Russian metal giant admits pollution in Arctic tundra
A Russian mining giant behind an enormous Arctic fuel spill
last month said it had suspended workers at a metals plant who were responsible
for pumping wastewater into nearby tundra.
Norilsk Nickel cited a "flagrant violation of operating
rules" in a statement on Sunday, announcing it had suspended employees
responsible for dumping wastewater from a dangerously full reservoir into
wildlife.
The incident occurred at the Talnakh enrichment plant near
the Arctic city of Norilsk, the company said, one month after the unprecedented
fuel leak led President Vladimir Putin to declare a state of emergency.
More than 21,000 tonnes of diesel leaked from a fuel storage
tank at one of the company's subsidiary plants near Norilsk. The fuel seeped
into the soil and dyed nearby waterways bright red.
A source told Russian Interfax news agency on Sunday that in
the most recent case, approximately 6,000 cubic metres of liquid used to
process minerals at the facility had been dumped and that the discharge had
lasted "several hours".
It was impossible to determine how far the wastewater had
dispersed, the source said.
Independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta published videos from
the scene showing large metal pipes carrying wastewater from the reservoir and
dumping foaming liquid into nearby trees.
The journalists claimed the factory deliberately funnelled
the wastewater into wildlife areas and hastily removed their pipes when
investigators and emergency services arrived on the scene.
The Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes,
said it had received reports of "unauthorised dumping of liquid waste into
the tundra" on the site of the facility, and had opened an inquiry.
Heavy machinery used to clear the pipes crushed a car
delivering officials to the scene, national Novaya Gazeta newspaper reported.
Interfax said no one was injured in the incident which was
also being probed.
Norilsk Nickel spokeswoman Tatiana Egorova earlier on Sunday
told the AFP news agency that employees of the factory had pumped out
"purified water" and that an internal investigation was under way.
Russia's natural resources agency said the decision to
remove water from the reservoir was taken to avoid an emergency after heavy
rains and recent tests had caused water levels to increase dramatically.
The local emergency services in a statement said the
wastewater was unlikely to reach the nearby Kharayelakh River.
The massive fuel spill last month took place at a plant
owned by a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel, which had said the fuel tank had
collapsed or sank due to melting permafrost due to climate change.
Putin declared an emergency situation after the accident and
the head of Norilsk Nickel, oligarch Vladimir Potanin, promised to pay the
costs of the clean-up.
The Russian authorities said earlier this month they had
cleared the spill from the surface of a river, but the full clean-up could take
years.
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