Ukrtransnafta to put into operation section of Druzhba oil pipeline built 10 years ago

JSC Ukrtransnafta will put into operation a bypass section of the Brody-State Border oil pipeline (Druzhba) at the earliest possible date, construction and installation work on which was completed more than 10 years ago.

According to the company's press service, the launch of the section became possible due to resolution No. 985 of the Cabinet of Ministers dated October 21, 2020, which approved the procedure for the operation of the first and second phases of the Brody-State Border oil pipeline facility. The facility was built in order to minimize the risks of pollution of one of the largest water intake facilities in Lviv region and the western region of Ukraine.

The section of the Brody-State Border oil pipeline runs along the Stry River bed, approaching the bed in some areas by 50 meters, and also partially passes within the boundaries of the second sanitary protection zone of the Stry fresh groundwater intake.

"In case of the oil pipeline damage in this area, there is a risk of oil leakage and pollution of the river with oil entering the water intake facilities underneath the river bed," the report explains.

For this reason, Ukrtransnafta in 2006 made a decision to remove both lines of the Brody-State Border oil pipeline from the second belt of sanitary protection of the Stry water intake and build a new section of the oil pipeline.

However, despite the fact that by the end of 2008 the construction and installation work at the facility was almost completed, the project was stopped due to changes in land legislation. In particular, it took more than 10 years to formalize the ownership or use of land plots on which a new branch of the oil pipeline was built.

The Stry water intake facility provides drinking water for more than 500,000 water users in Lviv, Truskavets, Morshyn, Stry and Drohobych.

Source: www.en.interfax.com.ua