Total of 180,000 square meters contaminated with oil products after emergency in Russia's Norilsk - Prosecutor's Office
KRASNOYARSK. June 4 (Interfax) - Employees of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Prosecutor's Office together with specialists have estimated the total area contaminated with oil products following an accident at a power station in the city of Norilsk, the press service of the Prosecutor's Office said on Thursday.
"As of June 2, 2020, the area of contamination with oil products from the industrial site to the section of the Ambarnaya River where belts of containment booms have been placed stood at 180,000 square meters," it said.
According to earlier reports, a sunken piled foundation caused the bottom of a diesel fuel tank to tear off at the Power Station No. 3 of the Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company on May 29, leaking oil products out onto a technical road and setting fire to a vehicle riding along it at the time. The fire was contained on an area of 350 square meters.
The natural resources use watchdog Rosprirodnadzor said that more than 20,000 tonnes of oil products spilled out, contaminating the waters of the Daldykan River and the Ambarnaya River, which flow into Lake Pyasino. Containment booms have been placed on the river in order to stop the oil products from spreading further.
The Prosecutor General's Office, Rosprirodnadzor, the fisheries watchdog Rosrybolovstvo, and the Emergency Situations Ministry have started probing the accident.
Three criminal cases have been opened on counts of soil contamination, violation of environment protection regulations during the performance of work, and water contamination. The filings of the investigation have been transferred to the Investigative Committee's central office. The chief of a boiler and turbine room at the heat and power plant has been detained as a suspect.
A federal-level emergency was declared in Norilsk on Wednesday due to the fuel spill.