with no night-time work ex- pected. Equipment and heavy transport will not be used at night time, on Satur- days and Sundays; · Noise absorbing walls/screens will be set up if there is any dwellings, offices or public places in less than 50 m distance from noisy transport routes; · Nearby people and institutions will be warned about high noise during daytime; · Special attention will be given to sensitive institutions, especially schools, kin- dergartens and hospitals; · Mufflers for heavy equipment will always be maintained in good condition. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 41 4.5.2 Operational phase Negligible operational noise is anticipated, as the pumping stations will be housed within buildings and the new WWT works is situated away from residential housing in a fenced compound and is designed to emit limited noise. 4.6 Ecology and protected areas 4.6.1 Construction phase The main potential effects on ecology are associated with installation of the new borehole wells; construction of the new pipeline route water supply to the pumping station and the new pipelines to the reservoirs; and construction of the new reser- voirs themselves. The pipeline route to the pumping station lies within the river val- ley, above the lower floodplain level and comprises open pasture land, some of which has been disturbed by earthworks and is of general low value. The area is intensively grazed by cattle and predominantly sheep. Foxes were seen on the out- skirts of the town and good numbers of raptors, including eagles are common in the hills surrounding the town, where they scavenge on livestock casualties and hunt for small mammals. Such fauna is very unlikely t be affected by the works. During the FS a longer water main was envisaged than the one now designed, as the existing pumping station (PS) will be refurbished to supply Sabir, whilst the new PS will connect with the new reservoirs over a shorter distance. This revised pipe- line route to the new pumping station and from it to the reservoirs has recently been developed and has been selected to avoid sensitive features or woody vegetation such as trees. The pipelines to the new reservoirs mainly follow existing tracks and existing water pipelines. The well field for water extraction is to be extended from the current field within the river floodplain, occupying an area that is dominated by exposed gravels and cob- bles with very little vegetation. The hydrogeological and hydrological studies of 2009 have calculated that the abstractions are less than the sustainable yield of the water resources. The potential draw down of groundwater is therefore not calculated to adversely affect riverine ecology. In fact the river bed is currently subject to huge disturbance factors, as the majority of the downstream area to the main highway bridge is subject to gravel extraction. There are no protected areas that can be potentially affected by the project. 4.6.2 Operational phase The receiving watercourses and areas currently adversely affected by polluting un- treated wastewaters will be expected to improve considerably and can be expected to see re-recruitment of more natural flora and fauna, as nutrient and bacteria levels significantly reduce. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 42 4.7 Surface and ground water 4.7.1 Construction phase Many of the risks to surface and groundwater are similar to those already covered under the soils section above and are therefore not repeated here. Due to the nature of the works there is the potential for spillage of wastewater to ground or water- course, which is generally poorly treated or untreated and could also lead to the spread of disease to workers or local residents. In addition, the wastewater from existing pipelines and sumps will require to be purged. It is proposed to empty the wastewater into temporary excavated pits and then remove the material by suction into septic tanks on sewer trucks. Residents will be advised to route wastewater to open ditches, where it can be removed by this technique during construction. Mitigation (1) Fuel and oil storage Fuel and oil storage tanks will not be located within 50m of any watercourse, well or dry river bed. Wherever possible, refuelling and maintenance of mobile plant within 50m of all watercourses/water bodies, dry riverbeds and within designated wetlands and aquifers will be prohibited. All tanks will be either double-skinned design and / or placed in a bund of at least 110% of the tanks maximum capacity. If more than one tank is stored within the bund, the system must be capable of storing 110% of the biggest containers capac- ity or 25% of their total capacity, whichever is greater. The bund will be impermeable (e.g. concrete-lined), without drainage points or other breaches. In the case of any uncertainty, this clause supersedes any other requirement specified elsewhere. All tank connection points will be contained within the bund. All tank discharge lines will be fitted with shut-off devices that can be operated from a safe position outside the bund. All tanks will be fitted with easily accessible level indicators to prevent overfilling. All fuel / hydrocarbon dispensing nozzles are to be of a drip control design and se- curely locked when not in use. Areas for road tanker parking and delivery shall be hard surfaced (concrete) and drained to an interceptor. Discharge of rainwater and waste from these areas will be via a treatment system designed to meet the water discharge standards. At each site where diesel is delivered and stored, spillage equipment shall be in- stalled to contain any spillage during loading. Specific drainage requirements, which include oil interceptors, will be put in place at facilities where diesel is stored and used. Accumulated rainwater in bunds will be pumped out of the bund to either drains or the ground if uncontaminated, and if contaminated, disposed of in accordance with AZERSU requirements. All fuel storage areas will be securely fenced and locked to prevent unauthorised access. Only Refuelling Operators will be allowed to dispense fuel as set out below. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 43 All fuel storage areas will be equipped with an adequate supply of spill containment materials. All refuelling will take place at, semi-permanent (wherever practicable) locations such as work yards and will be from designated, bunded fuel storage tanks rather than drums. Within the site compounds, this will be restricted to specially con- structed areas adjacent to the bunded fuel tank(s). These areas will be of hard standing with an impermeable surface and sealed drainage system which will allow any spills to be contained or drained to an interceptor. Exceptions to the above are to be made for smaller fuel equipment. Generators will be self-bunded and will have an integral fuel tank. Refuelling will be undertaken as per the procedures below. Refuelling will be carried out by the nominated Refuelling Operators who will be specifically trained in the relevant procedures. Upon arriving at the refuelling areas, the Refuelling Operators will dispense the required fuel. (2) Drip Trays The use of integral drip trays for generators, tanks and other fixed plant will be will be encouraged throughout the project. Individual drip trays will be necessary for temporary secondary containment of mate- rials. (3) Storage and Use of Chemicals All chemicals will be stored in designated, locked storage areas, taking care to en- sure segregation of potentially reactive substance (e.g. flammables should not be stored with toxic substances). These areas will have an enclosed drainage sys- tem/bund to avoid contamination. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) will be pro- vided for all substances and used in project health and safety assessments. Efforts will be made to avoid and minimise the use of hazardous chemicals during construction where possible. 4.7.2 Operational phase An improved situation in the receiving watercourses and adjacent wetlands currently adversely affected by polluting untreated wastewaters is expected. In the absence of environmental quality data it is not possible to categorically state the degree of improvement in the aquatic ecosystem or its associated riparian habi- tats, which are currently adversely affected by the discharge of untreated wastewa- ter. One can only generally conclude that the removal of large organic loadings and their associated bacteria will be of significant benefit to at least the local river system and will contribute to a reduction in polluting loadings within the Caspian Sea catchment, on which several internationally financed projects are focussing their at- tention. Groundwater impacts Following the FS completed in 2007, the Shamakhi scheme was further developed by AZERSU and its consultants and additional investigations were undertaken as part of the design works. "Hydrogeological and hydrological investigations" by ZEMF C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 44 Company in 2009 and "additional hydrogeological investigations" also by ,,ZEMF Company in 2009 were undertaken. The studies concluded that: · a horizontal infiltration arrangement of 2000m can abstract 120 l/s, compared to a predicted (in the year 2027) peak hourly water demand of 113 l/s based on 160 litres per capita per day, allowing for industrial and other water demands. · a total of 153.7 l/s could be abstracted from this 2km area as a sustainable source, without having adverse effects on the water resources or ecosystem. · the water demand in 2007 was 106 l/s · the mean perennial discharge of the Pirsaat River was over 3 m3/sec · the surface and groundwaters of the floodplain are connected and it also calcu- lated the infiltration rates as part of the water resource calculations The studies also supported the validity of the earlier approval from the State Com- mission of Resources in 1980 for the ongoing use of the groundwater from the Pir- saat for future demands of Shamakhi. 4.8 Social ­ Cultural Environment 4.8.1 Construction phase Local community The main effects on the local community during construction are associated with the considerable disruption that the works will have within the town through excavation of defunct infrastructure and installation of new water mains and sewer pipes in the roads and connection of water supply pipes and water meters to individual proper- ties. The proximity of the works to residents also raises the issue of health and safety, as well as traffic disruption and interference with access to houses, work places and public buildings such as hospitals and schools. Another area of potential concern is contamination and possible disease spread to residents (and workers) caused by exposure to untreated wastewater during exca- vation and replacement of the sewer network. The potential resettlement issues have been addressed in a separate Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) that has been developed for the project. In summary, the two households that are affected by loss of access to farm land will be compensated by additional lands as alternatives, as agreed with AZERSU. Mitigation Safety at the work site, both for workers and residents has been discussed at length with AZERSU, who will ensure that contractors develop and implement safe working practices. The construction contractor will train its personnel on safety, environment and quality control, as well as implementation of all the safety rules. Works will be guided by existing laws, sanitary rules and AZERSU work manuals. The following measures will be taken to protect the health of personnel working in polluted areas: C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 45 · Health and safety training will be conducted as part of project induction for all workers; · All personnel will be supplied with special coveralls and the minimum PPE; · Personnel working in excavation of polluted soils and collection, loading, trans- portation and disposal of sewage waters will be supplied with protective safety glasses, gloves, long rubber boots and dust masks; · Mobile shower cabins will be set up for personnel; · Personnel will pass regular medical check-ups. · Use of asbestos and other dangerous substances is not planned. As referenced earlier, impacts on people and their economic activity, public trans- port and agricultural activities during construction phase are possible. Construction sites will be divided into sections, works will be planned according to schedule pre- pared beforehand and people and organizations will be notified ahead of time. Bor- ders of construction sites will be marked, safety boards will be placed, signs regulat- ing movement of pedestrians and traffic will be erected. Furthermore, discussions have been held with AZERSU regarding the need to keep residents informed of planned activities, but also to be receptive to their require- ments. Thus contractors will be required to develop a traffic management plan in consultation with AZERSU and the municipality and to discuss this at a public meet- ing prior to start of the works. This should ensure that disruption of residents is minimised and works are co-ordinated to limit impeded access. Cultural heritage The Shamakhi area is known to have a long history, but information on potential ar- tefacts that may be buried is scarce. Under national law, the works require a clear- ance certificate from the Archaeological department and this department will be kept informed of any potential finds from the pipeline routes or new infrastructure, for subsequent action. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 46 Table 4-4 Construction & operational impacts Aspect Potential impact Significance Mitigation Residual impact (Low, Medium, pact/comments high) + = posi- tive 0 = neutral - = negative Construction Air quality Emission from construction vehicles and - medium All vehicles, equipment and machinery Negligible. machinery used for construction will be regularly maintained to ensure that the pollution emission levels conform to the stan- dards prescribed Construction related dust, from move- - medium Dust suppression will be used on un- Negligible. ment of vehicles at site and to sites from sealed road surfaces, asphalt mixing borrow and quarry sites, etc. sites and temporary service areas. Vehicles hauling materials will generate - medium Vehicles delivering material will be cov- Negligible. dust nuisance. ered. Soil Soil Erosion due to inadequate and im- - high Re-vegetate barren cuts and work ar- Negligible. mediate application of stabilization tech- eas as soon after the work has been niques. completed as is practical. Damage to soil through compaction - medium Strip off topsoil initially and then de- Minor. along temporary work areas such as lay- compact and reinstate topsoil for effec- down sites and transport routes. tive reinstatement. Illegal or excessive borrowing of earth for - medium No earth borrowed from unauthorised Negligible. infill damaging natural resources. locations. Contamination of soil from fuel and lubri- - high All fuels and oils stored in accordance Negligible. cants. with international practice; bunded and C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 47 Aspect Potential impact Significance Mitigation Residual impact (Low, Medium, pact/comments high) + = posi- tive 0 = neutral - = negative impervious flooring. Pollution by fuels spillage. - high Construction vehicles and equipment Negligible. will be maintained and refuelled at pro- tected refuelling stations where practi- cable. Surface water Pollution of resources by fuels and oils. - high Fuel storage and refuelling sites located Negligible. away from drainage channels and im- portant water bodies. Surface features damaged. - medium Affected irrigation and drainage fea- Negligible. tures will be rehabilitated immediately. Ground water Pollution of groundwater by fuels and oils - high Construction vehicles and equipment Negligible. spillage. will be maintained and refuelled at pro- tected refuelling stations where practi- cable. All storage areas bunded. Flora Loss or damage to vegetation - medium Replanting plan to be developed Negligible. Failure to properly manage/store topsoil, - medium Cleary defined topsoil storage and han- Negligible. leading to degraded and substandard site dling in contract specs. and follow up reclamation and re-vegetation. with regular inspection & monitoring and reporting. Fauna Loss, damage or disruption to fauna due - minor Construction workers will be directed Negligible. to unnecessary and un-approved in- not to disrupt or damage the fauna. creases in construction work areas, soil compaction. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 48 Aspect Potential impact Significance Mitigation Residual impact (Low, Medium, pact/comments high) + = posi- tive 0 = neutral - = negative Landscape Landscape impact due to work areas. - minor Implement best practice soil handling Negligible. techniques to allow for successful rein- statement of affected areas. Agriculture Damage to agricultural lands, including - medium Liaise effectively with PAPs before start Negligible. drainage and irrigation infrastructure. of construction, maintain dialogue, de- velop a grievance procedure, strictly control machinery and vehicle access and reinstate all affected areas. Livestock safety Livestock resources damaged by ma- - medium Liaise effectively with PAPs before start Negligible. chinery and vehicles. of construction, maintain dialogue, de- velop a grievance procedure, strictly control machinery and vehicle access, consider fencing for protection. Noise Inadequate prevention of construction- - medium The plants and equipment used for Minor. related noise from vehicles, asphalt construction will strictly conform to MEP plants, crushing and any batch plants noise standards. and equipment. Disturbance and disruption to residents. - medium Working hours/activities will be adjusted Minor. to avoid low-noise times. Protection of workers H&S - high Noise standards for industrial enter- prises will be strictly enforced to protect construction workers from noise im- pacts, in accordance with international HSE procedures. Traffic Traffic disruption - high Develop and implement effective traffic management plans and make them publically available. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 49 Aspect Potential impact Significance Mitigation Residual impact (Low, Medium, pact/comments high) + = posi- tive 0 = neutral - = negative Community Residents injured by construction traffic - high Conduct safety awareness campaigns, Residual impacts safety and machinery focussing on schools and children. will be dependant on quality and effec- tiveness of the campaigns. Community eco- Community loses access to resources, - minor Consult with livestock owners regarding Negligible. nomic activity affecting income generating activities. access Worker HSE Workers injured during construction - high Implement international HSE standards Minor and if stan- in all contracts. dards and training is high, the working practices could be a beneficial legacy of the project. Material re- Illegal or excessive borrowing may dam- - medium No earth borrowed from unauthorised Negligible. sources age archaeological or land resources. locations. Archaeology and Loss and damage to cultural resources - medium Develop and implement a plan with Negligible. cultural heritage authorities for managing any late finds. Waste Contamination of soil or water resources. - high Contaminated or hazardous waste to Minor. be disposed in selected areas & ap- proved by MENR. Soil and water pollution. - minor Develop plans for cement and wash- Negligible. water management. Encroachment Land resources damaged. - minor Identify work areas with Contractor(s) Negligible. and describe system approvals for ex- tensions and fines for violations. Pollution Inappropriate sludge or waste manage- - medium Management systems and inspections Minor. ment to ensure correct approach C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 50 Aspect Potential impact Significance Mitigation Residual impact (Low, Medium, pact/comments high) + = posi- tive 0 = neutral - = negative Operation Surface water Reduction in pollution + high NA Beneficial for aquatic ecosystem Health Removal of contamination source from + high NA Beneficial for com- untreated wastewater munity health and water use Sludge disposal Soil conditioner, compost 0 Compliance to sludge quality standards Beneficial use as and effective processing of sludge soil conditioner, compost C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 51 4.8.2 Operational phase Significant benefits to resident are expected from the project during its operation, as communities will be supplied with a safe and reliable water supply and be provided with effective wastewater treatment facilities. There should be concomitant im- provements in health and wellbeing due to the water supply and potential increase in agricultural production and incomes due to reliable drinking water for livestock and small scale crops. These long-term positive effects of project implementation include: · People will be supplied with quality drinking water corresponding to the stan- dards; · Demand for water will be continuously satisfied; · Less electric power will be consumed as water will be conveyed to the water distributing system by gravity; · Utilization and technical service expenses will be insignificant, as no coagulants or flocculants will be used for water purification; · Soil erosion and pollution in the streets of the town will be prevented by de- creasing water loss in water mains; · Creation of new management system for water supply and sewer system based on modern technologies and continuous control over water quality will reduce risks of infectious diseases and health care expenses; · Sewage purification will end pollution of soils, ground waters, plants and the Pirsaat River; · New jobs will be created; C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 52 5 Analysis of alternatives 5.1 Introduction This section presents the alternatives that were considered for the project, including the do-nothing option, in accordance with World Bank Policy and best practice. The options were ,,do-nothing, ,,water supply only and the ,,preferred scheme. One of the key objectives in an EIA report is to analyse the environmental implica- tions of each viable option and then compare the options to evaluate their environ- mental performance, which feeds into overall project design, along with cost-benefit and other factors. In this case however, there is a general absence of site specific data on aspects such as the existing quality of wastewater discharges and their cur- rent effect on the environment. This is due to a lack of routine environmental moni- toring by authorities and it should also be noted that many discharges from house- holds are not formalised, as only approximately 30% of Shamakhi is covered by the sewer network. This makes it unfeasible to compare the quantified environmental effects of the ,,water supply only option with that of the ,,water supply and sanitation option. This is because more wastewater will be generated by supplying water 24 hours per day, but it is not possible to predict where that wastewater will end up, as many households are not connected to the sewer and the network has chronic leak- age. 5.2 Alternative 1, do nothing The do nothing option would see continuation of an inefficient and unreliable, often poor quality water supply system, which delivers only for around 2 hours per day. The wastewater collection system of sewer collectors serves only a part of the town and even then it suffers from chronic leakage. This bad situation is compounded by the discharge of raw wastewater into the river network, due to the defunct WWT plant, that never performed due to its incomplete state when handed over to the town. The socially and environmentally damaging situation in and around Shamakhi town will be further exacerbated as the dilapidated infrastructure continues to deteriorate, as piece-meal maintenance is ineffective. The water pipeline and sewer network increases the risks of flooding of the streets and houses, consequently negatively affecting public health and welfare. Impacts on the wider environment especially the water ecosystems; pollution of surface and ground water reserves, erosion and pollution of soil and degradation of vegetation will continue. This situation is very undesirable, especially with the ongoing high growth rate of the population and development of new business enterprises in the region. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 53 As the levels of service continue to decline, there will be an increase in consumers refusing to pay their utility bills, which will mean less money in the system for Shamakhi Water Canal Department to maintain the failing system. 5.2.1 Geology and soils The do nothing scenario will see ongoing and increased pollution of soils, which will limit their usage for agriculture and grazing due to their polluted nature. 5.2.2 Air quality No specific effects will ensue, apart from the already bad odour continuing to prevail, associated with untreated wastewater, both escaping into the streets and down- stream of the discharge point. 5.2.3 Noise No particular changes to noise levels are associated with this option, apart from in- creased noise during the frequent maintenance caused by the failing system. 5.2.4 Ecology and protected areas Continued and possibly increasing pollution of the water environment and low lying areas will occur, further damaging the flora and fauna, as native species are re- placed by dominant eutrophic-tolerant species. The water ecosystem already shows signs of dominant emergent species such as Phragmites and Typha as well as macro algae; all nutrient-induced development. The protected areas are far from the project site and will be unaffected by project implementation. 5.2.5 Surface and ground water The do nothing scenario will see ongoing and increased pollution of surface and groundwater, which will limit their usage for agricultural irrigation due to their pol- luted nature. 5.3 Alternative 2, water supply only 5.3.1 Introduction This section of the report presents the ,,water supply only option, i.e. improvement of the potable water system to Shamakhi town (and Sabir village) but without changes to the wastewater collection and treatment system. In theory there are several po- tential sources of water and these were considered as part of the project as a whole. They have been presented here as part of this option, but of course they are com- mon to the preferred option as they apply to the overall scheme and hence the dis- cussion is not repeated under the description of the preferred scheme and they are not treated as project alternatives per se. Potential options for water sources were considered, including surface water from the Pirsaat; groundwater and springs higher up in the catchment; or continuing to use groundwater from the Pirsaat floodplain. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 54 5.3.2 Surface water from Pirsaat River The flows in the Pirsaat are made up from rainfall, snow melt and groundwater from the unconfined aquifer in the catchment. As described earlier in this report a detailed hydrological and hydrogeological study was undertaken for the project by consult- ants in 2009. These studies, which included hydrological assessments, installation of boreholes in the floodplain and draw down evaluations, supported the case for continuing to use groundwater as the source, as surface waters would be insufficient due to their seasonal fluctuation and variability in quality, mainly due to elevated tur- bidity following rainfall and snow melt. In addition, the surface water and groundwa- ter are connected as the aquifer is unconfined, meaning that damming the flows to create retention storage would not be feasible. In view of these considerable con- straints this option is not evaluated further as it is unfeasible. 5.3.3 Mountain springs and groundwater There are many small springs in the mountainous areas of the region, typically 1200 ­ 1700m above sea level. There are known to be a number of springs higher in the catchment above Shamakhi, as well as smaller groundwater aquifers. In theory, if these were able to be exploited, they would benefit from being gravity fed and would most likely not require pumping, which could reduce operational costs. However, there are several main constraints to their possible exploitation, with the main obsta- cle being that they lie within land that is owned by large, influential businessmen. The authorities and AZERSU consider that an approach to exploit the water re- sources on their land would not be welcomed and thus no intrusive investigations have been attempted. Another key problem would be associated with trying to asses and then combine the water from so many small springs spread across such a wide area, to enable it to be used as a water source for a centralized water supply system. It is also known that where the springs outcrop they are used by a number of farmers for the intensive livestock farming that uses these upland areas. Extensive camps for livestock are established in these areas during the spring/summer season, which would pose a risk of bacteriological and epizootic pollution of any spring water sources close to the surface. Abstraction from these sources could very well dry up the springs, which would likely have an adverse impact on the farming and habitats associated with these springs. In view of land ownership and technical constraints higher elevation sources were considered unfeasible, hence the decision was taken to continue to use the existing water source. This groundwater source from the Pirsaat would therefore be constant for the ,,water supply only option and the ,,preferred scheme. However, in recent discussion with AZERSU, it has been agreed that in parallel with implementation of the scheme, investigations into the mountain spring sources would be undertaken, to see if they could supplement the groundwater source in the future. 5.3.4 Water supply only option Under this option, the groundwater resources of the Pirsaat River floodplain will con- tinue to be used as the water source for the Shamakhi town (and Sabir village) wa- ter supply system. After studying the current water sources and potential alternative sources the water supply system proposed includes the following: · Pirsaat River groundwater abstraction (extension of existing infrastructure); C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 55 · Central pumping station; · Continued use of existing pumping station to supply Sabir village; · Transmission main to new pumping station and to new reservoirs; · New reservoirs above Shamakhi town; and · Distribution network within the town. The project area covers Shamakhi town itself and Sabir village located on the right bank of the Pirsaat River, on the Baku-Shamakhi Highway. According to the terms of reference for the national project as a whole, consideration should be given to supplying villages along the route of water supply systems. In the case of Shamakhi, there is only one village along the route, which is Sabir village nearby. The design of the water supply system has been developed for the 20 year horizon i.e. 2027. The gross water demand (peak hourly demand) has been calculated for the 20 year horizon as 113 l/sec per capita (including expected losses). Under this option only the potable water infrastructure will be improved, including new water abstractions and a new piped supply covering the town and its surround- ing areas. The groundwater source under the Pirsaat River will be used, which has been shown to have no significant adverse environmental effects (see section 4.7.2.). The centralized water supply system coverage is only around 60-70% of the towns population. Water losses will be reduced, flow-meters will help to save water, and accordingly electricity, and payments by people and organizations will increase. A continuous supply of quality water will affect public health positively and reduce the risk of infection. However, the wastewater which is in effect untreated will continue to be discharged to the environment. This scenario will further significantly exacerbate the already environmentally damaging situation, as increased water usage will increase the dis- charge of untreated wastewater. This presents the risk of infection to people and livestock located downstream of the discharge point. Furthermore, the increased volumes and flows in the damaged sewer network will result in increased leakage and flooding of raw wastewater, none of which will be conducive to economic expansion and development in the area. 5.3.5 Geology and soils The implications for the hydrogeological water resources will be minimal, as the studies have shown that the aquifer of the Pirsaat is sufficient to accommodate the proposed extraction quantities. 5.3.6 Air quality There are no specific issues pertaining to air quality of this option, apart from an in- crease in odour nuisance associated with exposure to untreated wastewater. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 56 5.3.7 Noise Noise levels and disruption will occur during replacement of the water supply net- work; as per the preferred scheme. Noise disruption will occur due to maintenance of the failing sewer system, as flows increase. 5.3.8 Ecology and protected areas The temporary disturbance to the areas along the pipeline routes to the pumping station and the new reservoirs will occur and are not expected to be significant, due to their limited value and extent throughout the area. Ongoing and increasing dis- charges of untreated wastewater will further exacerbate ecological damage. In the absence of environmental quality data it is not possible to evaluate the ,,envi- ronmental tolerance of the aquatic environment, due to increasing the discharge of untreated wastewater under this scenario of improving water supply without WWT. In addition, due to the vagaries of the condition of the sewer system it is not possible to predict the quantities or rates at the formal discharge point, as the many leakages in the network may mean that leakage throughout the system increases, which could affect much wider areas than those affected by the point-source discharge. Therefore this alternative is not favoured from an environmental viewpoint on the grounds of the precautionary principle, i.e. removal of polluting discharges to the environment. The protected areas are far from the project site and will be unaffected by project implementation. 5.3.9 Surface and ground water Increased provision of potable water supply will significantly increase the generation and discharge of wastewater, which will result in increased contamination of surface and ground waters due to the inoperative wastewater treatment infrastructure. 5.4 Alternative 3, the preferred scheme This option includes total reconstruction of the water supply and sewer systems for Shamakhi town, as well as supplying water to the nearby village of Sabir (no addi- tional WWT), as described in section 1 of this report. The preferred scheme will involve a continuous supply of high quality drinking water to the residents of Shamakhi and Sabir villages. Water losses will be within ac- cepted standards, flow-meters will help to use water economically, payments by people and organizations will increase and power will be saved accordingly. Con- tinuous and quality water supply will affect public health positively and remove the risk of water borne infections. In theory there could be an option to rehabilitate the existing WWTW and this is pre- sented here, as a part of development of the preferred scheme. After an inspection of the existing WWTW during the FS and the EIA, it is clear that the plant is undersized for the current and projected requirement and was never ac- tually commissioned for use. The quality of the construction is considered very poor and as the plant has never been used or maintained, it has deteriorated considera- bly. None of the concrete structures can be used and the entire configuration is un- suitable for use in a WWTW that will be designed to provide secondary biological treatment, compliant to the UWWT Directive. The current WWTW occupies an area C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 57 of 1.5ha, whereas the new WWTW will require an area of 8.5ha; however the de- tailed design for the WWTW has not yet been undertaken. In conclusion, the exist- ing derelict WWTW cannot be used and requires to be demolished. The protected areas are far from the project site and will be unaffected by project implementation. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 58 6 Public consultation Consultations with relevant Governmental organisations and the public are an im- portant component of the EIA process. They often provide valuable insight in to the Project Area and act as a source of guidance in the scoping of the EIA study, ensur- ing that all the appropriate issues are addressed and that official organisations are in agreement to the scope of the study. According to Environmental Protection Law, consultations with local communities and NGOs must be conducted and their participation should be provided in all stages of project implementation. The national legislation includes for public consul- tation at the stage of drafting the ToR for the EIA study and then again once the draft EIA report has been prepared. This approach was followed by the project and public consultations were held in 2008, to discuss the project as a whole, during preparation of the FS studies for the individual schemes. Further public consultations were conducted for the Shamakhi scheme on August 14, 2009 in Shamakhi town (see Annex 4). Representatives of local communities affected by the project and NGOs were invited to attend the consultations. Azerbaijan has joined the Convention on Access to Envi- ronmental Information, Public Participation in Decision Making Process and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus, Denmark, 1998) in 1999. The results of the public consultation showed that people viewed the project as very beneficial to the community and environment alike. Many people were interested in the degree of wastewater treatment and its environmental effects and potential us- age, ie would it be suitable for downstream irrigation etc. As the design standard for the scheme was compliance to the UWWT Directive, which specifies treatment standards, the schemes design was not required to be modified to accommodate the comments from the public consultations, as the treated effluent will continue to be discharged to the Zagalov River and its receiving waters can be abstracted for irrigation purposes. Comments were also received regarding general water resource issues and the fact that many rivers ,,dry up during the autumn season. These points have been ad- dressed through the hydrological and hydrogeological studies and through the de- sign of a sub-surface groundwater infiltration water source, as the only sustainable source for Shamakhi. A question was raised regarding water payments and water savings; this question is answered by the project plans to routinely install water meters to monitor household and industry water usage, against which payments will be paid. This will promote water savings. In discussions between the Bank and AZERSU, it was agreed to hold additional public consultations and press releases will be disclosed at all stages of the project implementation in compliance with Azerbaijani laws on NGOs and Media, as well World Bank Policy on Disclosure of Information. Information about the project will C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 59 also be disclosed on internet sites of Azersu (www.azersu.az) and Caucasus Envi- ronmental NGO Network (CENN). All parties involved in the project are mindful of the potential disruption to residents due to the large scale of work within the town and villages and it is planned to hold further consultation with residents prior to commencement of construction works. It has been agreed that the contractor will develop a traffic/work plan in consultation with AZERSU, the municipality and local residents, to minimise disruption caused particularly by the street works. All efforts will be made to synchronise work compo- nents, especially water and sewer networks, and to expedite sidewalk and pave- ment reinstatement. This approach will be included within the bidding documents, to ensure its implementation. There is possibility of conflicts with local people during the project implementation, because construction works will cause inconvenience. If any conflicts, these will be solved through mutual discussions and in accordance with the grievance mecha- nism in the RPF developed for the project. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 60 7 Environmental Management Plan 7.1 Introduction This section of the report presents an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for the Shamakhi scheme, which outlines the management mechanisms (i.e. working arrangements) for how the environmental and social elements of the project will be managed from detailed design and construction through operation. The purpose of the EMP is to ensure that any potentially negative environmental impacts during construction and operation are kept at an acceptable level. It sets out to ensure that all aspects of the works comply with the relevant legislation, licence conditions and good practice, and that measures to mitigate impacts identified in the EIA are implemented. The EMP implements appropriate environmental controls and monitoring procedures during construction and after the work is completed. The EMP contains environmental requirements which are required for the success- ful implementation of mitigation measures, environmental monitoring, emergency measures and environmental auditing to be carried out during the construction works on the site. The implementation of mitigation measures and emergency measures shall be the responsibility of the Contractor. He shall ensure compliance with all environmental legislation, regulations and conventions. The responsibility for environmental monitoring lies with the AZERSU and the World Bank. As the contract for the project has already been tendered, a Variation Order will be issued for these additional requirements, namely compliance to the findings of the EIA and the EMP. The estimated costs will be used during discussions with the con- tractor and incorporation of the EMP compliance into the contract. It is recommended (as agreed with the AZERSU) that the PIU is supported in achieving project environmental and social safeguard objectives by support from an environmental consultant. The precise details have not yet been determined, but the consultant will advise and support the PIU in implementation of the EIA standards during construction and into operation. 7.2 General mitigation during construction The Contractor will be contractually required to conform to the requirements speci- fied in the EIA and EMP and will be accountable to AZERSU, as the client, through its Project Implementation Unit (PIU). There are several mechanisms of ensuring delivery during construction of both gen- eral and site specific mitigation developed in EIAs. One mechanism involves requir- ing the Contractor to further develop the outline requirements in an EMP by design- ing individual Management Plans (MPs), such as oil and fuel storage, waste man- agement, traffic management and pollution prevention. This approach is favoured C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 61 for the project, as it encourages early evaluation of these aspects by the contractor and he produces a set of MPs that can be checked and verified on site and are au- ditable through the monitoring process. The following table (Table 7-1) outlines the content of the MPs to be produced by the contractor and their development will be assisted by the Environmental Consultant from AZERSU PIU, in conjunction with Bank Environmental staff in Baku. This approach for each individual scheme will benefit from oversight by the PIU to form a set of environmental requirements applicable to the project as a whole, which will ensure compliance of the work to both national and Bank standards. Such measures will be mandated in the bidding and contract documents, so that an over- all good standard of work is achieved. This approach also has benefits of institu- tional capacity training, as the knowledge and capability of AZERSU will be ex- tended to effective environmental management and as each scheme comes on stream the PIU will benefit from knowledge gained on previous schemes. Table 7-1 List of Management Plans Environmental Outline of Contents Plan Waste Man- Measures to reduce, handle, separate, store and dispose agement waste from operations and work sites. Requirements for monitoring, recording, inspection and reporting. Instructions for the storage and handling of various types of hazardous materials. Waste Water Measures to control, collect, treat or reuse wastewater from Management various sources to avoid pollution. Air Quality Con- Measures to reduce and control air emission from various trol sources. Requirements for monitoring, recording, inspection and reporting. Dust Control Measures to reduce and control dust emissions from roads, work sites and construction activities. Requirements for moni- toring, recording, inspection and reporting. Noise and Vibra- Measures to reduce and control noise and vibrations gener- tion Control ated by plant at all work sites and from transport activities. Requirements for monitoring, recording, inspection and re- porting. Emergency Re- Procedures for response to a range of incidents and emer- sponse gencies. Requirements for monitoring, recording, inspection and reporting. Traffic Manage- Procedures for minimising disruption to traffic and access, ment especially for public buildings such as hospitals and schools. Archaeology and Measures to reduce adverse impacts on cultural heritage Cultural Heritage during construction. If any late finds are made measures must be taken to ensure ,,conservation in accordance with legislation. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 62 Environmental Outline of Contents Plan Oil and fuel Specification for storage of all oils and fuels (secondary con- storage and re- tainment etc) and procedures for refuelling vehicles, plant fuelling and equipment so as to ensure environmental protection. Site Inspection Procedures for site inspection and reporting including notifi- cation of non-compliance Handling of Procedures for handling of complaints including response to Complaints and complainer and reporting. Grievances Environmental - Project Induction Training - Toolbox talks Training requirements and procedures including target groups, contents of training sessions and verification. Storage and use Registration, logging of material safety data sheets and risk of hazardous assessment of materials and chemicals being used in the products & sub- project. Documentation requirements. stances Reinstatement Plan for removal of all equipment and materials from tempo- Plan rary work sites and reinstatement of areas to a standard at least as good as the pre-construction condition. As is the case in many countries with developing economies, there is an absence of compliant hazardous waste disposal facilities in Azerbaijan. A recent Bank financed waste facility has been constructed in Sumgayit near Baku, but costs of transporting waste are likely to be prohibitive for the contractor and eventually all rayon centres should provide such facilities. In this respect, the only practicable course of action to avoid environmental damage caused by hazardous waste is for the material to be stored on site properly and securely by the contractor and then transfer this material to a specially designed storage facility in Shamakhi. This new facility should be op- erated by the municipality and/or AZERSU and a cost allowance has been made in the EMP accordingly. A tabulated summary of the environmental management is presented in Table 7-2. 7.3 Emergency planning During the construction phase Emergency plans will be prepared by all Contractors. The Emergency plans will determine the responses to unforeseen incidents and ac- cidents and allow co-ordination with the Emergency Services as appropriate. The Contractor shall set up emergency procedures for the construction phase. The basis for emergency response and planning is firstly incident prevention, and sec- ondly rendering any incidents harmless. The priorities for protection in an emer- gency situation are the following: · Human life and health; C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 63 · The environment; · Assets belonging to Client and the Contractor; · Maintenance of normal operations on site. The protection of human life, health and the environment shall be primarily dealt with in the Contractor's Environmental, Health and Safety Plan. The Contractor shall also take all reasonable measures to prevent contamination of water air or land as a re- sult of any incident, to reduce such contamination if it is unavoidable and to remedi- ate any contamination that has occurred during the works. The Contractor shall immediately report any significant incidents to AZERSU and if relevant MENR. Appropriate measures against fire will be taken in compliance with existing laws and safety rules. These measures are as follows: · Fire fighting equipment will be placed in all sites having fire potential; · All personnel will be trained on fire fighting. 7.4 Monitoring During the construction phase ongoing monitoring will be conducted to ensure com- pliance to the environmental and social requirements and standards. Operational monitoring will essentially comprise performance monitoring of the efficiency of the WWTW, from which it will be possible to gauge environmental enhancement, as downstream monitoring will indicate pollution levels and record general environ- mental quality through observations. The main elements of the environmental monitoring plan are the following: Construction phase: Dust monitoring; Noise monitoring; Solid wastes monitoring; Waste waters monitoring; Soil monitoring. Operation phase: Monitoring of water volume in water sources and water storages; Monitoring of microbiological and chemical composition of water distributed to people, comparison to water standards; Monitoring of pollution load of sewage; Monitoring of treatment effluent; Monitoring of sludge quality in the plant; Monitoring of discharged effluent and downstream where it joins the Pirsaat River; Monitoring of sludge disposal sites to check for any contamination; C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 64 Establishing a laboratory (for monitoring sanitary condition of waters) at Shamakhi Water Canal Department. The environmental monitoring records shall be submitted by the Contractor in a monthly progress report to AZERSU. Any non-compliances shall also be reported immediately to AZERSU. The Contractor shall keep and maintain environmental records as a part of their programme of environmental management. These records shall be made available upon request. The records shall include: · Monitoring records · Reports from any compliance audit performed on the Contractor · Complaints · A log of environmental incidents including preventive/remedial actions and photos · Minutes from meetings and relevant correspondence · Environmental consents and/or licences. Environmental records are to be maintained by the Contractor as may be required by MENR. Operational records will be maintained by AZERSU. 7.5 Operational aspects Shamakhi Water Canal Department will be supplied with various modern control, maintenance, measurement equipment and small laboratory, as well as administra- tive building, vehicles, special equipment for cleaning sewer systems within the pro- ject framework. Sewage treatment process will cover mechanical and biological stages, and these waters are planned to be cleaned to irrigation water level. Water and wastewater treatment management will be carried out according to inter- nally compliant procedures of AZERSU. These procedures comply with require- ments set by the legislation and management regulations of Azerbaijan Republic. Potential environmental impacts during utilization phase are few, and their man- agement is described below: · Continuous control over water quality and standards; · Control over water consumption; · Prohibiting entrance of people and animals in water protection areas and pro- viding regular guarding; · Continuous control over chlorination process in water storage facilities, accom- modating chlorine storage in chlorination building to safety rules; · Continuous control over mechanical and biological sewage aeration in sewage treatment works, use of mobile power generator where necessary for providing continuous treatment; · Continuous control over quality (microbiological and chemical composition) of treated effluent; · Researching options of using purified waters for irrigation purposes and for growing technical crops during dry seasons. Conducting consultations with au- thorized organizations; · Continuous control over sludge processing and quality; C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 65 · Researching options of using sludge as a fertilizer for agricultural lands or as a compost for landscaping works, in agreement with authorities; · Sludge could be utilized for fertilizing ornamental planting in the many parks in Shamakhi town and/or trees planted in road sides. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 66 Table 7-2 Environmental Management Plan Phase, location Issue Mitigation Institutional respon- Cost (AZM) sibility Notes Cost note Construction Excavation of Disturbance to resi- Advanced liaison, public consultation, adhere Contractor 20,500 Contractual 1 trenches for re- dents, waste dis- to working hours and noise & vibration minimi- requirement moval of old and posal sation. Waste management to project proce- laying of new pipe- dures. lines Sand and gravel disturbance of river use existing borrow pits or buy material at li- Contractor NA Contractual 2 borrow pit censed operations; requirement for official ap- requirement bed, water quality, 3 proval or valid operating license . 3 Options for acquiring sand and gravel and the quantities required are unknown until the contractor mobilises to site and breaks rd ground. He may apply for a license to extract material using his own equipment or purchase material from a 3 party. If he intends to extract material himself then a pre-condition will be environmental evaluation of the site, obtaining the approval and license from the relevant Authority and operation of activities in accordance with best practice, which will include adherence to fuel and oil C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 67 Phase, location Issue Mitigation Institutional respon- Cost (AZM) sibility Notes Cost note ecosystem distur- bance Asphalt laying dust, fumes, work- use existing, licensed asphalt plants and good Contractor NA Contractual 3 ers health and practice during work. requirement safety, ecosystem disturbance Installation of new Water and ground Adherence to fuel/oil storage, hazardous ma- Contractor 10,000 Contractual 4 boreholes for water pollution esp. in terials handling & clean up procedures requirement abstraction floodplain Mains pipelines Damage, pollution Adherence to fuel/oil storage, hazardous ma- Contractor NA Contractual 5 construction to river and riparian terials handling & clean up procedures, good requirement areas soil management and reinstatement rd storage and refuelling, waste management and health and safety. If he purchases material from a 3 party the contractor is required to undertake a due diligence inspection of the facility to satisfy himself that the above environmental standards are being applied. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 68 Phase, location Issue Mitigation Institutional respon- Cost (AZM) sibility Notes Cost note Soil management, Good soil management techniques required, Contractor NA Contractual 5 drainage interfer- topsoil segregation, good storage and rein- requirement ence, water pollu- statement to prevent erosion and loss of fertil- tion ity, pollution prevention measures imple- mented. Land resources, Liaise with PAPs prior to works; adhere to Contractor 1,000 Contractual 6 agriculture, income RPF, implementation of grievance mecha- requirement generation activities nism; no storage of materials of agricultural land or as agreed with landowners. Routing of pipeline Undertake environmental analysis to limit Contractor 1,000 Contractual 7 damage from pipeline routing; avoid water requirement courses and consider potential for pipeline to act as a drain for water to change hydrology; pipelines should cross streams in the shortest distance possible; construction should be scheduled for during dry flows where feasible. Pipeline construc- Apply best practice pipeline construction tech- Contractor 10,000 Contractual 8 tion methods niques, including water stops in trench, proper requirement backfill, compaction, erosion prevention C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 69 Phase, location Issue Mitigation Institutional respon- Cost (AZM) sibility Notes Cost note measures at any water crossings and rein- statement. Pipeline installation Consider best practice installation techniques, Contractor NA Contractual 9 methods egg open cut method versus trenchless tech- requirement niques such as thrust bore, pipe jack, horizon- tal drilling to minimise environmental damage to water courses and valuable lands. Material transport Asphalt cover truck load Contractor 10,000 Contractual 10 requirement dust, fumes Stone wet or cover truck load Contractor Contractual 10 requirement Dust Sand and gravel wet or cover truck load Contractor Contractual 10 requirement Dust C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 70 Phase, location Issue Mitigation Institutional respon- Cost (AZM) sibility Notes Cost note Waste manage- Avoidance of pollu- All waste to be managed and disposed of as Contractor NA Contractual 11 ment per agreement with EIA & AZERSU. Copies of requirement tion waste transfer/disposal retained on file. Traffic management noise, vehicle ex- Haul material at off peak traffic hours; use al- Contractor NA Contractual 12 ternative routes to minimize major traffic sites requirement haust, road conges- tion Construction site Noise and vibration Limit activities to daylight working hours (not Contractor NA Contractual 12 between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. or as agreed with requirement disturbance to resi- public and authorities); equipment operating dents and workers with noise mufflers Access disruption Liaise with residents Contractor 2,000 Contractual 13 requirement Vehicle and pedes- Appropriate lighting and well defined safety Contractor NA Contractual 14 requirement trian safety when signs and information to residents there is no con- C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 71 Phase, location Issue Mitigation Institutional respon- Cost (AZM) sibility Notes Cost note struction activity Decommissioning & Ensure H&S management for workers and Contractor NA Contractual 15 demolition of WWT nearby residents; dispose of waste in a com- requirement works. pliant manner. Operation Sludge disposal Dispose without causing pollution or other ad- AZERSU NA AZERSU will 16 verse effect arrange dis- posal with MENR local department and munici- pality. Water quality AZERSU to monitor discharge quality parame- AZERSU NA AZERSU will 17 ters and take remedial action in the event of arrange in non-compliance liaison with MENR local C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 72 Phase, location Issue Mitigation Institutional respon- Cost (AZM) sibility Notes Cost note department Hazardous waste Construct hazardous waste storage facility Municipal- 50,000 Cost excluded 18 until Municipality constructs a compliant final ity/AZERSU from the EMP disposal facility for hazardous waste. costs for con- tractor ac- countability. TOTAL 54,500 1. Cost assumes one public meeting at commencement of construction to inform residents about disturbance issues; cost assumes 1000. Waste manage- ment cost assumes removal of contaminated material from trenches and storage at a temporary site pending construction of a waste facility. Quantities as- 3 3 sume 100 m at a m cost of 200 = 20,000. Final disposal cost cannot be calculated now and will be AZERSU responsibility. 2. No costs are assigned here, as EMP specifies only licensed material can be used. 3. No costs area assigned here; trucks will be covered, which should be standard practice and cost is included in tendered cost. 4. Cost assumes supply and use of drip trays and other containment arrangements and supply of clean-up equipment; cost assumes 10,000 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 73 Phase, location Issue Mitigation Institutional respon- Cost (AZM) sibility Notes Cost note 5. No costs are assigned here, as EMP specifies good practice and costs are included in tendered cost. 6. Cost assumes one meeting with nearby residents/land owners at commencement of construction to inform residents about construction issues; cost as- sumes 1000. 7. Cost assumes walk-over survey by contractor and refining of any route amendments. Cost assumes 1000 8. Cost assumes possible modifications to pipe laying operations e.g. inclusion of water stops to prevent water flow down trench; cost assumes 20 water stops = 10,000. 9. No costs are assigned here, as EMP specifies best practice; already included in tendered cost. 10. Assumes cost of covering trucks cost assumes lump sum 10,000. 11. Cost assumes handling, segregation, storage and transfer of waste to storage facility in Shamakhi; cost assumes oil and other waste 10,000. 12. No cost assigned, already in contract. 13. Cost assumes regular meetings and/or information displayed to inform residents about traffic disruption. Cost assumes 2,000. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 74 Phase, location Issue Mitigation Institutional respon- Cost (AZM) sibility Notes Cost note 14. No cost assigned, already in contract. 15. No cost assumes as disposal of inert concrete waste is already included in the contract. 16. No cost assigned as initial discussions regarding sludge management and its disposal not yet commenced. 17. No costs assigned as responsibility of AZERSU during operation. 18. Cost assumes Municipality construction of a medium to long term storage facility for hazardous waste, which needs to be hard stand, pollution controlled drainage and locked for security and covered. Cost estimate, not based on specified design or obtained construction prices. Table 7-3 Environmental Monitoring Plan Phase, What parame- Where is the How is the parameter to When is the parameter to be Why is the parameter Institutional responsibility item ter is to be parameter to be be monitored?/ type of monitored? (frequency of to be monitored? monitored? monitored? monitoring equipment measurement or continuous) (optional) C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 75 Install & op- Cost; note erate Dust Construction Visual observations Daily site inspections by supervi- Compliance to con- PIU AZERSU PIU AZERSU sites sors tract Noise & vibra- Construction Visual observations Daily site inspections by supervi- Compliance to con- PIU AZERSU PIU AZERSU tions resulting sites sors tract from equipment work Traffic disrup- Construction Visual observations Daily site inspections by supervi- Compliance to con- PIU AZERSU PIU AZERSU Construction tion during con- sites sors tract struction activity Reduced ac- Construction Visual observations Daily site inspections by supervi- Compliance to con- PIU AZERSU PIU AZERSU cess sites sors tract Vehicle and Construction Visual observations Daily (end of day) site inspec- Compliance to con- PIU AZERSU PIU AZERSU pedestrian sites tions by supervisors tract safety when there is no con- struction activity Oil and fuel Construction Visual observations Daily site inspections by supervi- Compliance to con- PIU AZERSU PIU AZERSU C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 76 Phase, What parame- Where is the How is the parameter to When is the parameter to be Why is the parameter Institutional responsibility item ter is to be parameter to be be monitored?/ type of monitored? (frequency of to be monitored? monitored? monitored? monitoring equipment measurement or continuous) (optional) Install & op- Cost; note erate storage sites sors tract Water and soil Well field Visual observations, as Daily site inspections by supervi- Compliance to con- PIU AZERSU PIU AZERSU quality at bore- works will be in winter, low sors tract hole site flow season Waste man- Construction Visual observations Daily site inspections by supervi- Compliance to con- PIU AZERSU PIU AZERSU agement sites, disposal sors tract records Sludge quantity Compliance to Biological/bacterial analy- Daily Compliance to operat- AZERSU NA and quality sludge standards sis, flow measurement ing conditions Operation and disposal criteria, eg to agriculture Quality of re- Selected stations Biological/bacterial & nu- Weekly Compliance to operat- AZERSU Programme & ceiving waters downstream of trient analysis, flow meas- ing conditions costs to be agreed be- C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 77 Phase, What parame- Where is the How is the parameter to When is the parameter to be Why is the parameter Institutional responsibility item ter is to be parameter to be be monitored?/ type of monitored? (frequency of to be monitored? monitored? monitored? monitoring equipment measurement or continuous) (optional) Install & op- Cost; note erate discharge point urement tween AZERSU & MENR C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 78 ANNEX 1 Typical section of well field on Pirsaat River C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 79 ANNEX 2 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 80 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 81 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 82 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 83 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 84 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 85 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation Project 86 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 1 ANNEX 3 ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS Environmental Rules for Wastewater Treatment Plants According to the Azerbaijan rules, discharge of wastewaters into water bodies is al- lowed only after obtaining a permit for "special water-use". The degree to which dis- charged wastewaters have to be treated (purified) is determined by the Maximum Allowable Discharge (MAD) norms for polluting substances. These norms are nor- mally imposed in order to gradually improve surface water quality and meet the sani- tary-hygienic requirements in proximity to water-intake structures. Norms (MACs or EALs) for the water chemical composition and its properties in wa- ter bodies are set depending on the category of water-use. (MAC - maximal allow- able concentrations of substances are such concentrations, that these substances do not impose any direct or indirect influence on human health (both immediate and cumulative effects) and do not lead to deterioration of hygienic conditions of water usage. Water bodies of the first category are the water bodies, used as the source for cen- tralized or non-centralized economic-potable water supply as well as for water sup- ply of food processing industry enterprises. Water bodies of the second category are the water bodies, used for cultural and community purposes, recreation, sport and water bodies, located inside settlement borders (USSR Ministry of Health, 1988a). So-called Emission Limit Values (ELVs) are calculated in order to meet the Maxi- mum Allowable Concentrations (MACs) in the receiving media. ELVs constitute the basic permit requirements. During determination of the rules for discharge of wastewaters into wa- ter storages · Mixing and dilution level of the water in water storages with waste waters in the distance between discharge of the waste waters and water intake for agricul- ture, drinking ,domestic ,fishing purposes etc. · Quality of the waters in water flows above the discharge area of the waste wa- ters have been considered in the report. Environmental Standard for Drinking Water Main monitoring standards on quality of drinking water are defined on the basis of document "GOST (State standards) 2874-82. Drinking water. Hygienic Require- ments and water quality control". Monitoring parameters of drinking water and standards are given in Table 7-4 and Table 7-5. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 2 Table 7-4 Environmental Standards for Drinking water in Azerbaijan Environmental Parameter Standard pH 6.0 ­ 9.0 Turbidity 1.5 mg/l Microorganisms (Colony number formed in <100 1ml of test water) <3 Coliforms (coli-index). Intestinal bacillus number formed in 1 litre of test water Nitrates (N03-) 45 mg/l Nitrites (N02-), 3 mg/l Chlorides 350 mg/l Phosphates 1.0 mg/l Sulfates (S042-) 500 mg/l Total hardness 7 mmol/1 Residual chlorine 0.3-0.5 Al 0.5 mg/l As 0.05 mg/l Fe 0. 3 mg/l Ni 0.1 mg/l 6+ Cr(Cr ) 0.05 mg/l 2+ Cu(Cr ) 1 mg/l Zn 5 mg/l Cd 0.001 mg/l Pb 0.03 mg/l Hg 0.0005 mg/l Table 7-5 Maximum Allowable Concentrations for Inorganic and Organic components in drinking water AR (SanPiN, Environmental Parameter WHO US EPA EU GOST) Inorganic components, mg/dm3 Ammonium, (N- 1.5 - 0.54 - NH4+), C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 3 AR (SanPiN, Environmental Parameter WHO US EPA EU GOST) Chlorine: 0.5- - Residual free 5.0* - - 0.3-0.5 -Residual con- 0.8-1.2 nected Nitrates (N03-) 50.0 44.01 50.03 45.0 Nitrites (N02-), 3.0 3.31 0.53 3.0 250. 500.0 Sulfates (S042-) 250.02 250.04 0 H2S 0.05 - - 0.03 Al 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.5 Al 0.2 0.22 0.24 0.5 Ba 0.7 2.01 0.16 0.1 Be - 0.0041 - 0.0002 B 0.3 - 1.03 0.5 V - - - 0.1 Bi - - - 0.1 W - - - 0.05 Eu - - - 0.3 Fe 0.3 0.32 0.24 0.3 0.00 0.001 Cd 0.0051 0.0053 3 K - - 12.05 - Ca - - 100.06 - Co - - - 0.1 Si - - - 10.0 Li - - - 0.03 Mg - - 50.05 - 0.5 0.1 Mn 0.052 0.054 (0.1) 2.0 1.0 Cu (1.0 1.02 -1.31 2.03 ) C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 4 AR (SanPiN, Environmental Parameter WHO US EPA EU GOST) Mo 0.07 - - 0.25 As 0.01 0.051 0.013 0.05 Na 200.0 - 200.04 200.0 Ni 0.02 - 0.023 0.1 Nb - - - 0.01 Hg 0.001 0.0021 0.0013 0.0005 Rb - - - 0.1 Sm - - - 0.024 Pb 0.01 0.015 0.01 0.03 Se 0.01 0.05 0.01 0.01 Ag - 0.12 0.015 0.05 H2S 0.05 - - 0.03 Sr - - - 7.0 0.00 0.05 Sb 0.006 0.005 5 Tl - 0.002 - 0.0001 Te - - - 0.01 P - - - 0.0001 F- 1.5 2.0-4.0 1.5 1.5 Chlorine: - 0.5- Residual free - - 0.3-0.5 5.0* -Residual connected 0.8-1.2 250. 350.0 Cl-) 250.0 250.0 0 Cr3+ - - 0.5 0.1 Cr6+ 0.05 0.05 0.05 CN- 0,07 0.2 0.05 0.035 Zn 3.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 Organic components, µg/dm3 Chlorinated al- C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 5 AR (SanPiN, Environmental Parameter WHO US EPA EU GOST) kanes carbon tetrachlo- 2 5 - 6 ride dichloromethane 20 5 - 7.5 1,2- dichloro- 30 5 3 - ethane Chlorinated ethyl- ene vinyl chloride 5 5 0.5 50 1,1- 30 7 - - dichloroethylene 1,2- dichloroethyl- 50 170 - - ene trichloroethylene 70 5 10 - tetrachloroethyl- 40 5 10 - ene aromatic hydro- carbons Benzol 10 5 - 10 Toluol 700 1000 - 500 Xylene 500 10000 - 50 ethylbenzene 300 700 - 10 Styrene 20 100 - 100 polycyclik aromatic - - 0.1 - hydrocarbons Benzpyrene 0.7 0.2 0.01 0-5 Benzpyrene ben- zol Mono chlorben- 300 100 - 20 zene 1,2- dichloroben- 1000 600 - 2 zene C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 6 AR (SanPiN, Environmental Parameter WHO US EPA EU GOST) 1,4- 300 - - - dichlorobenzene Trichlorbenzol 20 70 - 30 Environmental Standard for Treated Effluent and Treated Sludge EU wastewater treatment regulations In the European context, the performance of wastewater treatment has to fulfil the EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC, later amended by 98/15/EEC), implemented by Member States in their national legislation. The objec- tive of the Directive is to protect the environment from the adverse effects of dis- charges of urban wastewater and of wastewater from industrial sectors of agro-food industry. This EU Directive outlines universal standards for end-of-pipe compliance at all secondary treatment facilities. The standards are expressed as either numeri- cal limits or percentage reduction values for COD, BOD5 and TSS parameters. Alternate/additional end-of-pipe limits are also applied to facilities that discharge into waters at high elevation and/or into waters classified as "sensitive areas" and "less sensitive areas". For these areas, population equivalent (PE) provisions for each parameter may be implemented. "Sensitive areas" include water bodies that are eu- trophic or are susceptible to eutrophication, as well as water bodies from which po- table water is collected. In addition to the aforementioned parameters, total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) limits that take PE into account are applied to treat- ment facilities that discharge to sensitive areas. Less stringent limits (including the complete absence of limits) may apply to large water bodies (i.e., estuaries, coastal areas) that exhibit high water exchange and are not susceptible to eutrophication (or likely to become eutrophic) or do not experience oxygen depletion due to the dis- charge of urban wastewater. These areas are referred to as "less sensitive". Apart from identification of "sensitive" and "less sensitive" water bodies, the end-of- pipe limits do not take receiving environment conditions and/or dilution ratios into account for derivation of the limits. See Table 7-6 and Table 7-7 for the numerical values of effluent limits throughout Europe. Table 7-6 Requirements for discharges from urban waste water treatment plants subject to Articles 4 and 5 of the EU Urban wastewater Directive. Parameters Concentration Minimum per- Reference method of centage of reduc- measurement tion (1) Biochemical 25 mg/l O2 70-90 Homogenized, unfiltered, oxygen de- undecanted sample. De- 40 under mand (BOD5 termination of dissolved at 20 °C) with- Article 4 (2) oxygen before and after out nitrification five-day incubation at 20 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 7 Parameters Concentration Minimum per- Reference method of centage of reduc- measurement tion (1) (2) °C ± 1 °C, in complete darkness. Addition of a nitrification inhibitor Chemical oxy- 125 mg/l O2 75 Homogenized, unfiltered, gen demand undecanted sample Po- (COD) tassium dichromate Total sus- 35 mg/l 90 (3) - Filtering of a representa- pended solids tive sample through a 0,45 35 under 90 under ìm filter membrane. Drying Article 4 (2) Article 4 (2) at 105 °C and weighing (more than 10 000 (more than 10 000 - Centrifuging of a repre- p.e.) p.e.) sentative sample (for at least five mins with mean 60 under 70 under acceleration of 2 800 to 3 Article 4 (2) Article 4 (2) 200 g), drying at 105 °C and weighing (2 000-10 000 p.e.) (2 000-10 000 p.e.) (1) Reduction in relation to the load of the influent. (2) The parameter can be replaced by another parameter: total organic carbon (TOC) or to- tal oxygen demand (TOD) if a relationship can be established between BOD5 and the sub- stitute parameter. (3) This requirement is optional. Analyses concerning discharges from lagooning shall be carried out on filtered samples; however, the concentration of total suspended solids in unfiltered water samples shall not exceed 150 mg/l. Table 7-7 Requirements for discharges from urban waste water treatment plants to sen- sitive areas which are subject to eutrophication as identified in Annex II.A (a) Directive. Parameters Concentration Minimum per- Reference method of centage of measurement reduction (1) Total phosphorus 2 mg/l P 80 Molecular absorption (10 000 - 100 000 p. e.) spectrophotometry 1 mg/l P (more than 100 000 p. e.) Total nitrogen (2) 15 mg/l N 70-80 Molecular absorption spectrophotometry (10 000 - 100 000 p. e.) 10 mg/l N (more than 100 000 p. e.) (3) C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 8 (1) Reduction in relation to the load of the influent. (2) Total nitrogen means: the sum of total Kjeldahl-nitrogen (organic N + NH3), ni- trate (NO3)-nitrogen and nitrite (NO2)-nitrogen. (3) Alternatively, the daily average must not exceed 20 mg/l N. This requirement refers to a water temperature of 12° C or more during the operation of the biologi- cal reactor of the waste water treatment plant. As a substitute for the condition concerning the temperature, it is possible to apply a limited time of operation, which takes into account the regional climatic conditions. This alternative applies if it can be shown that paragraph 1 of Annex I.D is fulfilled. Table 7-8 Environmental Monitoring Program and Standards for Treated Effluent Environmental Monitor- Responsible Or- Parameter to be ing Loca- Frequency Standard ganization monitored tion BOD Daily 25 mg/l 1.During the start-up period : COD 125 mg/l Construction contrac- PH At WWTP 6­9 tor, site Oil and grease 10 mg/l SuKanal department TSS 35 mg/l 1.During the WSSS Total Phospho- 2 mg /l P operation period: rus 15 mg /l N SuKanal department Total Nitrogen 1 egg/liter Nematode eggs 200-400 MPN/100 Faecal coliforms. ml Heavy metals 10 mg/l During the start-up period : Fluoride At Waste- 2.0-2.5 mg/l water Construction contrac- Sulfate Weekly 400-500 mg/l Plants and tor, Sulfide in river 1 mg/l SuKanal department after dis- DO 2 mg/l charge 1.During the WSSS TDS Should not increase operation period: by >10% after SuKanal department 200m Cadmium At Waste- 0.05-0.1 mg/l During the start-up water period : Chromium 0.1 -0.5 mg/l Plants and Construction contrac- Copper in river 0.2-0.5 mg/l tor, after dis- Iron Monthly 3.0-3.5 mg/l charge SuKanal department Lead 0.1-1.0 mg/l 1.During the WSSS Selenium 0.1 mg/l operation period: C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 9 Environmental Monitor- Responsible Or- Parameter to be ing Loca- Frequency Standard ganization monitored tion Silver 0.1-05mg/l SuKanal department Zinc 2.0 mg/l During the start-up period : Chlorine (in At the dis- Weekly 0.2 mg/l event of use) charge Construction contrac- from the tor, outfall or SuKanal department at 1 km from the 1.During the WSSS WWTP operation period: SuKanal department Table 7-9 Environmental Monitoring Guidelines for the Treated Sludge Environmental Parameter to be Monitored Standard pH 5.5-8.5 Coli-titr <0.01 Viable eggs of biohelminths (in 1 dm3) 0 Viable cyst of intestinal pathogenic enterobacterium 0 Heavy Metals (mg/kg sludge): Cd <30 Cu <1500 Ni <400 Pb <1000 Zn <4000 Cr <1200 As <20 Hg <15 Main conditions for use of wastewater and sludge as an additive in irrigation and fertilization in agriculture; taken from Russian standards, which are based on those from WHO and FAO. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 10 General requirements Application of certain methods of use of waste water on irrigated fields depend on preliminary preparation, with consideration of natural conditions and type of culti- vated crops. Assessment of waste water quality and its sludge, applied for irrigation and fertiliza- tion is conducted in complex way according to agrochemical and sanitary-hygienic and veterinary-sanitary indications. Regulation of indicators of quality of watering water and its sludge is made with con- sideration of soil-climatic, hydro-geological conditions of territory of specific object, biological specific features of cultivated crops and technology of irrigation. Chemical composition of waste water, used for irrigation is assessed on the basis of activity of hydrogen ion (pH), composition of amount of dissolved salts, availability of main biogenic elements (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium), micro-elements and organic substances. Depending on chemical composition of waste water, physical and chemical proper- ties of soil, specific features of cultivated crops, technology of use of waste water for regular (by water use) or fertiliser watering. For use of waste water and sludge in agriculture at irrigation and, as additive to fer- tilizer, the principal conditions are to be regulated by following documents: State standard 17.4.3.05-86 (ST SEV 5297-85) SniP 2.04.03-85 Sanitation, External networks and structures SniP 2.06.08-85 Irrigation systems and structures Sanitary rules of installation and operation of agricultural fields of irrigation, N 3236-85. Irrigation systems with use of waste water. Norms of designing VSN 33-2.2.02- 86. Requirements to waste water and sludge for irrigation and fertilization. Corresponding rules of FAO and WHO Requirements for quality of wastewater and its sludge Quality of waste water and its sludge, used for irrigation is regulated by chemical, bacteriological and parasitological indications. Admissible concentration of heavy metals in waste water is established depending on irrigation norm, and it is defined in each specific case in accordance with acting requirements to waste water quality and its sludge, used for irrgigation and fertiliza- tion. Waste water, containing microelements, including heavy metals in quantities not ex- ceeding MAC for economy-potable water use, may be used for irrigation without re- strictions. Microbiological and parasitological indications of waste water quality, relevant for irrigation, are cited in Table 7-10. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 11 Table 7-10 Microbiological and parasitological indications of waste water quality, rele- vant for irrigation Indicators admissible composi- tion in 1 cub.dm1 Number of LPB (lactose positive bacillus) <10000 Pathogenic microorganisms absence Viable eggs of geohelminths, ascarid, <1 whipworm, hookworm Viable eggs of biohelminths (oncosphere, heniide, <1 eggs of liver fluke) Viable cyst of intestinal pathogenic protozoa <1 (cyst of lamblias, Balantidium, oocyst, crypto- sporidiosis) Possibility of use of treated industrial and mixed waste water in at irrigated fields is settled in each specific case by bodies and institutions of state sanitary- epidemiology and veterinary services on base of results of special researches, di- rected for learning of degree and character of impact of waste water on soil, culti- vated crops, live-stock and cattle breeding production. Requirements concerning sludge from wastewater, applied for fertilization Use of sludge of waste water for fertilization may be admitted after its sterilization by one of methods in accordance with acting Sanitary rules of installation and operation of agricultural fields of irrigation. Before use of sludge at lots for fertilization, agrochemical examination of soil on fol- lowing parameters is to be conducted: pH, composition of active forms of phospho- rus, potassium, heavy metals-lead, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, mercury, zinc. Examination is made on base of methods, accepted at agrochemical service. As a rule, content of heavy metals in sludge of waste water from enterprises, re- processing agricultural production is lower, however, nutritive substances are higher, than in sludge from city treatment facilities. With the aim to exclude hazard of pollution of soil, production and environment by heavy metals sludge of waste water purposed for fertilization are to be obligatorily analyzed for checking of heavy met- als: lead, cadmium, chrome, copper, nickel, mercury, and zinc. Application of sludge of industrial ­domestic waste water, containing heavy metals and composts from them is prohibited, if introduction of these fertilizers will increase level of pollution of soils up to values 0,7-0,8 MACs Quality control of waste water and its sludge, which are applied for irrigation and fer- tilization Production laboratory control on envisaging of sanitation rules and standards at op- eration of at irrigated fields includes: · control of effectiveness of operation of plants on preliminary preparation of waste water and its sludge before introduction at agricultural fields; · quality control of underground and surface water, whcih are in the area of im- pact at agricultural fields C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 12 · quality control of soil and agricultural production Check points, terms of selection of samples of waste water and main indicators of its content are defined in each specific case at designing and they are specified at op- eration of irrigation systems in agreement with local control bodies. Analysis of content of sludge of waste water is conducted before its use. Back- ground content of heavy metals in soils is defined at lots, purposed for irrigation. ANNEX 4 Public Consultations Report 1 National Water Supply and Sanitation Project. Baku City Azerbaijan ­ World Bank Public consultations were held in the first stage of Environmental Impacts Assessment development, in a conference organized by Azersu JSC on February 9, 2008. A public notification was released for organizing the meeting. An information about organizing the meeting was placed in www.azersu.az website on January 31, 2008; Applications for participation were received from NGOs till February 6, 2008. Head of International Relations and Development Department of Azersu JSC, Mr. Ilgar Taghiyev opened the meeting and delivered general information about the pro- ject. He mentioned that one of the main terms of water supply and sewer system project implementation is EIA development. Discussions started after presentation on technical tasks of the Project was finished. Questions were asked first. Fuad Akhundov ­ Karvan, NGO Which equipment and methods will be utilized for sewage treatment? How will depositions generated in purification plants be treated? Answer: Sewage is planned to be fully cleaned, i.e. using mechanical and microbi- ological purification plants according to technical-economic assessment of the pro- ject. Cleaned water will be conveyed to open drains which will allow additional aera- tion of water. Depositions settled in purification plants are suggested to be cleaned and used with mineral fertilizers. Rafig Verdiyev ­ International Hydrology Program, NGO How will use of ground waters affect hydrologic balance of rivers? Answer: Ground waters used as water source for the project are artesian and su- bartesian waters, and water mainly formed in middle and upper reaches of river ba- C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 13 sins and recharging ground waters (in Agstafa). These waters are close to surface in synclinal and monoclinal (hollows) parts of the landscape. Areas suggested as water sources are located in lower parts of river basins and almost no river flow is formed in these areas. These waters most likely will not affect hydrologic balance of rivers. This issue will be studied in EIA. Use of ground waters are planned in other regions, including Gabala and Shamakhy, and use of these resources will not have significant impact on hydrologi- cal regime of Damiraparan and Pirsaat Rivers, as the volume of removed water will be less than 1 % of river flow. Samir Isayev ­ Ecolex, NGO Why river waters are not used in water supply? Is this related to the volume of water flow and water quality of rivers? Answer: River waters are enough for water supply and their use will not have sig- nificant effect on rivers. The main issue here is quality. Agstafachay River waters are regularly polluted in Armenian territory, Agstafachay dam was constructed for irrigation purposes only, and hardness of Hassansuchay River waters is very high. Waters of Damiraparan River in Gabala and Pirsaat River in Shamakhy are often very turbid, and there are issues with clearing water. Moreover, there is always risks of pollution of river waters. Ground waters are clearer and higher quality, as well as costs for their purification is minimal. Soltanhamid Malikov ­ Lazer Ltd. The issue worrying me is sewage treatment level. What level will these waters be cleaned to, and how can they be used afterwards? Answer: Purification of water is planned to irrigation water level. This allows to use these waters in dry seasons mixing with irrigation waters. Main discussions Discussions were mainly about impacts on small river ecosystems; prevention of sewage disposal to rivers; status of ground waters under river courses as most of river waters are consumed; positive role of the project in water supply for people; and potential impacts on ground water resources. Brisk discussions about issues causing major NGO and public concerns, such as sewage and exploitation of most modern technologies for its purification and further utilization of depositions generated in purification process were led. Compliance of the project with World Bank requirements and Azerbaijani legislation, standards, monitoring, ways of minimizing potential environmental impacts during construction phase of the project were also discussed. It was noted that the project is supported by NGOs, and finally, wide-scale works towards solution of water supply and sewer system problems existing for 20-30 years will have positive effects on public welfare and health. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 14 Record of public consultation held in Baku, 9th February 2008 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 15 PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS. REPORT 2 National Water Supply and Sanitation Project. Shamakhi Town. Azerbaijan ­ World Bank Public consultations were held in the first stage of site-specific Environmental Impacts Assessment development, in a meeting organized by Shamakhi Water Canal Department on August 17, 2009. A public notification was released for organizing the meeting. An information about organizing the meeting was placed in www.azersu.az website on July 01, 2009; Applications for participation were received from public untill August 10, 2009. Head of Shamakhy Water Canal Department of Azersu JSC Mr. Fakhraddin Afandiyev opened the meeting and gave general information about the project. Development of EIA is one of the main requirements of implementing water supply and sewer system projects. Then environmental consultant Mr. Mirzakhan Mansimov spoke about the content of EIA document on Shamakhy WSSS project. Discussions started after project presentation finished. Questions were asked first. Sakina Karimova ­ a resident, teacher Question: We suffer from insufficient water supply for many years, especially in summer time. They talk about this project a lot; however, it is unknown when we will have normal water supply in our town. Can you tell when these works will be started? Answer: The project aims at complete reconstruction of water supply and sewer system from 2008 onwards. Gamar Hajiyeva ­ a resident, housewife Question: As far as I understood from your report, we will not buy water by trucks and we will have water for 24 hour, is that correct? Answer: Yes, correct, 266 litres of water consumption per capita is calculated and 24 hours of water supply is planned in the Project. Elkhan Mammadbayov ­ Society of Geography (NGO) Question: You mentioned that total volume of sewage generated will increase by several times compared to today. What are the reasons of this? Answer: First of all, today potable water is supplied to the town every second day and therefore use of water is insignificant. Secondly, most of the generated sewage do not enter the sewer network, they are either accumulated into sanitary pits in yards or discharged into ditches in the streets. Hence, overall volume of sewage is little, and all of the sewage can not be accumulated due to very bad condition of the sewer network. After people are supplied with drinking water as per the Project, use of water will increase and consequently volume of sewage will increase to 4500 m³. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 16 Boyukagha Hajiyev ­ employer of Shamakhy Water Canal Department Question: The project is invaluable for improving wellfare and sanitary situation of our town and people. We are impatiently waiting for its realization. How will the payments be for use of water? If it is the same as the old one, consumers will not save water. What do you think can be done in this situation? Answer: Of course, if water supply is not measured, it will both be impossible to collect costs of water and uncontrolled consumption can cause water shortage again, and water taps will always be left wide open. The only way to eliminate these problems is to install flowmeters. If not, water use will be inefficient. Fizuli Gasimov ­ BT Technoservice Question: You mentioned that waste waters will be completely purified. It is very good. What about the waste waters of industrial enterprises if there will be new ones built in the future? Answer: According to legislation and existing rules, every industrial plant and factory must clean its waste waters, at least to the level of sewage, before they discharge them into sewer network. Main discussions Discussions were mainly about water supply, purification of drinking water, duration of construction works and disturbanse caused by them, future of depositions generated in treatment process, their potential use, and etc. The biggest concern of Shamakhy community is immediate start of the Project, because they are fed up by insufficient water supply and waste water problems and do not want to live those problems again in forthcoming spring/summer season. NGOs also confirmed their support for the Project once more, and noted that its implementation shall be started without any delay. C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx National Water Supply & Sanitation 17 Record of public consultation held in Shamakhi, 17th August 2009 C:\Users\User\Desktop\NWSSP_Shamakhi EIA_211209_AK comm_AH.docx