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Integrated Annual Report 2012
The Culture of Values

 

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Grupa LOTOS S.A. - Integrated Annual Report 2012

Impact on ecosystems

 

As part of its mission, the LOTOS Group pays a lot of attention to the condition of the environment as a whole, placing particular emphasis on how its activities effect change in the environment. The LOTOS Group undertakes various measures to prevent and compensate for the possible effects of that impact. This policy is in force at all companies of the LOTOS Group.

The only production plant owned by the Grupa LOTOS is the oil refinery situated in the north of Poland, on the border between the municipalities of Gdańsk and Pruszcz Gdański. The facility spreads over 2.35 km2 and the location is designated in the local spatial development plan as a built-in production and services area, for industrial facilities and warehouses. Apart from the refinery, there are warehouses and office buildings in the area, from which some of the LOTOS Group companies operate, including LOTOS Asfalt, LOTOS Oil, LOTOS Paliwa, LOTOS Lab, LOTOS Straż, LOTOS Ochrona and LOTOS Service.

The area owned by Grupa LOTOS is essentially of no environmental value and is not environmentally protected, either by Polish or EU environmental law. However, there are some areas in the neighbourhood of the refinery which are covered by various environmental protection regulations.

Nature Reserves

  • Ptasi Raj in Wyspa Sobieszewska: surface area 200 ha, 2.5 km away from the plant;
  • Mewia Łacha in the Wisła estuary: surface area 150 ha, 13 km away from the plant. 

Landscape parks:

  • Trójmiejski Park Krajobrazowy (Tricity Landscape Park) surrounding Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia from the east; surface area 19,930 ha, 15 km away from the plant; 
  • Nadmorski Park Krajobrazowy (Seaside Landscape Park) stretching from Białogóra in its western part to the Hel Peninsula in the east, and including the eastern shore of Zatoka Pucka; surface area 18,804 ha, 43 km away from the plant;
  • Park Krajobrazowy Mierzeja Wiślana (Mierzeja Wiślana Landscape Park) situated east of the refinery, stretching from Sztutow all the way to the Russian border in Piaski; surface area 4,410 ha, 35 km away from the plant. 

Natura 2000 areas

  • Wisła estuary (PLB220004, continental),  
  • Zatoka Pucka (Puck Bay) (PLB220005, continental),  
  • Twierdza Wisłoujście (Wisłoujście Fortress) (PLH220030, continental), 
  • A mainstay in the Wisła estuary (PLH220044, continental).

The Natura 2000 areas coincide with the areas of the nature reserves and landscape parks.

The LOTOS Group companies, operating in the south of Poland, such as LOTOS Czechowice, LOTOS Jasło, LOTOS Biopaliwa, RCEkoenergia neither own, lease nor manage any grounds that are in the direct vicinity of nature reserves, landscape parks or Natura 2000 areas, or any other areas valued for their biodiversity. There are, however, two environmentally relevant areas in the neighbourhood of LOTOS Czechowice, LOTOS Biopaliwa and RCEkonergia:

  • The Rotuz nature reserve, 6 km west from the border of the plant; surface area 28.21 ha. 
  • Protected spa area in Goczałkowice Zdrój, 4 km away from the plant's borders. 

The potential impact of the LOTOS Group’s sites on biodiversity are also analysed in the case of three Petrobaltic Group oil and gas producing entities. LOTOS Petrobaltic licence areas in the Baltic Sea are not situated in protected areas. Biodiversity in oil and gas extraction areas is very low, so the impact of work taking place in the waters of Polish economic zones is negligible. In the case of LOTOS Geonafta, licences and other areas managed by the Company are not located in protected zones. According to Lithuanian law, only prospecting (seismic) works can be carried out in protected areas or in areas of high biodiversity, but no extraction, as such, is allowed. Also, the licences and areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf that were explored by LOTOS Norge in 2012 are not located anywhere near protected or high-biodiversity areas.

Energobaltic, another Petrobaltic Group company, is located in the northern part of Władysławowo in the industrial harbour area, occupying a surface of 24,000 m2 and owned by the State Treasury and leased out to the company in perpetual usufruct. It is situated right at the base of the Hel Peninsula in the conservation area of Nadmorski Park Krajobrazowy and in direct vicinity of the Natura 2000 areas. As provided for by the local spatial development plan, the nearby areas, along provincial road 216 are designated for nuisance trades. There are meadows spreading behind the road, which border Zatoka Pucka, and are part of the Słone Łąki Nature Reserve. 

LOTOS Asfalt has at its disposal industrial land located in Gdańsk, Jasło and Czechowice Dziedzice which the company holds in perpetual usufruct or under lease agreements from other businesses. These areas are situated within the land belonging to Grupa LOTOS, LOTOS Jasło and LOTOS Czechowice.  The LOTOS Asfalt areas and their direct vicinity are not regulated by any form of environmental protection, nor are there are any facilities or areas nearby that are similarly protected.

At LOTOS Paliwa, in the process of preparing new facilities for operation in the LOTOS station chain, the environmental protection documentation has also been reviewed. An Environmental Impact Assessment Report was prepared for each newly built station, which includes analysis of the station’s location in relation to protected areas or any other areas of biodiversity, and a risk analysis of the possible impact of the station on the environment. Based on the analysed documentation and site visits it was concluded that LOTOS chain facilities were mostly located within towns and cities, away from protected areas.

LOTOS Kolej based in Gdańsk had its Environmental Impact Assessment Reports prepared at the investment stages, with the potential impact of the planned facilities on the neighbouring areas thoroughly investigated, with special focus on the protected and significantly biodiverse areas. No such areas were identified anywhere near the new facilities.

Both Polish and EU law are designed to ensure that restrictions imposed on production plants guarantee the lowest possible impact of their activities on biodiversity in nearby areas, while at the same time not generating irrational costs. Grupa LOTOS refinery and all other companies that belong to the LOTOS Group, depending on their production profile, ensure that they meet all the requirements defined in their integrated and sectoral permits. The standards defined in the permits mostly regard monitoring and reporting of air quality around the plant, wastewater, gas and noise emissions and waste management. Ensuring that these conditions are maintained guarantees that the protected areas neighbouring the plants, as described above, will not be adversely affected in any way.

Similarly to plant operating conditions, the law also regulates the parameters that refinery products need to have before they are introduced to market. This guarantees that when used correctly, they will not have excessive negative impact on the environment or biodiversity. 

The LOTOS Group ensures that it does not expand in any way that is detrimental to natural habitats, or that it has any other adverse effect on the natural habitats situated in the neighbourhood of its investments. This guarantee can be provided because issues of biodiversity are included in the specialist environmental impact assessments prepared prior to each of our investments.

In fact, the LOTOS Group companies' presence can be discussed in terms of their positive impact on the lives of the people who live near their plants, and Energobaltic's activities are a good example of such operations. The company's CHP plant has considerably reduced exhaust emissions from local coal boilers, while low-waste technologies have allowed us to avoid combustion waste, such as slag and dust. Continuous monitoring of underground waters confirms the stability of their content, which remains well within prescribed standards. This is particularly important because the plant is close to the beach and sea, has a nature reserve in its vicinity, Natura 2000 lands and the Nadmorski Park Krajobrazowy (Seaside Landscape Park).

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