Oh, Yay. New Russian Arctic Oil Port Will Ship 25 Million Tons in 2024, 100 Million Tons By 2030

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5. Yeah, the Russians are famous for their fastidious care for the land on which they drill . . .

Russian authorities said the fuel spill at an Arctic power station earlier in 2020 was the largest in world history, a top emergencies official said Thursday. Some 21,000 tons of oil poured into the surrounding ground and waterways near the city of Norilsk after a diesel oil tank belonging to a subsidiary of Russian metals giant Nornickel collapsed on May 29.

“Such an amount of liquid diesel fuel has never been spilled in the history of mankind,” the state-run RIA Novosti news agency quoted Deputy Emergency Minister Alexander Chupriyan as telling reporters. “We already trapped [the fuel] in the Arctic zone,” he said.

A team of Nornickel-funded scientists, meanwhile, struck a more optimistic tone with their discovery of the five polluted rivers’ self-cleaning abilities, according to their final report cited by the state-run TASS news agency Wednesday. “The microflora in the studied waters has adapted to oil products and is able to participate in their decomposition,” said members of the so-called Great Norilsk Expedition organized by the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in August.

Nornickel is currently contesting a $2 billion damages claim with Russia’s state environmental watchdog.

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https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/12/24/russia-admits-to-worlds-largest-arctic-oil-spill-a72477


Men cleaning an oil spill from a river near the Komi Republic town of Usinsk in Russia's far north

On an August morning in 1994, Ekaterina Dyachkova took her usual walk down to the Pechora River in her village of Novikbozh in Russia's far north. As she approached, a strange smell stung her nose, and when she reached the water, she realized it was black. Boats and their oars were covered in oil. "Our fishermen were coming back with sticky black nets," Dyachkova, a 62-year-old biology teacher and school director, told DW. "It smelled like a gas station."

The oil spill, which had occurred at nearby drilling sites in the Komi Republic town of Usinsk, went down in history as one of the biggest ever on land. Later, research revealed that multiple breaches in old Soviet pipelines had been leaking for eight months, with the fact being hidden from the public for as long as possible. When an oil slick 15 centimeters (6 inches) deep reached the river, however, the disaster was all too evident.


The 1994 oil spill in Russia's far north went down in history as one of the biggest ever on land



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Russia's pipeline system is one of the longest in the world and was largely developed in the Soviet era. Oil pipelines alone stretch for 53,000 kilometers (32,933 miles) — more than once around the whole Earth. However, more than half of all oil pipelines in the country are worn from age, which is causing most of the leaks, says Russia's Natural Resources and Environment Ministry. Oil workers from companies operating in Russia's far north confirmed in anonymous interviews with DW that the infrastructure at some oil wells is inadequate.

Regular check-ups and replacement of pipes are costly for companies and often aren't done thoroughly. Greenpeace Russia estimates that the country's oil companies save around $3 billion (€2.5 billion) annually by not investing in new infrastructure. This, according to Greenpeace, helps to keep production costs lower and makes the industry more profitable for investors.

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https://www.dw.com/en/russia-oil-spills-far-north/a-56916148