MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. The oil contamination of Lake Pyasino is below the background levels, and the highest concentration was found in the Bezymyannyi Brook, which is right next to the fuel tank, where the accident occurred, the Great Norilsk Expedition, organized by the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch, said in its final report.
“The key parameters of water quality in the surveyed streams differed greatly,” the report reads. “The biggest concentrations, which were high above the background levels, were in the Bezymyannyi Brook, and further down the stream the concentrations were declining. In Lake Pyasino no parameters were exceeded, and some were even below the background levels. Experts have not seen notable differences in samples from various depths of Lake Pyasino, and in certain areas they registered self-cleaning conditions in the water - apparently were due to the oxidizing processes.”
In Lake Pyasino, the concentrations of oil products are below allowable safe limits for fishery, which proves the effectiveness of used oil booms, scientists say.
Between August 4 and 11, specialists from the Institute for Water and Environmental Problems (the Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch) surveyed 12 areas. They pointed to a highly diverse distribution of oil products’ concentrations in the water. The most contaminated areas were found in the Bezymyannyi Brook, and contamination rates in the Daldykan and Ambarnaya Rivers were much higher than the background levels.
“The concentration of phenols in the Bezymyannyi Brook, the Daldykan and Ambarnaya Rivers is much higher than the background levels – up to 0.018 milligrams per cubic decimeter. Further down the streams, the concentrations declined gradually,” the experts said. “However, in Lake Pyasino the concentration of phenols is within the background limits – that is below the allowable safe limits for fishery reservoirs.”
Experts stressed the temperature was not different at various locations, where they collected samples. The hydrogen content, redox potential and dissolved oxygen indicators in the watercourses showed an increase from the Bezymyannyi Brook to the sources of the Pyasina River. Scientists suppose the changing color of the water could be explained by the water logging, not by industrial activities.
Power plant’s accident and expedition to Taimyr
On May 29, more than 21,000 cubic meters of oil products spilled onto the ground at a power plant near Norilsk. The environmental watchdog, Rosprirodnadzor, estimated the damage at 148 billion rubles ($2 billion). The Norilsk Nickel Company (Nornickel) disagreed the amount claiming the authority’s incorrect estimation methods. The company says the damage from the fuel spill is 21.4 billion rubles ($289 million).
The Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the first time over recent years has sent to the Taimyr Peninsula, at the invitation of Nornickel, a big scientific expedition to conduct a large-scale survey of the area. Scientists will use the expedition’s results to present nature-friendly solutions and suggestions for industrial companies, working in the Arctic.
The expedition’s key points were watersheds of the Rivers Pyasina, Norilka and Ambarnaya, and Lake Pyasino. In August, experts from 14 research institutes of the Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch collected samples of soils, plants and sediments and later began tests at the institutes’ labs.