Chapter 1 Introduction

WREP Sectional Replacement Project, Georgia

Environmental and Social Baseline Report

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 General The environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) for the Western Route Export Pipeline (WREP) Sectional Replacement (SR) Project addresses the potential impacts, mitigations and management of environmental and social issues associated with the proposed works.

This Environmental and Social Baseline (ESB) Report comprises the field surveys reports and literature reviews that have been compiled to inform the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the Project. The aim of the ESIA is to ensure that all potential impacts of the Project on the physical, biological and human environment are fully investigated, reported and, where necessary, managed. This requires clear definition of existing environmental and social conditions – the purpose of this report.

The WREP-SR Project ESIA has been undertaken by an international environmental consultancy, RSK Environment Limited (RSK), together with specialist Georgian partners, Dzelkva and ACT Research, which are established and experienced consultancy practices in environmental and socio-economic assessment, respectively. Cultural heritage surveys were undertaken by the Georgian National Museum, ICOMOS Georgia and BP’s cultural heritage monitors. Laboratory analysis of water samples was undertaken by Scientific Research Firm Gamma.

1.2 Background to the WREP In March 1996, an agreement was signed between the Government of Georgia and 12 oil companies to transport crude oil from the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan to the Black Sea in Georgia. Most of these companies are the shareholder companies of the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), which is the joint operating company under the Agreement on Joint Development and Production Sharing for the Azeri and Chirag Fields and the Deep Water Portion of the Gunashli Field in the Azerbaijan Sector of the Caspian Sea, dated 20 September 1994 (ACG PSA). Under the ACG PSA, the contractor parties, which are the shareholder companies in AIOC, have been granted the sole and exclusive right to conduct petroleum operations in the contract comprising the Azeri and Chirag and the deep water portion of the Gunashli contract area in the Azerbaijan Sector of the Caspian Sea.

The HGA provides for the establishment of an operating company in Georgia, which was later formed by the oil companies as the Georgian Pipeline Company (GPC). This agreement marked the commencement of the refurbishment and commissioning project for an existing crude oil export pipeline from the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan to the Black Sea in Georgia.

An EIA of the WREP Refurbishment and Construction Project was undertaken in 1996, and an environmental permit was issued in 1997 by the Georgian Ministry of Environmental Protection (MoE). Construction proceeded in 1997–1998 and the pipeline has been operational since 1999.

The WREP exports oil from the Sangachal Terminal on the Azerbaijan coast of the Caspian Sea to the Supsa Terminal on the Georgian Black Sea coast. The Georgian section of the WREP is approximately 373km in length, from the Azerbaijan border to the Black Sea loading terminal at Supsa. From the border, the pipeline traverses north of Tbilisi in a north-westerly direction towards the Supsa terminal. The WREP system in Georgia comprises three pump stations (PS11, PS13 and PS15), two pressure reduction stations (PRS1 PRS2), three check valves, twenty-eight block valves and the Supsa Terminal. Oil is

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transferred from the Supsa Terminal to offshore loading facilities by another pipeline, which is referred to in the ESIA as the “export pipeline”.

The location of WREP is shown in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1: Geographical Context of WREP (red) and BTC/SCP Pipeline (blue)

1.3 Rationale for WREP-SR Project The WREP-SR Project is being undertaken to ensure continued safe operation of WREP. The Project involves the replacement and re-routing of discrete sections of pipeline located over a 330km distance along WREP between PS11 and Supsa terminal. There are two primary drivers for the work:

• Landslides: Georgia is a dynamic environment subject to constant geomorphological change brought about by geological and climatic influences. Three re-route sections (RP-001a1, RR-001 and RR-004a)- have been identified to address slope stability issues

• River crossings: Similarly, rivers also represent a dynamic environment. Owing to bed and bank scouring the WREP and export line crossings of the river Supsa have been identified for replacement.

The WREP-SR sections are shown in Figure 1-2 and described in the ESIA Chapter 5 Project Description.

1 Section RP-001a is a part of section RP-001 between AM52 and AM55.

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Figure 1-2: WREP-SR Sections

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1.4 Scope and Overview of Methodology

The ESIA covers all the components of the WREP-SR Project that are located within the territorial boundaries of the Republic of Georgia. This comprises the pipeline re-route sections, river crossing replacement at two locations, and all temporary works in support of the main Project activities (e.g. access roads).

The ESIA assesses the potential impacts of all phases of the WREP-SR Project development including construction, commissioning and removal from service.

The ESIA process has drawn upon a wide range of published and unpublished sources and full referencing of these sources is provided in Chapter 15 of the ESIA. The ESIA has synthesised and collated relevant information, so that the ESIA Report and its supporting Appendices are presented as a comprehensive stand-alone set of documents. In addition, this Environmental and Social Baseline Report (E&S Baseline Report) has been prepared in order to present the more detailed findings of baseline literature reviews and field surveys.

The scoping exercise for the WREP-SR Project involved a review of available environmental and socio-economic data sources to identify gaps in baseline information necessary to complete the ESIA process. The original WREP Refurbishment and Construction Project EIA (1996) and its addenda (which contain valuable baseline information) were consulted as listed in Section 1.7 of the ESIA. This gap-analysis approach allowed the project to avoid repetition of work already undertaken and maximise the collection of focused, up-to-date baseline data from the Project area.

The results of the scoping study indicated that there were certain key issues requiring detailed additional study for the WREP-SR Project, and that certain existing baseline data for the Project was either lacking or out of date (the original WREP EIA baseline data was collected in 1996) and required supplementary information. The detailed studies and surveys therefore conducted specifically for the WREP-SR ESIA were:

• Soil o Literature review of the documented soil conditions along the re-route

sections • Surface water

o Field survey of hydrological conditions at watercourses crossed by the proposed new pipeline sections, with water quality sampling at the larger rivers crossed by the WREP-SR Project and rivers that Project may use to source hydrotest water

• Groundwater o Literature review of the documented hydrogeological conditions along the

re-route sections • Ecology

o Field surveys of habitats and species along the re-route sections, river crossings and access roads

o Macroinvertebrate surveys at the Liakhvi and Supsa river crossings, supplemented by literature research of the fish species and populations in the Supsa river

• Road traffic o Current levels and types of traffic at the road to Jvari monument at its

junction with AR69 • Cultural heritage

o Identification of the presence of potential cultural heritage within the Project physical footprint and along the access roads

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o Heritage impact assessment for the WREP-SR Project in proximity to the Mtskheta World Heritage Site

• Socio-economics o Baseline conditions and key trends in Project-affected communities.

The following sections in this ESB Report comprise the technical reports that have been prepared by specialists in each of the topics. During the nine year period in which these baseline studies have been undertaken, the route and scope of the Project has changed as new information has become available. As a result of this iterative design process, some of the information provided in the ESB Report includes routes or alignments which have changed or were scoped out; nevertheless original data is provided where it includes information relevant to the general vicinity of the study area in order to facilitate understanding of the overall background conditions. Where necessary, field survey reports prepared by specialists during the early stages of project design have been edited by RSK to remove information that has been superseded due to route changes.

1.5 Structure of the E&S Baseline Report

The E&S Baseline Report document is presented as 8 Sections as outlined in Table 1-1.

Table 1-1: Structure of the E&S Baseline Report

Section 1 Introduction

This section which provides the context for the E&S Baseline Report and the report structure of the E&S Baseline Report

Section 2 Soils

Soil Literature Review

Section 3 Surface Water

Section 3.1 – Introduction Section 3.2 – Hydrological Surveys Section 3.3 – Water Quality Survey

Section 4 Groundwater

Hydrogeological Literature Review

Section 5 Ecology

Section 5.1 – Introduction Section 5.2 – Re-route Section Reports Section 5.3 – Access Road Reports Section 5.4 – River Supsa and Liakhvi Reports Section 5.5 – High Conservation Value (spring flowering) Plants

Section 6 Traffic

Traffic Survey Data

Section 7 Cultural Heritage Studies

Section 7.1 – Cultural Heritage Baseline Report (Access Roads) Section 7.2 – Cultural Heritage Baseline Report (Pipeline Route) Section 7.3 – Mtskheta Heritage Impact Assessment

Section 8 Socio-economic Studies

Section 8.1 – PAC Leader Survey, 2016 Section 8.2 – Access Road Survey, 2016