MOSCOW, June 3. /TASS/. The governmental commission declared a federal emergency within the Krasnoyarsk Region over a fuel leak from a thermoelectric power plant in Norilsk, the Russian Emergencies Ministry told TASS on Wednesday.
"A federal emergency has been declared in the Krasnoyarsk Region. The decision was made on June 3 at a crisis meeting of the governmental commission chaired by Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev," the press office said.
Zinichev put forward a proposal to declare a federal emergency at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the day. The president approved the decision.
Under the Russian legislation, a federal emergency is declared after over 5,000 tonnes of oil products are spilled within the country’s borders. During the emergency, federal forces could be engaged to deal with the incident and the regional governor could ask for aid from a reserve fund.
The diesel fuel leak from a thermoelectric power plant of the Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company (an affiliate of the Norilsk Nickel Group) occurred on May 29 after a concrete platform sank causing destruction of the tank. As a result, more than 21,000 cubic meters of fuel spilled into the environment polluting the soil and water bodies around the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant owned by the Norilsk Nickel Group.
Three criminal proceedings were launched into the incident. The head of the thermoelectric power plant’s workshop was detained, but he declined to make statements.