On 3rd June 2020, President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency following a terrible diesel leak that occurred in a river in the Arctic.
Discover our latest podcast
The Russian President was also responsible for ‘giving a public dressing down of local officials’ about the Norilsk Nickel mining 'horror'.
But what actually happened? A diesel tank at a thermal power plant near Norilsk is said to have collapsed, leaking more than 20,000 tonnes of oil into the surrounding areas in the process.
Devastated and angered by this environmental disaster, Putin berated Sergei Lipin, the manager of the plant in question, in a video conference:
Why did the authorities learn about it only two days later? Are we to learn about emergencies from social media? […] Are you all right health-wise?
A WWF expert, Alexei Knijnikov, told AFP that a charity organisation got in contact with clean-up operation experts after they realised the full extent of what had happened since it was impossible to cover up.
According to this source, the company did not comply with basic safety rules and regulations.
The Ambarnaïa river will be difficult to clean because it is located in an area which is rather difficult for humans to access.
However, since diesel is lighter than the oil we use as fuel, it could eventually evaporate. But the ecological and environmental consequences would still be rather heavy.
This isn't the first time that this part of the world has experienced an environmental disaster as bad as this. In September 2016, a Russian river turned purple following an error made in a metallurgical plant.
Stay tuned...
