Nornickel Blames Huge Siberian Oil Spill On Permafrost Melt; Maybe Good Old-Fashioned Negligence?
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Experts have pointed to the broad impact of climate change in Russia’s Arctic region over the past decade, noting in particular how thawing permafrost has led to fissures in apartment buildings in Norilsk. But environmental groups say they are worried that Nornickel, a company that has been attacked in the past as one of Russia’s biggest polluters in the Arctic, is now seeking to twist concerns about climate change to its defence. “It’s an attempt to write off Nornickel’s failure in risk management and ecological safety on the fashionable topic of climate change,” said Alexey Knizhnikov of the World Wildlife Federation. “The main factor is mismanagement.”
The accident, and a government investigation into its causes, is likely to have serious repercussions for Russian industry in the Arctic. Russian oversight agencies have drafted plans to review oil reservoirs throughout the region and investigators have charged one power plant official with violating environmental protection rules, which carries a maximum sentence of five years.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, also gave a public scolding last week to Vladimir Potanin, the billionaire president of Nornickel, about the company’s ageing reservoirs. “If you had changed them on time, there would have been no environmental damage and no need to foot such costs,” Putin told Potanin in a televised video call. Nornickel has pledged to cover all costs for the cleanup and to restore the local environment.
Greenpeace Russia last week put out a statement titled “The melting of the permafrost is not an excuse for Nornickel”, noting it believed the company “sought to avoid responsibility for the accident” by blaming it on climate change. The environmental organisation noted that as far back as 2009 it had reported on the risks to Russia’s oil-and-gas infrastructure from thawing permafrost. “It’s not possible that the company did not know about [thawing permafrost], but it is possible that the company used a dangerous facility irresponsibly,” said Vasily Yablokov, Greenpeace Russia’s climate project manager.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/09/russian-mining-firm-accused-of-using-global-heating-to-avoid-blame-for-oil-spill#img-1