A man bathes in Norilsk in Russia (illustration image) - IRINA Yarinskaya / AFP

Concern dominates in the Arctic, where 20,000 liters of fuel accidentally spilled into a river in the Russian Far North. Faced with this pollution, the authorities declared an "emergency situation".

Severe fuel pollution in the Arctic https://t.co/dfTvjdA8ik

- Tribune de Genève (@tdgch) June 2, 2020

Satellite images published by the NGO show large red areas, caused by fuel, covering a local river, Ambarnaïa. On social networks, several residents have posted videos showing parts of the polluted stream. In a statement, the WWF environmental association welcomed on Tuesday that the pollution could have been contained by a floating dam, set up by the authorities, before reaching a large lake north of the arctic city of Norilsk ( Eastern Siberia).

A leak in a thermal power plant

The pollution was caused by the leak, reported last Friday, of a fuel tank from a thermal power plant located a few kilometers west of Norilsk. "A diesel tank was damaged and leaked due to the sudden sagging of pillars that held for 30 years without any difficulty," said mining giant Nornickel, owner of the plant.

The industrial city of Norilsk is entirely built on permafrost, threatened by the melting of the ice caused by climate change. But the authorities and environmentalists have not yet established the exact reasons for the accident or a link with the evolution of the climate.

90 workers on the job to remove pollutants

The Prosecutor of the Krasnoyarsk region said that a natural "emergency" had been declared at the local level. An investigation was also opened for "soil contamination". According to the Investigation Committee, pollution represents "at least 20,000 liters of oil spanning 350 square meters".

At a meeting on Tuesday, Nornickel company director Sergei Lipin said 500 cubic meters of pollutants had been removed by a team of 90 workers, still on the job. Local authorities have claimed not to have noticed any pollution of the groundwater, according to a statement published on the site of the Krasnoyarsk region. WWF nevertheless calls for monitoring downstream water quality to prevent toxic products from spreading to nature reserves.

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