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Norilsk oil spill

Coordinates: 69°19′40″N 87°57′52″E / 69.32778°N 87.96444°E / 69.32778; 87.96444
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Norilsk diesel oil spill
Extent of the spill as seen by Sentinel-2 satellite
Map
LocationNorilsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia
Coordinates69°19′40″N 87°57′52″E / 69.32778°N 87.96444°E / 69.32778; 87.96444
Date29 May 2020
Cause
Cause
  • Collapse of foundations due to permafrost melting
  • Corrosion of tank bottom
OperatorNTEK (Nornickel subsidiary)
Spill characteristics
Volume21,000 m3 (17,500 tonnes)[1]
Area350 km2 (140 sq mi)

The Norilsk diesel oil spill was an industrial disaster near Norilsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, that began on 29 May 2020 when a fuel storage tank at Norilsk-Taimyr Energy's Thermal Power Plant No. 3 (owned by Nornickel) failed, flooding local rivers with up to 21,000 cubic metres (17,500 tonnes) of diesel oil.[1][2] Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency in early June.[3] The accident has been described as the second-largest oil spill in modern Russian history.[4]

Cause

Diesel oil is used as a backup fuel for the Norilsk-Taimyr Energy (NTEK) coal-fired combined heat and power plant.[5] Fuel storage tank 5 failed through holes in the tank bottom, caused by the formation of ulcerative corrosion. In 2014 the company had been ordered by the Russian federal environmental agency Rostekhnadzor to, by 2015, clean the outer surface of the walls and roof of the tanks from rust and restore the anticorrosion coating, and by October 2016, to conduct non-destructive inspection of the tank bottoms. None of this was done.[6][7]

Nornickel claimed that Tank 5 failed when the permafrost it was built on began to soften. The company stated: "Due to sudden subsidence of supports which served for more than 30 years without problems, the diesel fuel storage tank was damaged, resulting in a fuel leak."[8]

The spill affected an immediate area of 18 hectares (44 acres), then the nearby Daldykan River, a tributary of the Ambarnaya River, then Lake Pyasino,[9] contaminating an area of 350 square kilometres (140 square miles). Clean-up efforts were anticipated to be difficult as there are no roads and the rivers are too shallow for boats and barges. It was estimated the immediate cost of emergency relief activities would be 10 billion roubles (US$146 million), with a total clean-up cost of 100 billion roubles (US$1.5 billion), which would take five to 10 years.[10][11]

Aftermath

President Putin chairing a meeting about the fuel spill on 3 June 2020[12]

Russia's Investigative Committee has launched a criminal investigation of the spill.

The head of the power plant's boiler-turbine workshop was placed in pretrial detention, charged with violating environmental regulations and negligence.[9][13] Yevgeny Zinichev, head of Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry, stated that the power plant did not report the incident for two days, while trying to contain the situation on their own.[14]

President Vladimir Putin declared a regional state of emergency following the spill, and criticized the local authorities for a slow response.[14] He also criticized Vladimir Potanin, chairman and major shareholder of Norilsk Nickel, for not properly maintaining the safety of the fuel tanks at the plant.[15] Putin ordered officials to amend Russian law to prevent similar accidents in the future.[16] In a 3 June 2020 televised meeting devoted to disaster management, Putin asked Sergei Lipin, the head of NTEK: "Why did government agencies only find out about this two days after the fact? Are we going to learn about emergency situations from social media?"[17][18]

As a result of the spill, up to 21,000 cubic metres (17,500 tonnes) of diesel oil spilled into the Daldykan River. Greenpeace Russia compared the potential environmental effects of the Norilsk spill to that of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.[1][14]

On 4 June 2020 Russian state television reported that the spill had been contained using a series of specially constructed booms on the Ambarnaya river.[19]

In the aftermath of the Norilsk spill, Russia's Prosecutor General's office ordered safety checks at all dangerous installations built on the permafrost in Russia's Arctic.[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Diesel fuel spill in Norilsk in Russia's Arctic contained". TASS. Moscow, Russia. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  2. ^ Max Seddon (4 June 2020), "Siberia fuel spill threatens Moscow's Arctic ambitions", Financial Times
  3. ^ "Putin orders state of emergency after huge fuel spill inside Arctic Circle". The Guardian. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  4. ^ Ivan Nechepurenko (5 June 2020), "Russia Declares Emergency After Arctic Oil Spill", New York Times
  5. ^ Skarbo, Svetlana (2 June 2020), "State of emergency in Norilsk after 20,000 tons of diesel leaks into Arctic river system", The Siberian Times
  6. ^ "Rostekhnadzor warned Norilsk Nickel about problems with fuel storage". Achyde. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  7. ^ Weise, Elizabeth; Zaiets, Karina; Gelles, Karl (6 June 2020). "Russia declares state of emergency over Arctic Circle oil spill caused by melting permafrost". USA TODAY. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  8. ^ Svetlana Skarbo (2 June 2020), State of emergency in Norilsk after 20,000 tons of diesel leaks into Arctic river system, The Siberian Times
  9. ^ a b "Arrest Made Over Massive Fuel Leak In Siberia". RFE/RL. 4 June 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  10. ^ "Norilsk Nickel to pay emergency relief costs, says Putin". TASS. Moscow. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  11. ^ ,Russia's Putin declares state of emergency after Arctic Circle oil spill, BBC, 4 June 2020
  12. ^ Meeting on cleaning up diesel fuel leak in Krasnoyarsk Territory, Kremlin, 3 June 2020
  13. ^ "Head of CHPP-3 plant workshop detained in case of fuel spill in Norilsk". TASS. Moscow. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  14. ^ a b c Isabelle Khurshudyan (4 June 2020). "Arctic fuel spill prompts Russia's Putin to declare emergency and slam slow response". Washington Post. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  15. ^ "Russia claims to have contained huge oil spill after Arctic river turns red". The Independent. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  16. ^ "Putin chides Nornickel, orders law change after Arctic fuel spill". Reuters. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  17. ^ Bodner, Matthew (5 June 2020). "Russia launches major clean-up operation after huge Arctic fuel spill". NBC News Digital. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  18. ^ Kim, Lucian (4 June 2020). "Russian Power Plant Spills Thousands Of Tons Of Oil Into Arctic Region". NPR. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  19. ^ "Russian Power Plant Spills Thousands Of Tons Of Oil Into Arctic Region". NPR. 4 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  20. ^ "Arctic Circle oil spill: Russian prosecutors order checks at permafrost sites". BBC News. 5 June 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.

External links

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