Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency in the city of Norilsk, after a massive oil spill in the Arctic. At 20,000 tons of fuel to a power plant estimated overturned on a road, and much of seeped its way into a river on 29 May, a “substantial amount” in the oil Ambarnaya River in Siberia, Putin said Wednesday during a official meeting on the response of the fuel leak. The president seemed shocked to learn that the local authorities have been used by social media two days marked by the incident after it happened, and criticized the governor of the region Alexander Uss during the televised meeting, according to Reuters. “What – we are learning about emergency situations from social networks? Are you there to health there?” Said Putin. The loss was caused handled by “accidental damage to a diesel fuel storage tank” in a plant by a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel and cleaning is in progress. The company, which is a major producer of palladium, high-grade nickel-metal, platinum and copper, said it would “do its best” to address the issue on Tuesday to release on Twitter. The Agency for the government’s environment is said the company “joint aerial inspection” of the river “for possible diesel contamination deposits” Norilsk Nickel Support Wednesday in a statement. He said in a statement on Thursday that “the accident could have been caused by thawing soil” Excluded and “negligence in the reservoir management” after inspecting the scene. “The shell is inspected every two years. There is a whole series of criteria for the inspection, which usually results in marked tank as helpful,” he explained, “said Sergey Dyachenko, Norilsk Nickel First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. it is not clear what could be the cause of the accident. Dmitry Streletskiy, a professor at George Washington University, told Bloomberg, “the cause is not yet determined and it is probably a combination of climate change and infrastructure factors.” the Arctic region is particularly fragile and the damage total could be immense. Oleg Mitvol, former deputy head of the Russian environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzor, said he had “never been such an incident in the Arctic,” he told the BBC. Mitvol could clean between five and 10 years and cost 100 billion rubles said companies ($1.5 billion).
Russia declares emergency after spilling 20,000 tons of oil in the Arctic Circle
