10/11/2006 18:54 MOSCOW, November 10 (RIA Novosti) – Contractors in the Sakhalin II oil and gas project in Russia’s Far East have paid the first two tranches, worth over eight million rubles ($300,000), in compensation for damage inflicted on forests, the environmental watchdog said Friday.
The multibillion-dollar Sakhalin II project has been accused of inflicting large-scale ecological damage on Sakhalin Island, including illegal deforestation, the dumping of toxic waste, and soil erosion.