In 2019, just under 128 000 tons of pollutants were released into the air by enterprises in the region. Primary pollutants include sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and solids.
Pollutant emissions from stationary sources - 2017–2019
Contaminants | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
Sulfur dioxide | 42,3 | 41,6 | 41,8 |
Nitrogen oxides | 16,9 | 17,1 | 18 |
Suspended solid particulate | 28,4 | 30,2 | 29,7 |
Carbon monoxide | 33,7 | 33,6 | 32,5 |
Industry is the principal source of air pollution in the oblast.
Stationary sources of air pollution, aggregate - 2017–2019
2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
22 353 | 20 790 | 19 670 |
Air quality monitoring in the oblast is carried out at 17 observation posts.
Air pollution levels – Oblast cities - 2018-2019
Settlement | 2018 | 2019 |
Ust-Kamenogorsk | high | high |
Ridder | elevated | low |
Semey | elevated | elevated |
Altai | - | low |
Glubokoe | elevated | low |
In 2019, two cases of elevated hydrogen sulfide pollution were recorded in Ust-Kamenogorsk during unfavorably cold winter weather.
In 2018, to improve the air quality in the city of Zaisan, 2320 of 5035 residential structures, 5 schools, 88 commercial and 17 state organizations were connected to the centralized gas supply. As of 2019, 3678 residential structures, 88 commercial organizations, and 22 state organizations are connected.
Plans include the construction of an automated gas distribution and supply network to supply 60 rural settlements, over 95,000 residents, with gas supply from the Sarybulak field.
In addition to emissions from stationary sources, motor vehicle emissions are a significant contributor to ambient air pollution.
Number of vehicles in 2014–2019
Types of vehicles | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
Passenger Cars | 288 234 | 305 430 | 307 992 | 298 133 | 290 199 | 290 514 |
Trucks / Lorries | 33 522 | 34 010 | 34 062 | 35 736 | 35 710 | 32 890 |
Buses | 6 634 | 6 774 | 6 814 | 6 581 | 6 316 | 6 153 |
Caravans | 17 673 | 18 662 | 18 539 | 15 235 | 14 243 | 18 520 |
Motorcycles | 8 937 | 9 009 | 9 212 | 8 646 | 8 332 | 8 395 |
TOTAL | 355 000 | 373 885 | 376 619 | 364 331 | 354 861 | 356 472 |
The Oblast Department of Internal Affairs monitors vehicle use compliance with environmental legislation. In 2018, police registered 2386 administrative offenses; in 2019-м — 1124.
Incidents of elevated and extremely elevated pollution of oblast surface water resources - 2017-2019
Incidents of elevated pollution | Incidents of extremely elevated pollution | |||||
Body of Water | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
Brex River | 12 | 12 | 2 | - | - | - |
Tikhaya River | 9 | 10 | 10 | - | - | - |
Ulbi River | 20 | 19 | 8 | - | 3 | - |
Glubochanka River | 26 | 14 | 12 | - | 1 | - |
Krasnoyarska River | 11 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - |
Domestic wastewater discharge - 2018–2019
2018 | 2019 | |
Volume – wastewater discharge – 1000 m3 | 33 076 | 47 899 |
Volume – pollutant discharge - kt | 8,9 | 8,5 |
Water quality monitoring was carried out at 13 bodies of water bodies of the obast: the Kara Yertis, Yertis, Brexa, Tikhaya, Ulbi, Glubochanka, Krasnoyarska, Oba, Buktyrma, Emel, and Ayagoz rivers; Lake Markakol; and the Buktyrma and Ust-Kamenogorskoye reservoirs.
The principal water artery of the East Kazakhstan region is the Yertis River which supplies the needs of oblast industry, housing and communal sectors, oblast fisheries, agriculture, power generation and navigation. Large lakes in the oblast include lakes Zaisan, Markakol, Alakol, and Sasykkol.
Discharge of pollutants by enterprises - 2018-2019
2018 | 2019 | |
Volume – wastewater discharge – 1000 m3 | 104 607 | 111 086 |
Volume – pollutant discharge - kt | 13,6 | 17,3 |
Emergency and unauthorized wastewater discharges - 2018
There were no emergency or unauthorized wastewater discharges in 2019
2018 | |
Volume – wastewater discharge – 1000 m3 | 21,8 |
Volume – pollutant discharge - kt | 0,016 |
To eliminate threats of flooding, a roadmap "Package of Measures to Prevent and Eliminate Flood Threats for 2017-2020" has been developed addressing 80 separate preventative measures.
Between 2005 and 2019, the oblast Akimat issued 178 resolutions establishing water protection zones – covering a length of 2932 kilometers and an area of 119,530 hectares.
The principal sources of elevated and extremely elevated water pollution in the rivers of the oblast are mining enterprises and pre-existing sources of pollution (rock and slag piles, tailings ponds).
To source drinking water in 2019, groundwater surveys and field studies were carried out at 17 settlements, and design and cost estimates were drawn up for groundwater surveys at an additional 61 rural settlements.
The total oblast land area in 2019 amounted to more than 28 million hectares.
Distribution of land by category - 2017–2019 - thousands of hectares
Category | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
Agricultural land | 10 848 | 10 928 | 11 071 |
Residential land | 2 945 | 2 953 | 2 953 |
Land zoned for industrial, transport, communications, defense, and other non-agricultural purposes | 188 | 140 | 145 |
Protected Nature Preserves | 1 542 | 1 542 | 1 542 |
Forestland | 2 153 | 2 153 | 2 154 |
Surface water land | 571 | 571 | 571 |
Undesignated Reserve areas | 10 100 | 10 059 | 9 911 |
293 soil pollution sites were registered in the oblast in 2019; in 2018 - 284 sites.
Volume of depreciated land - 2018-2019 (thousand hectares).
Land category | 2018 | 2019 |
Agricultural land | 0,3 | 0,3 |
Residential land | 2,8 | 2,8 |
Land zoned for industrial, transport, communications, defense, and other non-agricultural purpose | 6 | 6,1 |
Undesignated Reserve areas | 3,6 | 3,6 |
Breakdown of enterprises by type of extracted resources - 2018 - 2019
At the beginning of 2020, 451 mining and other subsoil concerns were in operation in the oblast.
Type of extracted natural resources | 2018 | 2019 |
Solid minerals | 104 | 112 |
Common minerals | 153 | 154 |
Hydrocarbon raw materials | 4 | 2 |
Groundwater | 21 | 6 |
Non-exploratory and non-producing facilities (tailings ponds and slag dumps) | 8 | 8 |
In 2019, 420 000 hectares of unused agricultural land were identified in the region, of which nearly 174 000 were returned to state ownership
Land return aggregates - 2015–2019 - thousand hectares
2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
403 | 80 | 184 | 106 | 420 |
In 2019, 14 individual and corporate entities were cited for subsoil use violations.
Since 2017, the amount of agricultural land in the oblast has increased by nearly 223 thousand hectares, following an increase in private farmland and agricultural allotments.
Since 2017, the amount of agricultural land in the oblast has increased by nearly 223 thousand hectares, following an increase in private farmland and agricultural allotments.
There are 12 national and 13 oblast protected nature reserves in the oblast covering over 2M hectares.
Protected state natural reserves of the East Kazakhstan Oblast
West Altai State Nature Reserve | 88 122 |
Markakol State Nature Reserve | 102 971 |
Katon-Karagai National Nature Park | 643 477 |
Tarbagatai National Nature Park | 143 551 |
Semey Ormany State Forest Nature Reserve | 654 180 |
Kuludzhun State Nature Reserve | 46 000 |
Tarbagatay State Nature Reserve | 240 000 |
Karatal Sands State Nature Reserve | 1 300 |
Nizhne-Turgusun State Nature Reserve | 2 200 |
Ontustik Altai State Nature Reserve | 197 178 |
Sinegorsk Fir Grove State Natural Monument | 137 |
Altai Botanical Garden | 154 |
The region comprises 12% of the total forests by area and 49% of the timber reserves of State forests. Annual seedings regularly supplement these totals.
Area of forest plantations - hectares
2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
3 138 | 3 670 | 4 300 | 4 636 |
Population growth among selected animal species – 2019 compared to 2017
Species | % |
Bear | 17,3 |
Wild Boar | 15,5 |
Moose | 5,3 |
Wapiti | 3 |
Marmot | 0,7 |
Sable | 12,8 |
Wood grouse | 7,3 |
Hazel grouse | 5,4 |
Black grouse | 7,2 |
Partridge | 7,5 |
There are 497 vertebrate species in the region.
Class | Quantity |
Cyclostomes | 2 |
Osteichthyes | 37 |
Amphibians | 3 |
Reptiles | 26 |
Birds | 335 |
Mammals | 94 |
Monitoring of gamma radiation levels in the oblast was conducted daily at 17 meteorological stations; all measurements were stable within acceptable guidelines.
At the start of 2020, ionizing radiation samples are stored in ampoules employed in radiation therapy instruments at the radiological department of the Center for Nuclear Medicine and Oncology in Semey.
The Oblast Department of Ecology exercises environmental control over economic activity at the decommissioned Semipalatinsk test site, monitoring the overall radiation conditions at the test site. For more information, see the Nuclear Test Legacy section.
Index | 2018 | 2019 |
Generated wastes, kt | 183,5 | 170,9 |
Processed and sorted wastes, % | 4,8 | 8,5 |
Total landfills and junkyards | 435 | 427 |
Total landfills and junkyards meeting environmental standards | 28 | 30 |
Eight enterprises in the oblast engage in the collection, sorting and processing of household wastes. In Ust-Kamenogorsk, the Oskemenspetskommuntrans LLP has installed a sorting conveyer with a capacity of up to 100K tons annually.
RENEWABLE ENERGY installations in the East Kazakhstan Oblast
Installation | Status |
Khariuzovskaya Hydroelectric Station | active |
Tishinskaya Hydroelectric Station | active |
Ulba Hydroelectric Station | active |
Zhangiz Solar Station | active |
Zharma District Solar Station | active |
Turgusun Hydroelectric Station-1 | projected |
Aktogay Wind Farm | projected |
In 2019, six projects with a total capacity of 29.7 MW were identified in the Zharma District; design and survey work are currently underway.
In 2019, the share of green electricity generation in the oblast amounted to 10.5% of all electricity generated.
The Semey sewage treatment plant needs to be reconstructed to prevent the discharge of insufficiently treated wastewater into the Yertis River. In 2013, design and cost estimates were developed, but no funds for reconstruction were allocated. In 2017, a technical inspection was completed at the treatment facility and in 2019, the facility carried out a major repair project at its own expense. Adjustment to the design and cost estimates are now required for the work to go forward to completion. The issue remains unresolved.
From the 1950s through the 1970s, uranium production processes took place within the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk resulting in radioactive contamination in residential areas. In 2005, the Cadastre of Radioactive Anomalies and Sources of Ionizing Radiation was compiled; within this framework, decontamination efforts have been undertaken annually since 2006.
Monitoring efforts by the State environmental service in the cities of Ust-Kamenogorsk, Semey, Altai, Ridder and Shemonaikha are not positioned to provide comprehensive evaluation of the air quality or the state of the local natural environment. To address this issue in Ust-Kamenogorsk, an automated industrial and environmental monitoring system has been introduced. Plans include the creation of a regional monitoring network to be financed by funds allocated from the State budget.
A number of derelict areas and physical objects in the region exert negative impact on the local environment. Overall, there are 148 ownerless tailings ponds, overburden dumps, unmaintained ore dumps and slag piles in the oblast. Zhasyl Damu, JSC is currently engaged in the transfer of facilities of this type to State control and waste management services.
State forestland in the region amounts to 3.8 million hectares, of which forests cover 7%. Principal forestland species include pine, fir, spruce, cedar, larch, aspen, birch, poplar.