Those Responsible For Russia's Norilsk Fuel Leak Must Face 'Severe Punishment' -Matviyenko

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th July, 2020) The Russian upper house of parliament will appeal to the Prosecutor General's Office with the request to conduct a proper inquiry into a recent massive diesel leak at a mineral processing plant of Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel) in Russia's north and bring those responsible for the incident to justice, upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko said on Friday.

"All those responsible must face severe punishment," Matviyenko said.

She expressed outrage over the fact that the management of the Russian mining giant remained silent about the size of the catastrophe, which resulted in significant environmental damage.

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. Russia's Rosprirodnadzor environmental watchdog has estimated the incurred damage at approximately $2 billion, for the water and soil pollution. The company said that it was contesting the amount of damage to the environment caused by the fuel spill.