Holy Shit!Russia declares state of emergency after massive oil spill in the Arctic Circle

[malaise]

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/04/russia-oil-spill-in-the-arctic-circle-state-of-emergency-declared.html
<snip>
President Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency in a region within the Arctic Circle in far northern Russia after 20,000 tons of oil leaked into a river from a power plant.

The spillage occurred on May 29 when the “oil products” leaked from a tank in an industrial plant operated by a subsidiary of Norilsk Nickel, the world’s largest producer of palladium and one of the largest producers of nickel, platinum and copper.

“The accident took place at the industrial site of the Nadezhdinski Metallurgical Plant, and part of the spilled petrochemicals, a considerable amount actually, seeped into the Ambarnaya River,” Putin said as he discussed the incident with officials on Wednesday, according to the Kremlin. He questioned the measures being taken to clean up the fuel leak that took place near the city of Norilsk in the Krasnoyarsk region, within the Arctic Circle.

Discussing how news of the spill emerged in the televised meeting, Putin was reportedly shocked to discover that local authorities had only learned of the incident from social media two days after it happened, and he admonished the region’s governor Alexander Uss, Reuters reported.

[Mike 03]

1. Dammit to hell

This was coming. Michael Klare writes in his book All Hell Breaking Loose about the extreme danger of our hands off approach to Russia taking over the Arctic Circle.

[jaxexpat]

2. Very efficient media control, eh?

[fleur-de-lisa]

3. He's only upset because he's losing money (from the plant he stole from his citizens, by the way.)

He doesn't give a shit about the environmental wreckage he has caused.

[yonder]

4. Something like 5.3 million gallons or 127,000 barrels?

That's a lot. I suspect Putin's worry is the loss of product rather than impact to the environment.