Putin Declares an Emergency Over Arctic Fuel Spill -- WSJ
June 05 2020 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Ann M. Simmons
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (June 5, 2020).
MOSCOW -- Russian investigators have launched a criminal probe
into a massive fuel leak from a power station in the Arctic after
President Vladimir Putin publicly admonished a senior official over
the incident and declared a national state of emergency.
The power plant operator said accidental damage to a diesel fuel
storage tank in the remote Siberian city of Norilsk caused 20,000
tons of fuel to seep into the soil across a significant area and
contaminate bodies of water.
Mining company Norilsk Nickel, or Nornickel, whose subsidiary
Norilsk-Taymyr Energy Co. ran the facility, said the incident on
May 29 followed the sudden failure of posts supporting the basement
of the storage tank.
Russia's Investigative Committee, the country's main
investigations agency, said the spill caused significant pollution
and environmental damage.
The Russian branch of the international environmental
organization Greenpeace said the damage to rivers and lakes nearby
in the Taymyr region could exceed 6 billion rubles, or around $87
million.
"This doesn't take into account soil damage and emissions of
pollutants into the atmosphere," the group said.
The company said it was too early too discuss the extent of the
damage. "The assessment will be carried out after the completion of
the cleaning and investigation," it said.
A court on Thursday announced the arrest the day before of
Vyacheslav Starostin, the head of the power plant where the
incident took place.
Investigators said they had opened three criminal cases on
counts of "soil damage, violation of environmental regulations in
the course of economic activity, and water pollution." A fourth
case was opened on counts of negligence over the late reporting of
the accident, the Investigative Committee said.
Mr. Starostin and his representatives couldn't immediately be
reached for comment.
On Wednesday, during a televised government meeting to discuss
measures to address the fuel spill, a visibly annoyed Mr. Putin
scolded the region's governor on air, saying he was shocked that
local authorities had become aware of the emergency situation only
from social media and two days after it had occurred. In recent
years he has sought to emphasize the importance of environmental
issues.
"Is everything all right with your health there?" Mr. Putin
said. "I will be forced to instruct law enforcement agencies to
give a legal assessment of all the actions taken by officials."
Nornickel said the company had "duly reported the incident in a
timely manner," and had provided law enforcement agencies with
copies of official reports on the incident."
The Russian leader backed a proposal to declare a national state
of emergency over the incident, which would allow for federal
support for the cleanup effort. A regional state of emergency had
already been declared, according to Alexander Uss, governor of
Krasnoyarsk region, where the Nornickel plant is located.
The company, which describes itself as the world's largest
producer of palladium and one of the largest producers of nickel,
platinum and copper, said it "is actively working to eliminate the
consequences of the incident." It said cleanup would take about two
weeks.
Write to Ann M. Simmons at ann.simmons@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 05, 2020 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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