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Scientists confirm Lake Pyasino’s ecosystem remains unchanged after accident in Norilsk

Degradation of the ecosystem was registered in the areas of highest contamination, according to the hydrobiologist

MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/. Ecosystems of Lake Pyasino and the Pyasina River remain unchanged after the fuel spill in Norilsk, leader of the Great Norilsk Expedition’s hydrobiology team, Mikhail Gladyshev of the Biophysics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch said in an interview with TASS.

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State of emergency declared on Russia's Taimyr Peninsula over jet fuel spill

“In Lake Pyasino and in the Pyasina River we practically have not registered any notable changes in the ecosystem. <…> The overall situation, without details as yet, is that severe degradation of the ecosystem was registered in the areas of highest contamination – that is practically towards the estuary, to the booms on the Daldykan River and the Ambarnaya River. The degradation is severe, though it has not reached zero level. This means we have not registered extinction of all organisms,” the scientist said.

No wonder, he continued. Scientific literature contains descriptions of yet bigger accidents in the Russian Arctic zone.

Expedition to Taimyr

The Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the first time in recent years, at the invitation of Nornickel, sent a big scientific expedition to the Taimyr Peninsula to conduct a large-scale examination of the area. Scientists will use the expedition’s results to present suggestions for industrial companies, working in the Arctic, on how to preserve the nature.

The expedition’s key points were watersheds of the Rivers Pyasina, Norilka and Ambarnaya and Lake Pyasino. The expedition’s term is five months – from July to November. Before the end of August, experts from 14 research institutes of the Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch collected samples of soils, plants and sediments and are now conducting tests at the institutes’ labs.

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US believes that Russia tested 9M729 missile for range beyond 500 km

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Sergey Ryabkov said the US seeks to maintain military superiority in a great variety of areas

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