NORILSK, June 5. /TASS/. Cleanup workers have contained the diesel fuel spill after an accident at a thermal power plant in Norilsk in the Russian Arctic, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry told TASS on Friday.
"As of now, the diesel fuel spill has been contained and over 200 tonnes of fuel and lubricants have been collected," the ministry said.
The emergency response center earlier told TASS that the cleanup personnel had completed the work to install nine containment booms 1,150 meters long, including seven barriers 3 km upstream from the estuary of the Ambarnaya River and two lines of additional booms at the place of the Pyasina River’s exit from Lake Pyasino.
As of now, the cleanup workers have pumped out almost 300 tonnes of fuel, disposed of over 26 tonnes of petroleum products and treated an area of 4,600 square meters with sorbents. The sorbents are also used to dispose of the collected fuel. Besides, the cleanup personnel have removed over 3,000 tonnes of the contaminated soil.
Over 21,000 cubic meters of petroleum products spilled at the Thermal Power Plant No. 3 of the Norilsk and Taimyr Energy Company (part of the metals giant Norilsk Nickel) on May 29 after the concrete foundation of a fuel storage tank sank, causing the fuel facility’s collapse. The fuel spilled into the ground on an area of 180,000 square meters and also into local rivers, contaminating the territory and causing damage to the environment.