MOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. Field studies of the permafrost ice at the area of oil spill, which happened in Norilsk in May, are completed. Experts may present conclusions in about two months, Sergei Serikov of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Permafrost Institute told TASS.
“Scientists measured temperatures at different depths – from 5 to 15 meters, conducted route studies to analyze cryogenic processes on the surface and a possible manmade impact on them,” he said. “It was a big thorough process; the samples have been taken to Yakutsk, where they will be tested at the laboratory.”
According to the expert, scientists measured temperatures in about 30 wells, drilled earlier. In addition to that, three new wells had been drilled for the team of researchers. “The first well was drilled in the place, where conditions remained relatively unchanged – this well will be used as a baseline one to make further comparisons,” he continued. “The second well is in a brook valley, which could have been affected by the spill; and the third well was made right on the site, about 50 meters from the tank where the spill occurred.”
For the next two months, at the laboratory in Yakutsk, scientists will work to analyze the permafrost’s conditions near the power plant based on the measurements taken, results of landscape observations and information from satellite images. Final conclusions about whether the permafrost’s thawing could have caused the accident would be made jointly with experts of the Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch, who earlier conducted a geophysical survey of the power plant in Norilsk, Serikov added.
In late May, more than 21,000 tonnes of oil products spilled from a fuel tank on the premises of CHPP-3 power plant (owned by the Norilsk-Taimyr Energy Company, a member of the Norilsk Nickel Group). Russia’s ecological watchdog, Rosprirodnadzor, estimated the damage at about 148 billion rubles ($2 billion). Nornickel did not agree with the methods of damage evaluation and will argue them, though confirmed it would pay the costs of the cleanup.
About expedition to Taimyr
The Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the first time in recent years headed for the Taimyr Peninsula at the invitation of Nornickel. The big scientific expedition will study the peninsula and later on scientists will present suggestions for industrial companies, working in the Arctic, on how to preserve the nature.
The expedition’s key points are watersheds of the rivers Pyasina, Norilka and Ambarnaya and Lake Pyasino. The expedition will work for five months – from July to November. It will feature experts from 14 research institutes of the Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch. By the end of August, they will collect samples of soils, plants and sediments and then will begin working at labs. The first results may be available in November-December 2020.