New Delhi (NVI): Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency after 20,000 tons of diesel fuel spilled into a river in the country’s Arctic region.
The incident took place when a fuel tank at a power plant near the Siberian city of Norilsk collapsed last Friday, according to foreign media reports.
President Putin has ordered an investigation into the accident and a manager at the power plant has since been detained.
Satellite images after the leak showed crimson water in the Ambarnaya river and nearby residents posted videos on social media of the polluted water, reported The Moscow Times.
The plant is operated by a division of Nornickel, whose factories in the area have made the city of Norilsk one of the most heavily polluted places on Earth, according to The Guardian. Nornickel is a Russian nickel and palladium mining and smelting company.
“The incident led to catastrophic consequences and we will be seeing the repercussions for years to come,” Sergey Verkhovets, coordinator of Arctic projects for WWF Russia, said in a statement to the media. “We are talking about dead fish, polluted plumage of birds, and poisoned animals.”
Greenpeace has compared the disaster to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
The emergency declaration will increase resources for the cleanup. However, the river will be difficult to clean because it is too shallow for barges and in a remote area with few roads.
