MOSCOW: Russian investigators have detained three staff of a power plant over a huge fuel spill in the Arctic, as response teams warned a full clean-up would take years. The spill of over 21,000 tonnes of fuel took place after a fuel reservoir collapsed last month at a power plant operated by a subsidiary of metals giant Norilsk Nickel in the city of Norilsk. Those working at the site have already seen the first effects of the spill on the local ecosystem, said Viktor Bronnikov, general director of Transneft Siberia oil and gas transportation company involved in the clean-up. All three “are cooperating with law enforcement authorities and now they would be much more useful at the scene of the clean-up operation”, he added. At the scene at a remote area in the Norilsk industrial district, Bronnikov of Transneft Siberia said that the situation was stabilising, but that the clean-up team had seen animals and birds apparently killed by the spill.

Source: Manila Times June 11, 2020 17:03 UTC