Collapsed Diesel Tanker In Russia's Yakutia Saw No Inspections Since 1993 - Prosecutors

Sumaira FH Published July 28, 2020 | 11:29 PM

A spill of 4.7 tonnes of diesel in Russia's Yakutia Republic in June happened because the damaged fuel reservoir has not been examined for nearly 30 years, the prosecutor's office said on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th July, 2020) A spill of 4.7 tonnes of diesel in Russia's Yakutia Republic in June happened because the damaged fuel reservoir has not been examined for nearly 30 years, the prosecutor's office said on Tuesday.

Diesel leaked from a tank with a capacity of 160 tonnes at a diesel power station in the village of Argakhtakh on June 21. The prosecutor's office specified that a criminal case has been opened under part 1 of article 254 of the criminal code of Russia (damage to land).

According to the prosecutors, the spill of diesel fuel occurred "as a result of untimely detection of deformations of the storage tank by officials of the Sakhaenergo" diesel power station.

"In the absence of a weld at the junction of the tank wall with the bottom, which led to the spread of defects and damage along its bottom, the issue of repairing the tank or replacing it has not been resolved.

Since 1993, internal and external inspections of the reservoir have not been conducted," the press release added.

In June 2020, just before the environmental disaster, employees of the diesel power plant conducted an inspection on paper only, as a result of which "defects and other breaches were not detected," the office went on.

In addition to criminal liability, Sakhaenergo will have to pay 210,000 rubles ($2,895) in administrative fines.

Subsequent inspections have revealed that the other 23 tanks at the power plant "are not surrounded by solid fireproof walls or earthworks, and their external and internal inspections are either not carried out at all, or conducted superficially."

The spill was localized on June 24. Now, the prosecutors are seeking to recover 4.5 million rubles in damages caused to the soil and the water body.