Most oil pollution in Azerbaijan stems from past 150–200 years

Currently, there is no new oil pollution observed in the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan"s lakes, with most existing contamination resulting from industrial activity over the last 150–200 years, according to Rovshan Abbasov, a member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and an environmental expert. He made the remarks during a panel discussion at Baku Water Week, Report informs.

Abbasov noted that all active oil fields operate in compliance with current environmental standards, preventing new contamination.

He emphasized that large-scale remediation efforts are underway in various regions of Azerbaijan to restore oil-polluted areas. In particular, the Zykh Lake restoration project, supported by the World Bank, is being implemented.

"Research has shown that a large amount of oil residue remains on the lake bed. It turns out that this lake was once used as a temporary storage reservoir for oil, which is why the level of contamination is extremely high," he said.

The expert added that clean-up operations are ongoing on the Absheron Peninsula, especially in the Bail and White City areas. However, oil residues that have seeped into the soil layers over many years sometimes resurface, making remediation a long-term and complex process.