Since 1998, Turkmenistan jointly with the Caspian countries has participated in the implementation of the Caspian Environmental Programme, ratified the United Nations Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea (Tehran), signed a number of documents of regional significance.
The state enterprise on the Caspian Sea under the President of Turkmenistan and the interdepartmental commission on the Caspian Sea together with "Turkmengidromet" and the State Committee for Fisheries of the country ensure the safety of maritime management inside the country. "Sanitary regulations for sea vessels" and other regulatory documents were adopted.
Five years ago, the country introduced the environmental insurance and implements the National Oil Spill Prevention and Response Plan.
The Caspian Sea Environmental Service (“The Caspian Sea environmental control”) monitors the environment status, studies sea water surface and bottom sediments, coastline groundwater, atmospheric air in all respects.It exists for more than forty years and builds up its work in accordance with the requirements of the national legislation, controls the construction and operation of facilities in the industrial zone of the Caspian coast, conducts environmental audits of foreign and domestic companies engaged in sea and land freight, extraction and transportation of energy resources, geophysical and geological research.
Ecologists are provided with modern laboratory instruments, technical and transport means.
The mission of the service is to ensure the state environmental supervision over the maritime management, the work of industrial enterprises within the framework of the environmental safety parameters established by the Law.
Its activities extend to the water area of the Turkmen sector in the two-kilometer zone and the coastal part.It includes two laboratories: the laboratory for monitoring the environment status and hydrobiochemical laboratory.
This year, the new mobile environmental laboratory, equipped with a three-component anemometer to measure wind speed and direction, gas analyzers with sensors for determining the presence of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulphide, etc., a multimedia system for determining the barometric pressure, temperature and humidity, has replenished the service infrastructure.
Two stationary ecological stations with automatic monitoring of atmospheric air have been installed on the territory of the Turkmenbashi International Seaport.
The hydrobiochemical laboratory conducts regular observations over the coastal zone of the sea, checks the efficiency of the treatment facilities, monitors the work of departmental laboratories of various enterprises.
For many years, the laboratory specialists have been studying the hydrochemical regime of the sea at the stations located in the Turkmenbashi Bay, the areas of offshore drilling, Kiyanly Bay, within the water area of the village of Ekerem, in Garabogaz, NTZ Avaza.
Selected samples of sea water are investigated for such components as heavy metals, organic (common hydrocarbons, phenols), synthetic surface substances.
Avaza and its regions are among the important objects of observation of the service.According to scientists: for the period 2012-2017 and the first half of 2018, no excess of polluting components in the air has been detected within the recreation zone.
Tking into account seasonal variations and other parameters, the content of various impurities in sea water is within the permissible limits, the hydrochemical balance of the water area is stable and safe that proves the ecological well-being of the Caspian Sea coast in the country.