Russia's Environment Agency Says 5-10 Years Needed To Fix Damage Done By Norilsk Fuel Leak

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th July, 2020) Scientists say it will take five to 10 years to rehabilitate the environment after it was polluted by the Norilsk fuel spill, Svetlana Radionova, the head of Russia's Rosprirodnadzor environmental watchdog, announced on Tuesday.

Earlier in the month, Rosprirodnadzor assessed the incurred damage as approximately $2 billion due to water and soil pollution.

"As of now, scientists are saying [it will take] five to ten years, we are waiting for their solution," Radionova told reporters.

On May 29, some 21,000 tonnes of diesel leaked out of a fuel tank at the Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company's Thermal Power Plant No. 3 and seeped into a nearby river. According to Nornickel, which owns the power plant where the accident took place, the spill was caused by melting permafrost, which set the supports of the fuel tank in motion. The emergency services have announced having localized the spill.