Russia declares emergency in Krasnoyarsk Territory following oil leak

Russian authorities have declared an emergency in the Kezhemsky District in the eastern part of Russia's Krasnoyarsk Territory following a major oil spill. As per a statement by department of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, approximately 500 litres (over 132 gallons) of fuel has leaked into the Angara River.

Another environmental disaster in Russia

The statement by the ministry added that the emergency was declared on Friday, October 9. Local authorities further added that “There are no oil patches, the consequences have been eliminated. A group of representatives of the Investigative Committee, the department of the Interior Ministry, the Department for Combating Economic Crimes, the administration and three more rescuers have arrived at the site”.

Russia has faced several high-profile pollution-related incidents this year, the most notable one being the one that occurred in the city of Norilsk, the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The incident occurred in late May and some 20,000 tonnes of fuel had leaked out of a ruptured tank and turned two Arctic rivers crimson. The company that was involved in the incident was the Russian mining giant Norilsk Nickel.

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In another incident that was caused by the same company back in July, a pipeline sprung a leak due to depressurisation and that lasted for 15 minutes, spilling 44.5 tonnes of fuel into the Arctic. After the leak was brought under control, Norlisk authorities have claimed to be conducting an internal investigation into the accident and that it has suspended all activities in that region.

On June 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised the owner of Norilsk Nickel for the oil spill. As per reports, the May 29 oil spill into the Ambarnaya River happened due to a broken tank at a power plant in Norilsk, 2,900 kilometres (1,800 miles) northeast of Moscow.

Precautions were immediately taken in order to prevent the oil from travelling downstream where the Ambarnaya River meets another river which then drains into the environmentally sensitive Arctic Ocean, international media reported.

(With ANI inputs, Image: ANI)

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