NORILSK, June 8. /TASS/. The maximum allowable concentration of hazardous substances (MAC) in water of fuel-contaminated reservoirs in Norilsk exceeds the norm 60 times "in the most difficult zones," First Deputy Emergencies Minister Alexander Chupriyan told reporters.

"As for MAC, Rosprirodnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resource Usage -TASS) takes samples daily and we derive the dependence: the more we removed [fuel from water], the less MAC, which is logically explained. If initially the excess was thousand times initially, now, according to Rosprirodnadzor, the concentration of MAC is 60 times higher in the most difficult zones," Chupriyan said.

The loss of containment of the diesel fuel tank occurred on the territory of the combined heat and power plant CHPP-3 in Norilsk, Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region, on May 29. A motor vehicle entered the fuel spill then, causing the fire outbreak. More than 210,000 tonnes of fuel were spilled in total.

Over 500 people are involved in the clean-up of the fuel spill. A marine rescue service detachment from Murmansk, which has the experience in eliminating more than 50 oil spills in different parts of the world, is working on the spot. The experts managed to set several lines of barriers on the Ambarnaya River and limit the spread of petroleum products. Rescuers localized the spill. The soil on the site was replaced and treated with special sorbents. Contaminated soil was transported to a temporary storage facility. Four criminal cases have been initiated. As part of the investigation, the head of the CHPP-3 workshop, Vyacheslav Starostin, was arrested.

The power plant CHPP-3 belongs to Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company (NTEC), which is part of the Norilsk Nickel group.