President Vladamir Putin has ordered a state of emergency after more than 5 million gallons of diesel fuel spilled into the Ambarnaya River inside the Arctic Circle. Mayor Sergej Eremin of Krasnoyarsk, where the incident occurred, told the President that he learned about the situation after it had occurred on social media. Officials reported that NTEK, the power plant responsible for the pollution, failed to report the incident.
In a video conference with Sergei Lipin, the head of Nornickel which owns NTEK, was criticized by the president asking '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? Are you quite healthy over there?'
Norilsk has become Russia's most polluted city, and one of the most polluted in the world due to Nornickel's factories in the region. He said that NTEK reported the incident in a 'timely and proper way.'
Putin and Eremin agreed on ordering a national state of emergency to call in more resources for a cleanup operation. The nation's investigative committee had already launched three criminal investigations on the collapse of NTEK.
Alexei Knizhnikov from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and his team confirmed the accident and alerted cleanup specialists. He said that at such huge volumes, 'It was difficult for them to cover it up.'
2007 Kerch Spill
This spill is significantly greater than the 2007 Kerch Spill when about 340,000 million gallons of oil spilled into the Kerch Strait, where the Azov Sea flows into the Black Sea. A severe storm hit in November, causing thirteen vessels to sink, be stranded, or incur damage.
Intervention from the military and hundreds of volunteers arrived to clean up the mess that the Volgoneft-139 released due to a severe storm. However, with severe weather conditions, oil had spread to the shore of both the Russian and Ukrainian side of the Kerch Strait within the first 24 hours.
Igor Chestin, Russian director of the WWF said that 'People do not necessarily always link their personal behavior with environmental problems, but I think it's progressively coming in. 'One of the ways to engage the public is what we as WWF are trying to do, we are trying to demonstrate that our voice does matter, that we may change even big-level political decisions on the environment, providing there is public support,' he continued.
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Burn the Fuel
Since diesel fuel is lighter than oil, it is likely to evaporate, explained Knizhniko, but at the same time is 'more toxic to clean up.' Officials reported to Putin that the Ambarnaya River will be difficult to clean since it's a shallow body of water, and barges cannot be used. The remote location having no roads also hinders access to the riverside
Dmitry Kobylkin, environment minister of Russia, thought of burning the fuel as some had suggested. 'It's a very difficult situation. I can't imagine burning so much fuel in an Arctic territory ... such a huge bonfire over such an area will be a big problem," contemplated Kobylkin.
