Russian Watchdog Says No Significant Contamination Detected In Oil Spill Area In Norilsk

Muhammad Irfan Published May 24, 2021 | 10:17 PM

Specialists from Russia's environmental watchdog, Rosprirodnadzor, have not found any signs of significant pollution in the country's northern city of Norilsk near the area of a major diesel spill at a power station last May, the agency's head, Svetlana Radionova, said on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th May, 2021) Specialists from Russia's environmental watchdog, Rosprirodnadzor, have not found any signs of significant pollution in the country's northern city of Norilsk near the area of a major diesel spill at a power station last May, the agency's head, Svetlana Radionova, said on Monday.

"Rosprirodnadzor is controlling the situation. There is no significant contamination and what we can see now [was] expected. The main thing is that there are forces and means, and the work is under control. It [the Nornickel mining giant] has an understanding that it will clean everything until the territory is completely cleaned of even minor contaminants," Radionova wrote on Instagram.

The official noted that during a regular check-up of the site, oily film was detected on the surface of the stream, formed due to melting snow and flowing from under the road mound, adding that the soil is treated with sorbents.

Late last May, some 21,000 tonnes of diesel fuel leaked from a thermal power plant of the Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company, which is affiliated with Nornickel, and contaminated two rivers and surrounding soil. It was initially believed that the spill had been caused by the melting of permafrost that supports the faulty power plant's fuel tank in motion. A criminal case was launched into the incident.

Russia's environmental watchdog, in turn, opened a probe and estimated the damage at 148 billion rubles ($2 million). Nornickel disagreed with the amount and conducted its own probe which estimated the damage at seven times less than that. Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company eventually made the 146.2 billion ruble payments to compensate for the damage.