MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/. Experts of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch during the final, third, field season of the Great Norilsk Expedition collected 10 various samples at each of 130 locations in the area of the 2020 fuel spill, the expedition’s press service told TASS on Friday.

"Objectively, three stages of studies and works over two years are not sufficient; studies of the kind require at least five years," the press service quoted the field works leader Rustam Timshanov of the Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics as saying. "If we do not limit ourselves with the incident at the heat power plant and if we eye the problem of general anthropogenic impacts on the Norilsk Industrial District, then clearly, there’s much more work to be done here."

The expedition on the Bezymyannyi Brook, the Daldykan River, in the upper and lower reaches of the Ambarnaya River, on Lake Pyasino and on the Pyasina River and its tributaries began on July 25 and continued to mid-September. The water routes were more than 2,000 kilometers long. At certain parts of the route, the researchers walked, or used helicopters and ATVs. The total number of locations for studies was more than 130, and at every location the scientists collected about ten samples. During the expedition, the experts collected 1,300 samples, weighing 600 kilograms.

"The scientists plan to report results by the year-end, and within the first quarter of the coming year they will put together a general report on the Great Norilsk Expedition’s three stages," the press service said. "Revegetation works continue fully, but their effectiveness could be seen on the microbiology level only by the year-end after the test results are available."

The expedition featured 46 scientists of 14 research institutes. They worked in two teams - on water objects and on ground ecosystems. The teams sampled water, sediments, soils, conducted field measurements, hydrology works, as well as zoology and ichthyology studies.