Fear that thawing permafrost caused damage to storage tank.
The exact reason of the leak is yet to be established, but a statement from Norilsk Nickel company, which operates the site suggests it could have been caused - worryingly - by collapsing permafrost. Picture of a 'river of fuel' from social media
A state of emergency was introduced in Norilsk, Russia’s nickel capital, after almost 20,000 tons of diesel burst out of a reserve fuel tank at the TPP-3 industrial site.
The fuel was stored there to ensure continuous supply to the power plant in case of an interruption in gas supplies.
The leak was on 29 May in the Kayerkan district of Norilsk, and the pictures show its dramatic impact.
The exact reason of the leak is yet to be established, but a statement from Norilsk Nickel company, which operates the site suggests it could have been caused - worryingly - by collapsing permafrost.
‘Due to sudden subsidence of supports which served for more than 30 years without problems, the diesel fuel storage tank was damaged, resulting in a fuel leak’, said a statement from Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest producer of palladium and Russia’s leading nickel mining and smelting company.
A car driving outside the storage depot caught fire due to contact with leaked fuel, prompting initial reports about the vehicle had crashed into it, causing a fire and leak.
60km long Ambarnaya River flows into Lake Pyasino; the Pyasina River outflows this lake into the Kara Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean. Pictures: social media, The Siberian Times
Marine rescuers from Murmansk were flown into Norilsk to help mitigate consequences of the ecological catastrophe.
Diesel leaked into the 60km long Ambarnaya River which flows into Lake Pyasino.
The Pyasina River outflows this lake into the Kara Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean.
State of emergency in Norilsk after 20,000 tons of diesel leaks into Arctic river system. Video from a local residents shows the extent of pollution as he dips a piece of newspaper into a mixture of river water and fuel, and sets it on fire. Pictures: Norilsk Nickel, Svetlana Radionova
Archeologists discovered a new stone bracelet, two sharp pins, a marble ring and fox tooth pendants.
Comments (18)
The permafrost does not melt in summer and freeze in winter. That is the "active layer" on the surface. The permafrost (say it slow: perma (like permanent) frost (like frozen)) stays permanently frozen, in summer too. Unless the climate, slowly, year after year, changes. So, wrong again, the permafrost does not melt according to the seasons.
And this does not change if the world "was created" or if the "world formed".
mabe this would help you with the clean-up. https://www.presseportal.de/pm/24954/3627175 the artikel is in german, but the video show how to get oil out of water with a special absorbent cotton - here is how is works as well in english https://shop.deurexpure.com/#applications
Good luck
I read amongst the comments that a company can clean this up ! So hopefully it can be done sooner than later!
Amazing colour shots!
@Dave Pence, permafrost means permanently frozen. Climate change, whatever a natural process or not, is more intense at the higher latitudes . The phenomenon is well known in Russia and this is the reason why the minister of mine resourses Dmytry Kobylmin rejected the reason taken by the Norilsk-Taymir firm CEO Sergey Lipin of the collapse due to a melting permafrost .
@ Argelia Escamilla. Bueno, Argelia. En este caso ya tenemos un preso, el señor Vyacheslav Starostin, responsable jefe del emplanto de manutencion. Y tambien para el CEO de la firma Norilsk-Taymir señor Lipin no pasará mucho tiempo libre, siendo el acusado formalmente por negligencia en los articulos del codico penal ruso 246, 250 y 254. Putin mismo, hablando directamente en teleconferencia con Lipin ha preguntado: "¿Señor Lipin, como se siente en salud?"
For all others.
The gasoil in itself is already a huge problem but this type of gasoil is added by anti-ice substances able to stand a typical winter temp of -55deg Celsius.
Benzene, toluene, ethilbenzene and xylene the main adictives. Those substances are soluble into water and there's no way to intercept them with solid barriers.