20,000 tonnes of oil spills into Arctic river, experts warn recovery could take years
About 20,000 tonnes of Russian oil spilled into a river in the Arctic Circle, turning the water red. It could take years to get rid of the pollutants. Authorities became aware of the leak two days later on May 31, only after social media posts alerted them of the issue.
The oil source was traced to a power plant near the Siberian city of Norilsk. A fuel tank at the venue crumbled, releasing a thousand tonnes of oil. Following these events, the Russian government declared a state of emergency to bring in money required for the cleanup effort.
“The accident took place at the industrial site of the Nadezhdinski Metallurgical Plant, and part of the spilled petrochemicals, a considerable amount actually, seeped into the Ambarnaya River,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the Kremlin. The company is a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest producer of nickel and palladium.
The owner, Vyacheslav Starostin, will stay behind bars until July 31 but has not been charged as yet, according to reports. The Russian Investigative Committee has launched a criminal case over the pollution and alleged negligence.
Putin condemned the company for not alerting officials on time. "Why did government agencies only find out about this two days after the fact?" he asked subsidiary's chief Sergei Lipin. "Are we going to learn about emergency situations from social media?"
The environmental NGO Greenpeace said the incident could cost the country billions. “Using the environment ministry's methodology for assessing the environmental damage to water bodies, it may amount to six billion rubles [nearly 87 million US dollars],” Greenpeace Russia’s head of energy, Vladimir Chuprov, said. The estimate does not factor in damages to the soil and the atmosphere due to greenhouse gas emissions, he added.
Recovery could take years
Alexei Knizhnikov of the World Wildlife Fund, who alerted officials of the spill, said: “These are huge volumes,” he said. “It was difficult for them to cover it up.” Given the damage, the road to recovery is long, and it could take decades, Dmitry Klokov, a spokesman for the Federal Agency For Fishery, reportedly said.
The environmental groups said the magnitude of the spill and geography of the river could pose challenges for clean-up. The Arctic region has not seen such an incident before, Oleg Mitvol, an environmentalist said.
The company behind the spill is also taking measures to clean the river. "As of 4 June, a total of 1,450 cubic meters of contaminated soil has been removed. Specialists of the Northern Branch of the Marine Rescue Service have collected 137 tonnes of diesel fuel from the surface of the Ambarnaya River," the company said in a statement.
Minister of Natural Resources Dmitry Kobylkin proposed reagents to dilute the oil, adding that he was against setting fire to burn off the fuel. “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.”