People impacted by Oil Spill seek suspension of “Canargo Georgia’’ Operations

The local residents of the Ninotsminda and Wyarostavi villages, in the Sagarejo Region, are seeking the suspension  of “Canargo Georgia’’ operations.  As they stated to Kakheti Information Center, the court has not examined their claim objectively, according to which, they are asking for compensation from the oil company.

“We petitioned  the Court in 2005. On June 30, 2007, the Tbilisi City Court Judge, Besik Sisvidze, evaluated our lawyer’s request and called for an ecological examination of the situation. However, this decision seemed to be soon forgotten, nevertheless, we continued the dispute.  We now plan to halt the operations of the oil company,’’ declared locals from the Ninotsminda village.

In Ninotsminda, there was a significant oil and gas spill on September 10, 2004. Specialists only stopped the spill after three days. Since that time, breast, throat and skin cancer, as well as, heart and blood disease rates, have spiked in the village. The spill destroyed hundreds of hectares of the forest and polluted the water and soil.