Russian Tank Spills 20,000 Tons of Oil Into Arctic River

Lynn Barlow | | Post Tag for Industry NewsIndustry News
a Russian tank spills oil into arctic
The Ambarnaya River runs red with contaminants after a Russian tank spills oil into the Arctic. PC Nornickel

On May 29 a Russian tank spilled oil into the Arctic. The tank was used for storing diesel fuel. When it exploded it spilled 20,000 tons of oil in the Arctic circle and turned nearby Ambarnaya River red with contaminants. The tank was owned by Nornickel, the world’s largest producer of nickel and palladium. The oil spill into the Arctic is the second largest in Russia’s history and has been compared to the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989.

The spill has already contaminated over 7.5 miles of river, though Russian authorities insist the oil has yet to reach the sea. In some areas, the chemical plume is nearly eight inches thick. Due to the shallow waters of the Ambarnaya river, barges with booms could not be deployed to contain the spill. Clean up efforts are estimated to cost $1.5 billion and could take as long as ten years. 

map depicts location of russian oil spill
The red square indicates the site of the Russian oil spill. Third-party testing is needed to confirm the spill has not reached the Arctic Ocean. Image Credit USA Today

In 2016, an accident at another Nornickel plant turned a nearby river red. Nornickel-owned factories contributed to turning the nearby city of Norilsk into one of the most polluted cities in the world. 

The manager of the plant responsible for the oil spill, Vyacheslav Starostin, has been taken into custody on charges of negligence after failing to alert Russian authorities. Russian authorities found out about the spill on June 1, two days after the accident, after seeing alarming media pictures. Putin chastised the company, saying, “Are we going to learn about emergency situations from social media?”

The moon rises over the Arctic Ocean. PC Stein Egil Liland via Pexels

Putin declared a state of emergency, mobilizing the country’s emergency resources. Greenpeace Russia is calling for an audit of all oil and petroleum plants in the arctic, in addition to implementing legislation to ensure those plants are regularly inspected.


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